Stirling School Photo Courtesy: Google Maps

By Lara Fominoff

Missing Money

Former Stirling School Secretary pleads guilty to theft over $5,000

May 2, 2019 | 4:06 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A former secretary at the Stirling pre-Kindergarten to Grade 12 School pleaded guilty on Thursday May 2, to stealing nearly $90,000 in total in both school bank deposits, and charges on the school’s credit card.

Kathleen M. Broadhead, who was represented by Lawyer Robert Bissett, appeared in Lethbridge Provincial Court and pleaded guilty to one count of theft over $5,000 – as the Crown read out the circumstances in which the offence occurred.

According to the Agreed Statement of Facts, on August 16, 2018, Raymond RCMP received a complaint from Westwind School Division Superintendent Ken Sommerfeldt about cash that had gone missing.

An internal audit was completed, which showed that no cash had been deposited in the school’s bank account in either 2017 or 2018 as required. Broadhead was the school secretary at the time and was not only in charge of the deposits, but also the school’s VISA credit card.

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Several purchases appeared to have been made with the credit card that had nothing to do with school business. A subsequent external audit was then completed, which confirmed the school’s information.

The audits showed that $89,455.81 was unaccounted for. A meeting was then set up between Sommerfeldt, school representatives, and Broadhead – who then admitted to taking the money and using the credit card for personal items.

According to the Crown, two cash deposits – one of more than $33,000 and the other just over $45,000 were never completed, along with a third smaller deposit of close to $1,500.

The VISA was charged just over $9,000.

RCMP were notified and Broadhead was charged with two offences: theft over $5,000 and fraud over $5,000. A Pre-Sentence Report (PSR) will now be completed, which could take between 8 and 12 weeks. The Crown expects that during sentencing, the second charge will be withdrawn.

Broadhead will be back in court August 12. The Westwind School Division has confirmed that she is no longer one of their employees.