Brandon Twp.-The Oakland County Sheriff’s Department is currently investigating alleged accounting discrepancies in treasurer reports from Belle Ann Parent Organization (BAPO).
According to a report issued by Diane Taylor, BAPO vice president, “during the transition of duties from last year’s BAPO officers to this year’s officers, reports from financial paperwork were reported as missing by the former treasurer.”
Taylor and other BAPO members attended the Brandon School Board meeting on Oct.13, where she read aloud a prepared statement to the board.
During the months of August and September 2003, meetings between BAPO representatives, Brandon Schools Superintendent Bart Jenniches and Executive Finance Director Gary Kelly were held to discuss the alleged discrepancies.
To rectify the missing financial information, the Brandon School District obtained copies of approximately 70 cancelled BAPO checks from the Oxford Bank which spanned the 2002-2003 school year.
“The lack of receipts was brought to my attention this past summer,” said Jenniches. “I was quite concerned and was asked to investigate the issue.”
Following an audit by Kelly, 10 of the 70 BOPA checks were questioned since the checks were written to the same BAPO officer who signed the checks. Of those, six checks were explainable as self-reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses. Four checks totaling $376 remained in question.
According to Jenniches in early September, based on the recommendations of the Brandon School District’s attorney the audit information was then turned over to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department for investigation. Sgt. Tim McIsaac of the Brandon substation reassigned the investigation to Brandon School District Liaison Officer Arnie Terrell.
The sheriff’s department is still exploring the case.
“My concern is that people will let the investigation run its course,” said Jenniches. “The sheriff’s department is an organization that can do this job, we need to be patient with that. I don’t want to see anyone crucified if the facts are not there.”
In mid-September, BAPO members further investigated the 2002-2003 treasurer’s reports and bank statements. An additional $4,000 in discrepancies were subsequently turned over to the Oakland County Sheriff Department.
Since the most recent discrepancies were submitted to the sheriff’s department, new evidence has surfaced suggesting the dollar amount may be significantly less than first thought.
“We’ll try to resolve this case soon,” said Terrell, who continues to investigate the case. “Not all the facts are in yet, and people should not get fixated on any dollar amount since the numbers presented in this case may not be accurate.”
As a result of this case several new recommendations regarding procedures for parent groups will be considered.
“I was glad they came forward. We are entrusted with money and children,” said Beth Nuccio, Brandon School Board president. “I hope that it works out and the truth comes out. I hope that we can learn from this.”
“Our policies may not have been strong enough, maybe we need to rethink the parent organization procedurally.”

Belle Ann Parent Organization
For more than 16 years the parent group has raised funds to purchase a variety of school related items including: field trips, teachers’ considerations, assemblies, fourth grade farewell activities and other school needs.
Any parent who has a child at Belle Ann Elementary has a right to vote at the meetings. Teachers and the school principal also have a right to vote for officers.