Phoenixville School District Financials Under Investigation

PHOENIXVILLE, PA — An investigation into "discrepancies" in the Phoenixville Area School District's business office is now underway.

This comes following the departure of the district's previous business manager, Chris Gehris, on Sept. 12. The district said on Wednesday that he had resigned, and had not been fired.

No charges have yet been filed, but police have been notified of the situation, and Phoenixville Superintendent Alan Fegley told the school community that an independent firm had been hired to audit the district's finances.

An employee first reported the discrepancies to Fegley in late August, the district confirmed in an email to Patch on Wednesday.

Phoenixville resident and former borough councilman Michael Kuznar, who first brought the information forward to the media, said that there have been efforts to uncover more details for weeks.

"I heard rumors that there were financial discrepancies, and I was shocked that this was going on for so long and no media outlets knew about it," Kuznar said.

The exact nature of the discrepancies was not clarified by the school district, which called them discrepancies in "departmental and district procedures."

A new business manager, Richard Fazio, has since been hired on an interim basis.

"While I cannot comment on the specifics of the investigation, I do want to assure the community that the day-to-day business office functions are proceeding as normal," Fegley added.

This story will be updated as additional details become available.