Volunteering Valley Forge High School students caught up in failed Easter egg business

PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio — What was supposed to be a positive service hours program for Valley Forge High School students ended up leaving (Easter) egg on the face of Parma City Schools officials.

“A woman — who takes orders through Facebook to decorate people’s lawns with Easter eggs — from the community called Valley Forge High School looking to get students interested in receiving service hours for their National Honor Society requirements,” Parma City Schools Superintendent Charles Smialek said.

“Our National Honor Society Advisor passed along the information with 25 students deciding to participate in stuffing Easter eggs or assisting in the Easter egg display. Unfortunately, it turned out the woman was not able to meet her obligations after taking money from folks to have their lawns decorated with Easter eggs as a surprise.”

Despite the fact the students held up their side of the deal, angry customers stiffed on Easter vented on social media that the teens were part of a scam. This forced the district to put out a statement that the students were unsuspecting participants who fulfilled their duties with the best of intentions.

“Obviously, the students got caught up in something through no fault of their own and it became something different from that,” Smialek said. “I got a couple of emails and a phone call from parents who were concerned.

“Ultimately, we’re not sure this woman had any malicious intent. This isn’t an organized criminal here but that’s for law enforcement to sort out. It’s not for us to judge.”

Parma Police Lt. Daniel Ciryak confirmed the department is currently investigating whether a crime was committed.

Until recently, the Parma City Schools policy regarding student service hour programs was simply the responsibility of the student organization’s advisor.

“In this case, the National Honor Society advisor did some vetting,” Smialek said. “She looked at this woman’s Facebook account. The woman — who is a parent in the district — has done this for six years in a row. We felt like it was a reputable operation.”

Going forward, Smialek said the district will be forced to implement a stricter vetting process when it comes to student service hour programs.

“It’s horrible to operate with an eye of skepticism but at the same time, fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me,” Smialek said. “We’re going to have to shore up our procedures. We’ll have a preferred provider list with folks who have given our kids some opportunities for some time without issue. If they call, it’s a green light to refer them to our students.

“However, if someone else not on the list calls, we’ll have to handle it like we’re hiring somebody and do more background work. We just can’t put our students into a situation where they’d be in danger and possibly get caught up in something that’s a negative operation instead of a positive one.”

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