By Matthew Nash
Olympic Peninsula News Group
SEQUIM — School district administrators warn that a student might be fraudulently collecting funds for the junior class at Sequim High School.
Randy Hill, assistant principal at Sequim High, said the school received calls March 3 that a boy wearing a hooded sweatshirt traveling on a bicycle claimed to be with the class of 2018 and was going door to door asking for money.
No specific description of the boy was given to school officials, but Hill said the school does not send children door to door asking specifically for money.
Jamie D’Amico, parent and chair of the senior class party for the class of 2017, said students’ only fundraising efforts is their flamingo flocking fundraiser, where students leave flamingos at a residence or business overnight and it’s up to the owner how much they want to donate.
D’Amico said students place the flamingos and pick them up the next day but they never have direct contact with homeowners/business owners.
She said parents of this year’s senior class offer raffle tickets for sale and a golf tournament fundraiser is planned at The Cedars at Dungeness in May but no fundraising is specifically door to door.
Hill said this possible scam is the first of its kind he’s heard of in his time with the Sequim School District.
Sgt. Mike Hill with the Sequim Police Department said police aren’t investigating what student or students might be soliciting funds because it was never reported to the department.
He said if they receive more information from a parent or local resident, an officer could look into the situation.
Sequim school administrators said that if a suspicious person comes to residents’ doors, they should call police with a description.
To verify fundraising efforts, call the Sequim School District office at 360-582-3260.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
