Ex-PTA President Charged with Theft Ordered to Repay $20K

A West Orange woman who from the Mt. Pleasant Parent-Teacher Association, was admitted into a special program for first time offenders Thursday to the disapproval of the school district and PTA. 

Debbie Sanchez, the former PTA President at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School, was admitted into the pretrial intervention program for one year in state Superior Court in Newark Thursday. The program allows first time offenders to reduce their charges, and if completed will erase her criminal record.

As part of the program, Sanchez will have to repay $20,000 to the PTA and complete 100 hours of community service, Katherine Carter, a spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, said Thursday. 

Sanchez was charged with bilking roughly $103,000 from the PTA's funds during her tenure as president. 

"It's a slap on the wrist," said Mount Pleasant PTA President Lisa Giovine, who orginally brought the case to the Essex County Prosecutors Office.

When Giovine became president of the PTA in 2011 after Sanchez, she said there was no money in the organization's bank account and it owed people money. 

According to Giovine, the organization was running an after school program that grossed the PTA more than $100,000.

"That bank account should have had money in it," she said.

At that time, Giovine began to look into the finances for the last few years. She was advised by the bank manager to close the PTA's account because it was not in good standing, she said. 

Additionally, the PTA's treasurer informed Giovine that Sanchez was allegedly paying herself to run a tutoring program —financed by the organization yet unknown to its members. 

Sanchez allegedly paid herself $53,000 between January 2008 and November 2010, according to Giovine.

The PTA brought the case to the prosecutors office where an investigation revealed that Sanchez was allegedly depositing PTA checks into a separate personal bank account.

"It is unfortunate and disheartening to learn that these dedicated parents will recover only a small percentage of money [allegedly] taken illegally by Ms. Sanchez, depriving our students of memorable experiences that these funds were to provide," Interim Superintendent James O'Neill said.

Following the charges against Sanchez in 2012, the West Orange Community House took over the after school program at Mt. Pleasant.

Sanchez's attorney could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.