On January 9, 2014, Clark County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard J. O’Neill sentenced former Enon Tiger Booster volunteer Rebecca Bare to three years of probation following a plea of guilty to theft charges.  In August of 2013, Bare was arrested and charged with forgery and theft from the parent-led organization.   The discovery of missing funds was made by Stephanie Cooper and Hollie Kowalski—both volunteers with the organization.   Over $8,000 was reported to be missing from the booster account according to police and court reports.  Bare had written checks to herself and signed Cooper’s name to the checks according to the public information reports.

Judge O’Neill also mandated that Bare is to complete a drug and alcohol assessment with stipulations that she may not use drugs or alcohol and must not be in a situation where drugs and alcohol are present.  As part of the judge’s stipulations, Bare must subject herself to random drug and alcohol testing and must remain employed for the duration of her probation.  She is required to perform 120 hours of community service as part of her sentence and make restitution of $8,255.09 within one year.  If Bare is not successful in meeting the requirements of her probation according to court officials, she will spend 18 months in prison for her actions.

At the time of her arrest in August, Bare was on probation for misuse of a credit card.  This action was taken in the Montgomery County Courts in August of last year.  The offense dates back to November of 2011 .  The judge in Montgomery County sentenced Bare to five years of probation and ordered her to pay restitution of $120 and court costs for this offense.   Upon her arrest and arraignment in Clark County, Bare was returned to Montgomery County for a probation revocation hearing in September.

It should be noted that parent organizations are not part of the school system.  In August, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office confirmed to the Enon Eagle that the State of Ohio does not require a BCI check for school volunteer organization officers.  Bare was serving as vice president of the Enon Elementary group at the time that she wrote the checks belonging to the organization and reportedly signed the president’s name. 

Following the incident this fall, Greenon Local Treasurer Brad McKee provided a document as a courtesy to the six parent organizations in the district with somesuggestions designed to assist them in making improvements to their security.  He clearly stated in his written piece “booster organizations are self-governing entities.”  Groups of this type are required to register under the Charitable Trust Act (RC 109.23) and the Charitable Solicitations Act (RC 1716.02 according to the Attorney General’s office).  Booster organizations are also required to obtain their own taxpayer ID number and are not permitted to use the one assigned to the school district.