Report: Over $17,000 missing from Ohio school's vending machine

WORTHINGTON, Ohio — More than $17,000 from an Ohio school’s vending machine went missing over a six-year period, officials said.

The losses at Linworth Alternative School in Worthington took place from 2013 to 2019, with payments to vendors for the machine exceeding the cash receipts that were deposited, according to a report released this week by Ohio’s state auditor.

The Worthington City Schools district treasurer’s office said it became aware of the missing money in May of 2019 and officials determined after a review that revenues from the soft drink vending machine weren’t deposited “in a timely manner,” the auditor’s report said. An administrative secretary who was responsible for collecting and depositing the money from the machine resigned in July, and the district turned over information to the auditor’s staff and police, according to the auditor’s report.

The secretary cited “personal reasons” in her resignation letter, and her attorney said she is cooperating with investigators, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

The school district has since discontinued the self-fill soft drink machine program “to eliminate the potential internal control weakness,” according to the auditor’s report.