A former Huntsville High School cook told fellow employees that her supervisor was stealing money from a cash box in the cafeteria, but the cook and her supervisor both are suspected of pocketing money, records released from a year-long police investigation show.
The former food-service employees Kammy Middleton and Debbie Cornett surrendered to authorities separately. They were arrested on felony theft charges. They are scheduled for arraignment Nov. 12 in Madison County Circuit Court, and each was released on a $5,000 bond.
Cornett, who was arrested Oct. 16, had worked for the Huntsville School District for 21 years before her resignation March 1 as food service director. Cornett’s attorney, Joel Huggins of Springdale, declined to comment.
Middleton, who was arrested Tuesday, worked for the district for nine years before her resignation March 1. A phone number for Middleton was not available.
State auditors in September released an investigative report estimating that nearly $81,000 was missing from food sales at the Huntsville High School cafeteria over a nearly three-year period. The state Legislative Audit Division based the estimate on average daily “a la carte” sales in the cafeteria for the days Middleton and Cornett were working and days when they were not working.
The division estimated that between 2010 and 2013, Cornett potentially did not deposit $59,484.93 and that Middleton potentially did not deposit $21,471.93. The women were identified by their positions, rather than by their names, in the report.
Police records from the investigation include statements from Huntsville police officers, a Madison County sheriff’s deputy, the former high school principal and the district’s superintendent.
Huntsville police released investigation records in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, but Chief Stephen Corkern and Capt. Todd Thomas did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
District officials and Huntsville police began an investigation after two food-service employees in September 2012 reported to former Huntsville High School Principal Lewis Villines that they witnessed Cornett stealing money from the cafeteria line where students buy individual items, according to investigation records. The workers reported that Middleton had seen Cornett taking money, which Middleton confirmed, the records show.
Villines contacted Superintendent Robert Allen and Assistant Superintendent Shelby Sisemore about the accusations, according to his statement. They were unable to confirm the reports after observing Cornett in person and worked with the Huntsville Police Department to install surveillance cameras.
On Oct. 31, 2012, police told Villines that the surveillance footage showed a worker stealing from the “a la carte” line, but the worker was not Cornett. Villines identified Middleton as the person taking money and notified Allen and Sisemore, according to reports.
“They said it sounded like we had evidence that [Middleton] was stealing, and they encouraged me to be patient and continue the investigation and try to catch [Cornett] stealing as she was the original one that the complaint was made on,” Villines wrote in his statement.
Police installed a third camera in January because Cornett had moved a table with the cash box out of view of the original camera, Villines stated.
Police officer Shawn Ellis reviewed the footage taken through Feb. 5 and documented four times when Middleton took money from a cafeteria cash box, the records say. Video surveillance captured Cornett taking money from the cash box on three different days in January, according to his statements. He reported his observations to Thomas, who also reviewed the footage.
Allen viewed the videos of Middleton and Cornett on Feb. 8, along with other top school district officials and Madison County sheriff ’s Deputy James Todd, who is a school resource officer, according to Allen’s statement. He called Cornett into his office first and told her what he had seen.
“She did not deny it,” his statement says. “She then apologized and said that she was ashamed of her actions.”
An hour after the meeting, Cornett again apologized but asked if she could continue to work for the school district, Allen wrote. He told her she could not.
Allen called Middleton to his office after Cornett.
“Ms. Middleton also expressed regret of her actions,and stated that she was not the only one taking money, and that she hoped we investigated this thoroughly,” Allen wrote. “She then apologized for her actions, and then left.”
Allen told both women that they were suspended and that he would recommend termination of their contracts. They instead resigned March 1.
Allen also compared “a la carte” sales from before and after the departure of Cornett and Middleton to see if there was a significant difference in sales. He found an average difference of $188 per day over a 15-day period and reported his findings to police, his statement says.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 10/23/2013