Joyce Green charged with theft

On Sept. 23 a grand jury indicted former Plaquemines Parish School Board finance director Joyce Green on two counts of theft of more than $500 in connection with the theft of a total of $46,535.12.

Green, 50, who resides at 5148 Oak Bayou Road in Marrero, was also indicted on one count of malfeasance in office for submitting a request for an additional $31,500, which she did not receive.

Green is accused of unlawfully obtaining more than $46,000 from the Plaquemines Parish School Board in early May. On May 3, Green obtained a check for just under $42,000. The next day, she obtained another check for about $4,600.

Then, on May 18, a third check for $31,500 came to Plaquemines Parish School Superintendent Denis Rousselle for his signature. Rousselle began to look into the matter when he noticed the check was made out to Green, Plaquemines Parish District Attorney Charles Ballay said.

“That’s when it was caught. She was a salaried employee of the school board. She was not authorized to get this extra pay,” Ballay said.

Ballay said the thefts stemmed from FEMA reimbursements for administrative costs associated with Hurricanes Katrina, Gustav and Ike.
“With the school system, many of the employees worked extra on Hurricanes Katrina, Gustav and Ike damages. FEMA rules allow it to pay extra funds for that,” Ballay said.

However, the school system had not authorized any of those administrative reimbursements to go directly to employees, Ballay said.

“[Green] decided on her own to authorize and get herself paid for that amount,” Ballay said.

After Rousselle looked into the matter and confronted Green, she returned the money to the school system, Ballay said.

Green’s arraignment is currently set for Oct. 25.