Columbus – Auditor of State Keith Faber today released the 2019 audit of Worthington City School District (Franklin County), which uncovered that the Administrative Secretary, Michelle Gouhin, improperly handled $17,272 from a district owned pop machine.

“My office will work aggressively to defend against any waste or abuse of public money,” Auditor Faber said. “I appreciate school district officials alerting us to this issue so my office could come in to ensure the funds are restored to the district.”

Gouhin was the Administrative Secretary for the Linworth Alternative School within Worthington School District from July 15, 2013 to July 1, 2019. Gouhin was in charge of collecting, verifying, and depositing fines, fees, monies received, and student activity funds, which included monies from a self-fill pop machine. Auditors determined that this pop machine has a net zero margin in a given year and that the collection should approximately equal the cost paid for the product in that same year. Throughout fiscal years 2013 through 2019, cash disbursements for the pop machine exceeded the cash receipts that Gouhin deposited. Auditors noted 52 cash payments to Pepsi totaling $25,198 and 24 cash deposits totaling $7,926 resulting in $17,272 missing.

In the audit report, Auditor Faber issued a finding for recovery for the unaccounted for funds against Gouhin, in favor of the Worthington City School District Linworth Alternative School Public School Support Fund.

The district received a $16,272 check from the Ohio School Plan, the district’s insurance company, on December 18, 2019. The policy had a $1,000 deductible.

A full copy of this report is available online.  

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The Auditor of State’s office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio is responsible for auditing more than 6,000 state and local government agencies. Under the direction of Auditor Keith Faber, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies, and promotes transparency in government. 

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