Four older-model Lanova Thinkpads and a desktop printer were stolen during the move from R.E. Hunt Intermediate School to the new Columbus Middle School.
News of the theft surfaced Monday evening at the school board”s regular meeting when board member Currie Fisher questioned the adequacy of school policies to prevent the Jan. 19 and 20 crimes.
The stolen items were initially listed on the consent agenda along with other school items that had been junked or destroyed.
“I feel like this document needs to be reviewed and looked at,” Fisher said of the fixed asset disposal list.
When asked what her concerns were, Fisher said the large number of stolen items implied a lack of “oversight.”
“I think we need to understand how that number of technical items had been stolen,” she said.
Columbus Municipal School District Superintendent Del Phillips said a police report was filed, per state law, after the items were found missing.
During the move from Hunt to the new middle school, school policies were “followed to a T,” Phillips added.
“I think we had an exorbitant amount of items being moved at that time, a lot of hands moving,” he said.
The matter has since become a “personnel issue,” Phillips said. One school employee was involved, but Phillips declined to release the person”s name or employment status.
Police Public Information Officer Terrie Songer said a report was filed by Phillips Jan. 21, but no investigation had been conducted; there are two suspects.
The report would be passed on to the Criminal Investigation Division today, she said.
Columbus middle-schoolers moved from Lee Middle School (seventh and eighth grades) on Military Road and Hunt Intermediate School (sixth grade) on 20th Street North to the new Columbus Middle School on Highway 373 last month.
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