Warrants Issued for Woman Accused of Stealing from Cumming Elementary PTO

Arrest warrants have been issued Thursday for a woman accused of stealing more than $7,000 from the Cumming Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization (PTO), according to authorities.

Jamie Garfield, 36, who served for several years as the school's PTO treasurer, faces charges of theft.

"At present warrants have been issued for theft by taking in the amount of $7,911.82," said Sgt. Bryan Zimbardi with the Cumming Police Department. "The reported amount of the theft was substantially larger than that, however the remainder of the money is still under active investigation by the Criminal Investigation Division."

The police news release stated, Garfield is suspected of stealing those PTO funds over the course of 21 months. The thefts were discovered when Board Members of the Cumming Elementary School PTO became aware that one of their accounts was overdrawn, leading them to approach Cumming PD regarding an investigation of suspected criminal activity.

Authorities became aware of the theft following a police report that was filed on August 5, 2010, according to Zimbardi.

"As far as I know it was reported almost within 24 hours of discovery," Zimbardi said.

Garfield is expected to be arrested sometime in the near future as soon as authorities can find her.

"We don't know where she is staying right now," said Zimbardi. "She is at this point in time not returning phone calls, and she is being uncooperative with the investigators."

According to Zimbardi, Garfield has been interviewed once and was suppose to be interviewed a second time, but has not.

The Forsyth County Board of Education issued this e-mail to Cumming Patch:

"The Cumming Elementary School PTO is an outstanding organization of dedicated volunteers. They work tirelessly to support our students and teachers, providing family events to build a strong school community, and raise funds for additional learning resources and student equipment.

When the accounting discrepancies of the former PTO treasurer were discovered in 2010 by the school principal and PTO board, the Cumming Police Department was contacted immediately. Since that time the PTO has reinforced its monthly financial review with additional oversight and annually completes an external audit.

Though the PTO is a separate organization that is not under the school district’s financial controls or procedures, we are always saddened when there are allegations of behavior by adults that negatively impact children in any way."