PITTSBURGH, PA — The president of a Pittsburgh-area school district is facing multiple felony charges after she allegedly misused a credit card when she was manager of one of the district’s boroughs.
Terri Lawson, 52, of Edgewood, is president of the Woodland Hills School District board and the former manager of Rankin Borough. According to court documents, she has been charged with two counts of theft by deception, a count of access device fraud, forgery and tampering with records or identification.
Court records indicate the criminal complaint was filed by the Eastern Mon Valley Regional Police Department. A preliminary hearing is pending.
WTAE-TV reported that Lawson used a Rankin Borough credit card for making nearly $10,000 in personal purchases. Police said the card was used at a marijuana dispensary, eateries, liquor stores, dozens of retailers and a personal utility bill.
The criminal charges come less than a month after a state representative called on Pennsylvania and Allegheny County legal authorities to investigate Woodland Hills for possible misspending
activities.
Rep. Abigail Salisbury, a Swissvale Democrat, wants the state Attorney General’s Office and the county District Attorney’s Office to probe the Woodland Hills School District after constituents contacted her with concerns over district contract awards and the uncertain status of
superintendent Joe Maluchnik.
He has been on paid administrative leave since November for undisclosed reasons and replaced, at least temporarily, by Jean Livingston.