An Indiana State Board of Accounts investigation found that for more than a year, former Lincoln High School Principal Renée Lakes altered five employees’ time cards to remove hours worked.
Western Wayne Schools officials first noticed the discrepancies when a part-time employee emailed WWS Director of Human Resources Robin Hokey in November 2024 to ask about qualifying for insurance benefits.
The employee said they had worked more than the 29-hour threshold for part-time employees, but payroll records did not show the same.
The SBOA’s Oct. 23 report, authored by state examiner Paul D. Joyce, indicates that Lakes might have been attempting to keep employees classified as part-time so that they would not be eligible for insurance benefits.
The WWS noncertified handbook entries cited in the report note that employees working 30 hours per week or more should be provided with group life insurance coverage and accidental death benefits, with the school district paying all but $1 of the premiums. The handbook also requires those employees to receive health insurance, long-term disability and other benefits.
When the HR department researched the matter, they noticed that Lakes made time changes to employee clock-in and clock-out times in the school’s employee payroll software.
Hokey emailed Lakes on Nov. 18, 2024, asking about the altered records and requesting evidence of disputes over the time card records to show that Lakes was not changing the hours without reason. SBOA says Lakes continued the practice even after receiving Hokey’s email.
Hokey and then-superintendent Andy Stover began collecting additional evidence of Lakes changing employee hours, according to the report. Video footage gathered in one case showed the employee clocking out at 3:02 p.m. on Dec. 13, 2024, and in the software system, Lakes adjusted the same employee’s clock-out time to 2:30 p.m.
WWS officials discussed the findings with the school district’s attorney, and WWS then conducted an internal investigation. Per the district’s policies, they involved the SBOA.
In a Dec. 20, 2024, interview that Stover and Hokey conducted with Lakes, she said that when employees recorded more than 29 hours, she took it as a mistake made by the employee, and fixed the mistake, according to the report.
The report says none of the employees were aware that their hours were being adjusted or that they were not being paid for all hours worked.
The adjustments happened between Aug. 9, 2023, and Dec. 20, 2024, for a total of 363 hours withheld across all five affected employees. The total dollar value of the hours withheld was $5,082. The employees were compensated for the missed payments during the Feb. 21 payroll with a line item on their paychecks that read “MONEY OWED FOR MISSED HOURS,” according to the report.
SBOA noted “internal control deficiencies,” saying that Lakes was able to improperly adjust the time records because of her position as an administrator. Their report also found no evidence of any disciplinary action taken by the WWS school board following the district’s internal investigation. SBOA said that the district is expected to implement actions and tools to detect and prevent risks, and to segregate duties accordingly.
On Oct. 7, SBOA investigators discussed their findings with Lakes along with Kris Bex, who became board president in April 2025, new Superintendent Kelly Plank, Treasurer Peggy Huesman and Hokey.
Lakes abruptly resigned Oct. 9. A message sent to WWS families the next day referred to it only as “a change in leadership.”
SBOA notes in the report that Indiana law requires a misappropriation of public funds to be referred to the local prosecuting attorney.
WWN has reached out to WWS officials for comment, and this story may be updated as more information becomes available.
Millicent Martin Emery contributed to this reporting.
A version of this article will appear in the November 5 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.