LAWNDALE : Probe of Possible Theft of Scholarship Funds

Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives are investigating the disappearance of $25,000 from a Leuzinger High School scholarship fund.

Officials say the money may have been stolen, said Detective Arlo Thykeson.

In September, 1993, the school was given $25,000 by a private donor to pay the college expenses of a deserving Leuzinger graduate, said Anne O’Brien, administrator of financial services for the Centinela Valley Union High School District. To keep the money separate from district funds, Principal Sonja Davis gave the check to a student store clerk, Jeffrey Kern. Kern was told to open an account similar to the store’s account, O’Brien said.

But when the scholarship winner tried to claim the money two weeks ago, it was found that an account had not been set up and the money could not be found.

In January, 1994, Kern was caught forging signatures and depositing store funds into his private bank account, O’Brien said. A district audit revealed that Kern had taken $14,000. In May, 1994, he was sentenced to probation and ordered to pay back $8,000. A $5,000 donation from the school’s booster club made up the difference, O’Brien said.

O’Brien said officials may have traced the missing $25,000 scholarship check to the booster club’s bank account. The president of the booster club, Cheryl Robinson, is Kern’s mother, officials said.

Robinson declined to comment. Kern’s attorney said his client has not been charged in this new investigation.