Former Mid-Prairie employee Ruby Annette Kern, 39, of Kalona was charged Monday with Theft in the First Degree in connection with missing funds from the Mid-Prairie School District.

Kern was arrested on Highway 22 at approximately 8:30 a.m. as she was en route to work in Coralville, authorities said. She was taken to the Washington County jail. Arraignment was set for 11 a.m., November 29 in Washington County District Court. Kern was released on $13,000 bond.

Kern was the secretary at Kalona Elementary School and resigned her position, effective January 1. She had been hired August 13, 1991.

According to court documents, Kern was charged with the Class C Felony following a joint investigation by the Washington County Sheriff’s Department, the Washington County Attorney’s Office and the State Auditor’s office that revealed more than $10,000 missing from various school funds and projects.

The investigation also received complete cooperation from officials and personnel in the Mid-Prairie School District and Freedom Security Bank in Kalona, authorities said.

The complaint and affidavit states that an investigation was initiated in December following a complaint of missing funds at Kalona Elementary School. The investigation disclosed that money was missing from various funds at the school and in the district, including concessions and admissions receipts, money from fund-raising events, soda pop and juice revenues and memory book revenues. The investigation also disclosed that money was missing from the Mid-Prairie School support staff dues account, from the Kalona Boosters, a private group associated with the elementary school for which Kern was the treasurer, and that there were shortages in the registration fees and breakfast and lunch programs at the school.

The affidavit alledges that Kern, as school secretary, would have handled or had access to registration fees, breakfast and lunch programs and handled money for other events, including concessions and fund-raisers and was treasurer for the support staff dues account and the Boosters.

The document alledges that checks were written from the Boosters and support staff accounts to Kern’s credit cards and to other businesses for the purchase of personal items, that checks were written from those accounts to pay for the purchase of soda pop and juice for the machines and that the cash revenues, to be used for those purchases are missing. It notes that Kern had no authorization to use those funds for those purposes.

The affidavit dated November 12 also states that “after being confronted about the shortages, the defendant (Kern) attempted to replace some of the missing funds, including one deposit made after she left employment with the school; that the defendant made statements and gave explanations concerning the shortages that did not fit known facts.”

Theft in the First Degree carries a maximum penalty of up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

A private audit of the accounts was conducted by the Mid-Prairie School District this spring and disclosed nearly $6,000 was missing from various accounts that the auditors said were handled by Kern.

The state auditor’s office conducted a second audit of the district’s funds this fall.

Mid-Prairie Superintendent Gordon Cook indicated that some of the missing funds could be covered by insurance, stating that “we are going over this with our insurance company.”

Business Manager Doug Slaubaugh said that the approximate $10,000 figure, noted in the affidavit, is correct “to my knowledge.”

Mid-Prairie Board of Education president Jack Dillon declined to comment.