ATLANTA,None — A group of angry parents will have to wait a little longer to see if a former PTA president will stand trial for allegedly stealing senior class trip money.
Police charged former Westlake PTA President Kimberly Wright with theft by deception after 53 parents claimed she took their $475 payment for a Disney World trip last spring but never delivered the trip and kept the money.
"I trust the justice system to work for me, but I'm feeling like the justice system is failing me," said Angela White, the parent of one of the former Westlake students.
Wright appeared in Fulton County Magistrate Court on Monday. The judge agreed to give Wright and her attorney until Nov. 30 to gather evidence and more information before she will have to appear again for a preliminary court hearing.
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"We all want to know what happened to the money," said White.
Through her attorney, Wright told the judge she is trying to pay back every last dime and has already refunded money to seven of the 53 parents. She said much of the initial money got tied up in nonrefundable deposits for that trip, and was lost when the trip was canceled.
"Mrs. Wright is in the process of raising funds in order to repay the rest," said Wright's attorney, Marcia Fuller. "But a significant number of those students have been paid."
Several of the parents who appeared at Monday's postponed hearing admitted to Channel 2’s Richard Elliot they're still frustrated.
"When I heard that only seven parents had gotten money, I thought, gosh. If there are 53 of us, it's going to take forever," said Regina Daniels, whose daughter is now a freshman at Kennesaw State. "That money could be a great help for text books, and that's what we're hoping, to get it back in time for second semester."
Other parents said no amount of money can pay for their children's disappointment at not getting a senior trip.
"The kids lost out on this," said parent Donna Lee. "They'll never forget that their senior trip never happened."
WSBTV
