The former president of the parent teacher organization at a Buffalo Grove school is facing charges of theft after being accused of improperly using at least $10,000 of PTO funds, authorities announced in a news release Thursday.
Megan Robin, 43, of the 1300 block of Larchmont Drive, in Buffalo Grove, is charged with felony theft after she allegedly “failed to make appropriate deposits of funds earned from fundraising sales and auctions” while she was head of the PTO at Prairie Elementary School.
The school, one of four elementary schools in Buffalo Grove-based Kildeer-Country School District 96, enrolls about 450 students. The seven-school district also has two middle schools and a pre-K center, and has some 3,500 students.
Members of the SD96 PTO executive board made the alleged theft discovery and in September reached out to Buffalo Grove police, according to the release.
“Police also discovered Ms. Robin made several unauthorized withdrawals from the organization’s bank account. Further investigation revealed Ms. Robin used the organization’s debit card for personal uses,” the release states.
PTO officials told authorities that Robin oversaw management of the fundraiser and auction proceeds for the PTO during the 2022-2023 fiscal year. The release states that officials found that over $10,000 was improperly used during that time.
Kildeer-Countryside School District 96 spokeswoman Stephanie Esters clarified that the stolen funds are “monies which are not District 96 funds, but those belonging to the Prairie School PTO.”
In a statement from the Coordinating Council, a nonprofit that oversees the PTO at Prairie Elementary School and six other SD96 schools, officials stated the funds at the center of this incident were “meant to support students, staff, and programming at the school.”
“We are shocked and saddened that any parent volunteer would take advantage of their position to divert funds from their intended purpose for personal benefit. We have cooperated fully with the Buffalo Grove Police in their investigation and plan to pursue every legal option to assure full restitution of the funds to be properly used to benefit the Prairie School community,” council officials wrote in the statement.
Authorities told Pioneer Press that Robin went into the police station Wednesday for a meeting and was subsequently arrested and charged.
“After consultation with the Lake County States Attorney’s Office, charges were approved for a Class 2 felony Theft,” the release states.
Robin was released from police custody and is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 29 at the Lake County Courthouse, according to the release.