Conway - A Conway woman who for more than 20 years taught at Bigelow's Anne Watson Elementary School faces theft charges for allegedly stealing more than $12,000 from the school's parent-teacher organization between August 2004 and July 2008.

Janice Elaine Harrison, 52, of Conway, according to the Perry County Sheriff's Office, turned herself in to Perry County authorities on February 26th. Harrison has been charged with theft of property, a class-B felony, according to Sixth Judicial District Deputy Prosecutor Jonathan Ross, who said Harrison was released on her own recognizance by a Perry County judge due to her ties to the Bigelow community.

"Just about everybody out there in the Bigelow area has been taught by Ms. Harrison," Ross said.

East End School District Superintendent Myra Graham said that as Harrison has not yet been to trial, "I do not feel it would be fair for me to say very much" about the allegations, but she could say that Harrison was a PTO officer and that the school community was "very saddened to learn of this," adding that PTO funds are not directly administered by the district.

Minutes of the East End School Board show that Harrison's resignation was unanimously accepted during Aug. 11, 2008's meeting.
According to Ross, an affidavit reveals Harrison returned $2,000 in funds she said were intended for the McCully family, which last summer received a new home as part of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" TV show. The McCully family was chosen by the show's producers because then-10-year-old Job McCully's medical condition, which necessitated bone marrow and lung transplants, was being aggravated by mold inside their old home.

"There is a comment that she made to the effect that she had taken some money out, about $2,000, to give to the McCully family that she actually never gave them," Ross said. "I know that she ended up giving the school district a check for about $2,000 saying 'this is what was supposed to go to Job McCully.'"

Job's mother, Tina McCully, said Harrison was Job's first-grade teacher and was well-liked by the community.

"I knew she was under investigation, but I was hoping it wasn't true," she said.

If, as authorities allege, Harrison began stealing from PTO funds in August 2004, she would have in some ways picked up where former school district treasurer Peggy Reeder left off less than three months earlier.

According to the results of a legislative audit released in November 2004, Reeder "prepared false record and documents to support the issuance of district checks for unauthorized disbursements" totaling $45,109 between July 1, 2002 and May 20, 2004. The audit lists overtime payments Reeder authorized for herself totaling over $25,000 and nine other improper transactions, including $7,900 in cash receipts not deposited into a district bank account and fraudulent state and federal tax returns on her W-2 form.

Reeder pleaded guilty to theft of property on May 15, 2006 and was sentenced to five years probation. She has paid more than $40,000 in restitution, according to a Sept. 8, 2006 Legislative Joint Auditing Committee special report.

(By Joe Lamb, Log Cabin Staff Writer.)

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