Surrey school parent advisory council's bank account emptied

RCMP are investigating the disappearance of funds from the bank account of a Surrey elementary school's parent advisory council (PAC).

Doug Strachan, manager of communications for the Surrey school board, said between $20,000 and $30,000 is missing — money collected over the last three years that was to be put toward a new playground.

"This is an inner city school, and it's very difficult for that community to come up with this kind of money, so I think there's a lot of hurt for the people involved," Strachan said.

Members of the PAC executive at École K.B. Woodward discovered last week their bank account had been completely emptied without their knowledge, according to a letter sent to parents.

The letter explains how executive members were going through PAC emails and found one from the bank where the PAC keeps its funds.

"The [bank] statement seemed wrong and after calls to the bank, it was confirmed our PAC account was empty. There were no funds in the account. We are all devastated to hear this news," the letter read.

"As a result, our PAC executive obtained copies of a large number of banking records from our bank and called the Surrey RCMP.

"We hope the police investigation will result in a better understanding of what has occurred and perhaps even provide the possibility of recovering some or all of the missing funds. However, recovery may be unlikely, and we believe we need to continue our work in the meantime."

According to the letter, the PAC executive is already planning a fundraising event to help offset the loss.