Parent stole $20K from PTO, police say

Remember when you were in school and always had to sell crap? Magazines, sausage baskets, wrapping paper, candy bars — it was all done to benefit school programs, and of course you were guaranteed to do pretty well, because what adult would turn down a little kid with a catalog full of sausages? What we never would have imagined was someone stealing our hard-earned money, but that's what police say the PTO treasurer at a Missouri City school did. Her name is Paula Bottensek, and police say she pocketed $20,375 to make payments on a personal loan. Undersandably, that didn't sit well with other parents:

"It's unbelievable to me that someone in that position could abuse her position to take the money for that purpose," [one parent told KPRC]. "Every parent at the school would probably like to get a $20,000 loan, interest-free, from the district and pay it back whenever they felt like it. But, I haven't seen that offer being made to anybody."

Kids at Lexington Creek Elementary had raised the money through auctions and candy sales; the PTO was spending money on student projects when it discovered the missing 20 grand. Bottensek hasn't commented on the case: When a KPRC reporter approached her to ask about it, she sped away. Though investigators said Bottensek is trying to return the money to the PTO, the Fort Bend County district attorney could still press charges.