Former Treasurer Issued Warrant

By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo

A warrant was issued on October 22 for the arrest of Vanessa Millard, the former treasurer of Botelle School’s Parent Teacher Organization (PTO), who allegedly stole roughly $13,000 from the organization over the past year. Connecticut state police called Millard’s home to ask for her surrender shortly after issuing the warrant. She obliged, was charged with second-degree larceny and was later released on a $25,000 bond.

The president of the Botelle PTO, Lisa Bazzano, immediately instituted new measures to protect the PTO from future embezzlements. Her first move, after deciding to prosecute Millard, was to ask Katherine Pilbin, a well-respected community member and the mother of two Botelle students, to replace Millard as Treasurer. Pilbin accepted the offer. While Pilbin’s integrity has been proven time and again in both the workplace and various town organizations, Bazzano accepted Superintendent Judith A. Palmer’s offer to have her assistant review the Botelle PTO’s books on a monthly basis as well.

At one time, the bank sent the organization’s monthly statements to the school’s office, and the school secretary would then forward them to the PTO. But Millard changed the address on the account so that she was the only person to see the statements. Bazzano has reinitiated the old practice of having the school’s administrators see the statements first.

Further measures to prevent pilfering of PTO funds include a two-person checks-and-balances system. From now on, the cash box will be counted by two people after each PTO fundraiser, and both will sign the deposit slip. Also, deposits will no longer be grouped—the funds from each event will be deposited separately.

“Stealing is not going to happen ever again,” Bazzano assures. “Not on my watch.”

As for the PTO’s programs in the coming year, Bazzano is confident that none of the scheduled events will have to be canceled. On hearing news of the embezzlement, the Norfolk Children’s Foundation gave the PTO a generous grant, and the organization’s recent tag sale (on October 19) raised nearly $1,000. These resources allowed the annual PTO-sponsored Halloween party, The Botelle Spooktacular, to take place as planned on October 25. The annual Veterans Day assembly, another well-attended and treasured PTO event, will also go on as scheduled. “We just need to be a little more creative in how we approach these events,” Bazzano said.

Not surprisingly, there will be more PTO fundraisers than usual this year. Among the planned ideas are a submarine sandwich event for Super Bowl Sunday, where families can order subs and have them delivered to their homes on game day, and a “You’ve Been Flocked” event, where flocks of plastic flamingos mysteriously appear on people’s lawns and the “victims” must make a donation to the PTO in order to make them disappear.

“We’re trying to make our future fundraising events fun, and to have a sense of humor about the situation,” Bazzano said. In the meantime, donations to the PTO are welcomed. Checks should be made out to Botelle Elementary School PTO and sent to: Botelle School, 128 Greenwoods Road East, Norfolk, Conn., 06058.