The Nassau County District Attorney's office has begun an investigation of a missing funds scandal in the Roslyn School District, one in which up to $250,000 was taken from the school budget for the 2001-2002 fiscal year.

The investigation is being undertaken with the full cooperation of the Roslyn School Board and Administration. These most recent revelations were made in an open letter to all residents of the Roslyn School District, one signed by Superintendent Dr. Frank A. Tassone and the seven members of the school board.

According to published reports, the public first received knowledge of the situation when Village of East Hills Mayor Michael Koblenz, plus defense attorneys from both Nassau and Suffolk counties obtained an anonymous letter that detailed what the school board has termed the "misappropriation" of funds by a "school district employee."

According to William Costigan, president of the school board, the district itself became aware of the lost monies in the fall of 2002, when the board's independent auditors brought it to their attention.

The board, Costigan said, then conducted an analysis of district records to determine "who was involved, how it happened, and who benefited from the loss."

With that completed, the board demanded, and received, the resignation of the school district employee, whom published reports claim was an assistant superintendent to the district. The employee also surrendered her teaching certificate with New York State. In addition, the school district has received restitution for the missing funds.

Costigan said that after having obtained restitution, plus the employee's resignation, the superintendent and the board "were advised by special counsel that they were not obliged to notify criminal agencies."

At a recent school board meeting, board members responded to questions from the public on why the issue was not reported to the Roslyn community. Since the board had already secured the employee's resignation and a restitution of funds, its members have maintained that "a criminal prosecution and the press scrutiny that would have resulted [from public disclosure] may have made the achievement of these goals more difficult and brought unnecessary harm to the school district."

The board, Costigan added, has now "focused its energy on implementing procedures to safeguard against any further misuse of public funds." In response to further inquiries made by local residents, Dr. Tassone said that school districts have "absolutely no control" over the pensions of former employees.

"The board of education did not enter into any agreement with the individual who is being investigated," the superintendent continued. "This decision was deliberate, because the board did not want such an agreement to be a bar to any further civil or criminal investigation, such as the one that is now being undertaken by the District Attorney. And we are cooperating fully with that investigation."