Former teacher indicted in money-misuse case

A former Yuma teacher is now facing felony charges after a four-year investigation by the Arizona Office of the Auditor General into allegations of financial misconduct.

In September 2007, the Yuma Union High School District reported irregularities in financial reporting that led to an in-depth investigation of Mark Rau, Yuma High School marketing teacher and Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) student club sponsor. Rau was fired by the governing board on April 14, 2008.

According to an Auditor General's Office report, Rau, who began teaching at YHS in 1997, had misused $86,276 of public money and falsified at least 25 public documents over the course of almost seven years.

He allegedly diverted funds from the YHS student store, royalty checks, deposits for DECA trips and extracurricular tax credit donations intended for the DECA program into his own personal bank and credit union accounts.

For example, during one infraction, the report stated, after school on Sept. 27, 2004, Rau deposited public funds totaling $725 into his own personal account when his checking account balance was at $22.81. The deposit allowed for his $700 credit card payment to clear the following day.

After Rau's case was presented to the state grand jury, he was indicted on five felony counts of misuse of public money and tampering with a public record.

YUHSD Superintendent Toni Badone, also superintendent at the time of the incident, said there were already foundational financial reporting systems in place prior to the events in the report but they have since been improved.

“Following the incidents in 2007, the district put additional controls and systems in place,” stated YUHSD. “Two examples of those controls are mandatory training by the Business Office for all staff who work with money in any form, as well as additional personnel added to the campuses to assist club sponsors, coaches and administrators in financial record keeping.”

The investigation report issued by the Auditor General's Office also listed nine recommendations for YUHSD to prevent future misuse of funds.

Badone explained that many of the recommendations were implemented in 2007 and they continue to work on making sure they are efficient in their financial reporting.

“We have really worked hard to put the appropriate systems in place to protect our programs, to protect our students and to protect our system. We have really taken it very seriously and when there's any doubt, we've erred on the side of caution.”

Visit www.azauditor.gov to read the report by the Auditor General's Office in its entirety.

Sarah Womer can be reached at swomer@yumasun.com or 539-6858. Find her on Facebook at Facebook.com/YSSarahWomer or on Twitter at @YSSarahWomer.