Geenel Madrid, the office assistant at an elementary school in Elk Grove, was arrested for stealing thousands of dollars from Zehnder Ranch Elementary School. Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office took her into custody last week under charges that she allegedly misappropriated funds from the school.

Sergeant Tess Deterding of Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said of the theft, “There was some money missing from some envelopes that are used for field trip funds and things like that.”

On July 17, the school alerted the sheriff’s office about the missing money on their first week back to work. With the school resource officer and school district’s investigative efforts, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office learned of Madrid’s alleged relation to the missing money and booked her on related charges, July 24.

The principal of Zehnder Ranch Elementary School notified parents of the investigation, and according to Elk Grove Unified School District spokesperson Xanthi Pinkerton, Madrid resigned her position.

Pinkerton said of the situation: “This news is both shocking and disappointing as it is not common. We have checks and balances in place to prevent and/or detect these types of incidents, and in this case, the system worked in detecting the fraud.”

The case is under review by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office for a filing decision before Madrid’s arraignment on August 5.

Message from Principal Zehnder of Ranch Elementary School