Marana School District employee arrested in theft of $31,000

Andrea Lynn Chruscinski, who has worked at Quail Run Elementary school since 2003, was arrested at the district office Thursday morning and booked on a theft charge into the Pima County jail.

She has since been assigned to home with pay, said Tamara Crawley, a Marana School District spokeswoman.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department began investigating Chruscinski, 33, earlier this week after administrators from the food services department noticed money missing from a district account.

The theft is believed to have been occurring over the last two years, but it was only recently brought to the attention of administration, Crawley said.

“The allegation regarding the stolen money references a district account,” Crawley said. “At no time did this impact any student lunch account balance.

“The Marana Unified School District takes this extremely seriously and will continue to collaborate fully with law enforcement’s investigation,” she said.

Chruscinski was entrusted with the funds that were stolen, according to Deputy Dawn Hanke, a Pima County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman. Online court records show that Chruscinski was arrested in 1998 on a theft charge, which was later dismissed.

The arrest is the second this week of a Marana School District employee.

On Tuesday, a Mountain View High School social studies teacher was arrested after a student accused him of sexual abuse.