Cafeteria manager investigated over missing lunch money

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Greenbrier Elementary School’s former cafeteria manager is being investigated over missing lunch money, school officials said Thursday.

According to a Columbia County sheriff’s report, Greenbrier Elementary Principal Mary Bridges called deputies on Tuesday to report the missing funds.

Jane Wiggins, director of nutrition for the school system, told police she first noticed discrepancies with Greenbrier Elementary’s cafeteria accounts in Augusta 2014. Wiggins said it appeared the cafeteria manager, Debbie Proctor, 56, of Martinez, had been “pocketing the cash transactions from parents’ payments to school lunch accounts,” the report stated. Wiggins said a little more than $243 was missing from the cafeteria account.

School officials said Proctor, who was employed by the school system for 17 years, resigned from her position on March 27, after being confronted with the situation.

At the time of the report, Bridges told the deputy that the “board of Education was handling the situation,” and asked only to file an “informational report,” about the incident.

On Thursday, Superintendent Sandra Carraway said Bridges had made an error due to a miscommunication and authorities had been called to correct the record and report the missing money as a theft. Carraway said it was policy to report any potential crime to the proper authorities.