Canutillo ISD votes not to compare assistant superintendent’s signature following allegations

The Canutillo Independent School District board has decided not to hire an outside firm to collect a writing sample of their assistant superintendent’s signature in a 5-2 vote during a special board meeting Wednesday night.

District Assistant Superintendent Annette Brigham is accused of interfering with an internal audit.

Back in May 2013, the district was trying find out what happened to missing fundraiser money from Canutillo Elementary School’s spring festival.

Board Trustee Armando Rodriguez accuses Brigham of warning Canutillo Elementary’s business manager of a site visit being conducted by internal auditors. When those auditors arrived, the only two people capable of opening the school safe, the principal and the school’s business manager, were allegedly gone. It wasn’t until the following day the safe was opened and $4,000 were allegedly found inside.

A month after the incident, the school’s principal Connie Parker and business manager Virginia Hernandez resigned.

During the vote, only Trustee Sergio Coronado backed Rodriguez’s proposal to hire an outside firm to examine Brigham’s signature.

“Sergio is an attorney. He knows what liabilities can happen to the district and I’m sure he’s going to make the right decisions for the district and not on personal relationships,” Rodriguez said. He stressed the fact that he does not speak on behalf of the school board.

Rodriguez reminded the board that comparing signatures would have cost the district no more than $500, but no votes were changed.

The investigation isn’t over. A second internal audit draft was just completed and Rodriguez said it will be made available to ABC-7 some time in the near future.

Brigham left the board room shortly after the decision came down. She did not make herself available for comments.