PTA mom is facing charges of forgery, theft over check

PTA mom and part-time classroom aide Annette Marie Symosky, 38, of West Valley City, is facing criminal charges for allegedly writing a $520 check to her husband out of the PTA funds at Pioneer Elementary School in Granite School District.

Symosky is being charged with one count of forgery, a third-degree felony; and one count of theft by deception, a class A misdemeanor, according to 3rd Judicial District Court documents.

She has been fired from the Granite District. "When the charges came to light, we dismissed her immediately," said Granite District spokesman Ben Horsley.

Symosky was an hourly employee, working on various tasks such as helping grade papers in the classroom at Pioneer Elementary, 3860 S. 3380 West, West Valley City.

According to court documents, Symosky, who served as the school's PTA treasurer since summer, admitted she "took the check, wrote it out to her husband, signed it and deposited (it) into their joint account."

Linda Hansen, Granite District PTA director, said the words "carnival supplies" had been written on the check's subject line "and her husband had nothing to do with the school carnival."

Court documents state Pioneer Elementary PTA President Patricia Thomas discovered, while checking the school's PTA bank records on Sept. 29, an unauthorized check had cleared the account. The check was made out to Symosky's husband, Jeff Symosky.

Thomas told the principal and they called Granite District police.

Hansen said, "I don't know what she (Symosky) was thinking. It just wasn't worth it. She lost her job. There may be jail time. The fine is much more than $520."

Symosky's bail was $5,000.

When contacted at her home Thursday, Symosky declined to comment on the embezzlement charges. Her first court appearance is scheduled for Monday.

Granite District Police Chief Randy Johnson said he doesn't know why Symosky allegedly took $520, what it was spent on or whether she intended to pay it back before getting caught.

Hansen said, "It's really taking money from the kids."

Hansen said Region 5 PTA, which is Granite District, checks the financial books of its schools' PTA's annually. The individual school PTA presidents do a monthly audit.

e-mail: astewart@desnews.com. TWITTER: AKStewDesNews. Contributing: Lana Groves