OHS teacher arrested on felony theft charge (+mug) (+complaint)

A 43-year-old Odessa High English teacher and sponsor of the Bronchettes pep squad declined to comment Thursday when reached about her arrest in connection with felony theft.

Jena Marie Graves, 3727 Andrews Highway, was arrested Feb. 9 by Ector County Independent School District Police, district communications director Mike Adkins said.

According to an arrest affidavit issued Feb. 8, Graves is accused of taking $6,572.80 from a Bronchettes’ activity fund.

The affidavit said an internal audit conducted by ECISD found the negative balance and contacted ECISD police by Jan. 12. On Jan. 20, ECISD Police Officer Paul Carr hand delivered a letter to Graves, giving her 10 days to return the missing money. On Jan. 31, officers reported they hadn’t been contacted by Graves about returning the money, the affidavit said. It adds that Graves is the sole sponsor of the Bronchettes and no one gave her permission to take the money or deposit the funds.

Adkins said Thursday the money, which was brought in through fundraising, had not been recovered.

Adkins said Graves is on personal leave, which means her salary is being paid.

“There’s an administrative process that has to be worked through,” he said. “We’re going to go through the due process.”

The affidavit listed Odessa High Principal Denise Shetter as the “owner” of the missing money. Adkins said this was because the principal of the school is ultimately in charge of all the school’s activity funds.

The affidavit accuses Graves of having “intent to deprive the owner of the property and without the effective consent of the owner.”

Efforts Thursday to reach Shetter were not successful.

Jamie Anderson, sponsor of the Showgirls dance team at Odessa High, said she would need to call Shetter for permission to comment on activity funds at the school. After that, Anderson was not able to be reached.

Ector County District Attorney Bobby Bland said Thursday he had not received the case.

Graves is at least the second ECISD employee to be investigated in a case involving an activity fund in recent months. Barbara Jordan Elementary Principal Jan Brown submitted her retirement Feb. 11, citing a family illness. However, the retirement came in the wake of a Texas Rangers investigation into the school’s activity fund, leading to Brown being faced with charges of false report to a peace officer, a class B misdemeanor.

ECISD has never released the amount of money in question due to a discrepancy in Barbara Jordan’s activity fund. Adkins said that is because ECISD’s investigation was private in that case, and the Bronchette funds were part of a publicly available affidavit.

“It’s much more detailed when an actual arrest occurs and the affidavit is public record,” he said.

ECISD has sent an open records request relating to the Jan Brown case to the state attorney general’s office, seeking their opinion.

@OAschools