Theatre Teacher Charged with Embezzlement from Performing Arts Program
Yesterday, Holly Fougere was supposed to start work as the interim theater teacher in Maine’s Kennebunk School District. But that didn’t happen because Fougere has been arrested and charged with felony embezzlement charges stemming from her previous theatre teaching position.
Conway Police Chief Chris Mattei announced her arrest last week, saying Fougere turned herself in after an investigation into allegations of forgery and theft by misapplication of property. She was released on bail.
“The investigation revealed that Fougere diverted checks made payable to programs associated with Kennett High School into a personal bank account. It appears as though these funds, intended to support the Kennett High School Performing Arts and Dance programs, were misappropriated for personal use,” Mattei said.
Local news reports:
The theft by misapplication of property charge is a Class B felony, as the amount of misappropriated funds exceeds $1,000. She was also charged with seven counts of forgery, Class B felony, related to multiple altered checks used to divert funds into a personal account. Mattei said, “These offenses came to light when representatives from SAU 9 discovered an altered check and reported the incident to law enforcement.”
On Friday, Mattei said: “We do not have a definitive total yet as we are still processing account information. This investigation, like most financial crimes, is extensive and requires a lot of time reviewing bank records.”
Kennebunk school officials confirmed that Fougere will not be the new theatre teacher in the district.
In a statement released later Monday, Superintendent Terri Cooper said she had not yet offered a job to Fougere, even though she had been authorized by the school board to do so.
"Given the uncertainty around this situation, I have decided not to offer an employment contract to the candidate," Cooper wrote. "At the time the candidate applied, she underwent our standard comprehensive hiring process, including thorough background and reference checks. These checks revealed no disqualifying information at the time. The district had no knowledge of the alleged conduct when the School Board approved her appointment as this came to light very recently."
Fougere was scheduled to earn an annual salary of $86,392 at Kennebunk High School.
To add insult to injury, students and families rallied for Fougere just a couple of years ago when her position in the Conway district was threatened due to budget cuts.
In December 2022, dozens of current and former Kennett High students turned out to a Conway School board meeting to show support for Fougere who faced having her position cut to part-time.
Due to declining enrollment in performing art classes, Kennett High Principal Kevin Carpenter proposed in his 2023-24 budget to cut Fougere’s hours back, while using the remaining funds to outsource various programs.
The school board ended up voting unanimously to retain Fougere full-time.
She was honored with the “Outstanding Leadership Award” at the Education 2.0 Conference shortly after that meeting.
The award was presented “in appreciation of her commitment to helping students with creative and innovative teaching approaches in the performing arts space.”
It’s unclear if this alleged embezzlement has damaged Kennett’s ability to produce school productions.
She’s due in court in March.