Warren school worker charged with theft

Staff report

WARREN

Susan Manusakis, 54, of Country Club Avenue in Youngstown, remains on the job as a secretary for Warren City Schools after being charged with felony theft and forgery from the Warren Secretarial Association, the union that represents secretaries within Warren City Schools.

She was arraigned last week in Warren Municipal Court and was released after posting $10,000 personal-recognizance bond, meaning she didn’t have to pay anything. A not-guilty plea was entered for her. She returns to court for a preliminary hearing at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 17 before Judge Terry Ivanchak.

Manusakis is accused of forgery in connection with 26 checks written on the account of the secretarial association and theft of $21,749 from the group, according to the complaint filed with the court.

She was president for the Warren Secretarial Association, which is a branch of the Ohio Education Association during the time of the alleged thefts, police said. The crimes are alleged to have occurred from January 2012 to January 2015.

Manusakis works as a secretary for the Lincoln Pre-K to Grade 8 school and earns $37,217 annually, according to her personnel records.

Warren police conducted an investigation after the secretary for the association reported in March that the OEA had contacted her to say that the union had been behind on its dues for several years.

Steve Chiaro, superintendent of Warren schools, said he followed the advice of the school district’s legal counsel in allowing Manusakis to continue working because she has not been convicted of anything and because the allegations do not involve school-district funds or the school district.