Local school district superintendent, police search for missing marching band money

Money meant for a Logan County school band is missing and their longtime band director has suddenly retired.

>>PHOTOS: Police, superintendent search for missing marching band money of local school

Bellefontaine City School District’s Superintendent Brad Hall said he doesn’t know where the money went but the police are investigating.

Money first started to go missing last season. Concerns were brought up that deposits for the band funds were either not made at all or in a timely manner.

The funds continued to either go missing or not be deposited when they should’ve been throughout the summer.

According to Hall, in late August a meeting was scheduled to give former Band Director Jeremy Karg an opportunity to speak on the concerns made, but during the meeting, Karg announced his decision to resign.

“The Board of Education accepted Mr. Karg’s resignation at their September 11 Board of Education meeting and then [yesterday] evening, we sent out a notice to staff and parents,” Hall said.

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In a statement announcing Karg’s retirement after 32 years in the district, it explains where the district is at in the investigation about where the money went.

“We’ve been fully cooperating with our local police department. We’ve turned over all our current and past financial records related to that account, and we’re going to continue to cooperate with our investigation,” Hall said.

News Center 7′s Taylor Robertson reached out to the Bellefontaine Police Department for more information, but they said since the investigation is ongoing, they couldn’t share anything.

As for the high school’s band season, Hall said two individuals stepped up to the plate and took over right away.

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“Mr. Karg has meant a lot to a lot of students, and I’ve heard great things about how much he has inspired people to pursue their love of music,” Hall said.

One student who graduated two years ago, Alexis Close, said Mr. Karg was a great man and one of the hardest parts of graduating was leaving the school’s marching band.

Hall said once the band season is over, they will post the position for a new band director.