UPDATE (7 p.m.): A school employee from Theodore High School has been dismissed amid allegations of financial mismanagement involving substantial funds.

Courtney Davis, who served as the school’s bookkeeper, presented her defense before the Mobile County School Board. Despite her efforts to explain, the board ultimately decided to terminate her employment.

During the meeting, Davis expressed her sentiments, stating, “I miss my school,” as she attempted to convey her perspective to the board members.

The hearing on Thursday provided Davis with a platform to address concerns surrounding $600,000 in mishandled finances from the institution’s last two financial audits. According to the school board, these audits uncovered nearly 1,200 financial discrepancies.

Thursday’s hearing was an opportunity for Davis to address $600,000 in mismanaged funds from the school’s last two audits, which the school board said revealed nearly 1,200 discrepancies.

Davis points to a lack of training.

“I did not receive new bookkeeper training like others do because of the time of year that I went into the position,” Davis said. “It was interrupted time, you know, the teachers coming in and out, turning things in. So it wasn’t closed. Like a quiet time.”

Davis said she took on additional roles in the past couple of years, acting as the school’s secretary and registrar, in addition to bookkeeper.

School board member Sherry Dillihay-McDade said that’s no excuse for losing track of that much money.

“Her primary focus should have been on maintaining the finances of the school, keeping an accurate record of the disbursement and the incoming money that was going, coming into our system,” Dillihay-McDade said. 

Davis’s attorney said the audits leave questions that can’t be answered because the school system’s internal auditor died in September.

“The person that I would ask that came to the conclusion is unavailable, and the documentation that was used, allegedly to come to the conclusion, is unavailable; never received it,” Davis’s attorney, LaSheryl Dotch, said. 

When asked if Davis will appeal, the attorney said she’s exploring her options.

In the meantime, the school district is working to determine exactly where the $600,000 went, including how much of it, if any, is still missing.

PREVIOUS REPORTING:

THEODORE, Ala. (WKRG) — The bookkeeper at Theodore High School has been fired after it was found that over $600,000 was missing.

Courtney Davis was fired during the Mobile County Public School System board meeting.

According to Davis’s attorney, she was placed on administrative leave in November after there were discrepancies found in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school audits.

Witnesses said over $600,000 is unaccounted for and that over 1,200 discrepancies were found over both audits.

Davis said she had been acting as the secretary, registrar, and bookkeeper at the high school from 2023 until the most recent audit was completed.

Davis’s attorney said she never received any documentation about the discrepancies.