A Parma City School District Board of Education member has resigned after she was arrested on a charge of forgery last week.
The Parma Board of Education voted Thursday to accept the resignation of former Vice President Amanda Karpus.
On Jan. 11, Karpus was arrested on a felony charge of forgery.
"There are allegations that Amanda Karpus misused a credit card that was the property of an athletic booster club where she was the president," according to a statement from the police department. "When this was discovered, she allegedly created a forged document to cover up the fraudulent purchase.
During Thursday's school board meeting, Board President Steve Vaughn said the board had asked Karpus to resign Monday. The board received her resignation Thursday before its meeting. He called the allegations of misconduct against Karpus "abhorrent."
“If this truly happened, what a selfish and thoughtless act," Vaughn said. "I cannot condone these reported acts as a simple error in judgment.”
Vaughn said the board fears Karpus’ alleged misconduct will cause irreparable harm to the community’s trust, which the board, school district and staff have spent years rebuilding. Previously, a Parma school board member resigned after being caught in a county corruption scandal in 2009.
"My heart is broken for the students of this district," Vaughn said. "Yet I am determined to provide them the education they deserve and continue to move the district forward."
Karpus’ case is pending in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. She was elected vice president of the board the week prior to her arrest.
