A parent on the Powell Elementary PTA board took money meant for kids and used it for her own personal expenses.

The DC Attorney General’s office has filed a lawsuit against Robynn Chandler-Mitchell, the former Treasurer of Powell Padres, the Powell Elementary parent-teachers organization, for failing to return almost $19,000 she stole from the Powell PTA.

The lawsuit claims that Chandler-Mitchell has admitted under oath to transferring almost $19,000 out of the Powell Padres checking account into her own personal accounts, and then spending the money on personal expenses. According to the lawsuit, from July 1, 2021 until September 23, 2022, Chandler-Mitchell spent the PTA funds meant for elementary school children on herself and friends.

The lawsuit states, “Chandler-Mitchell had a fiduciary duty to [Powell Padres] and its nonprofit purpose; she was also responsible for properly managing [Powell Padres’] funds. Instead, as she later admitted under oath, Chandler-Mitchell misappropriated thousands of dollars in [Powell Padres’] nonprofit funds and used them for various personal and business expenses—including cash transfers to herself and a friend, car payments, services at nail salons, and restaurant meals in Cancun, Mexico. In total, Chandler-Mitchell misappropriated $18,747.11 in [Powell Padres’] funds.”

The AG’s office gives a timeline of the siphoning of money from the PTA to Chandler-Mitchell’s own bank accounts, friends and expenses. (For clarity, Powell Padres’ formal name as a non-profit is “Parents Organized for the Power of Powell — “POPPS.”)

“In October 2021, Chandler-Mitchell, without authorization, started transferring POPPS’ funds to herself and using the POPPS debit card for personal and business expenses. Bank statements show that in October, Chandler-Mitchell sent herself $1,000 via Zelle, made several cash withdrawals that were not used for Powell Elementary School, and spent hundreds of dollars at shoe stores, on Amazon.com.

In December 2021, Chandler-Mitchell spent $271 of POPPS’ funds on a personal car payment. She withdrew $2,400 in cash, and spent large amounts on groceries, restaurants, and a spa. She also sent money to herself and a friend via Cash App.

In January and February 2022, Chandler-Mitchell used POPPS’ funds at restaurants while on vacation in Cancun, Mexico. She continued to spend POPPS’funds throughout 2022, frequently using the POPPS debit card at nail salons, fast food restaurants, grocery stores, and for ATM withdrawals.

More than once, Chandler-Mitchell’s personal expenses depleted POPPS’ bank account, resulting in a negative balance and overdraft fees that were also charged to POPPS. In total, Chandler-Mitchell spent $18,747.11 of POPPS’ funds on personal and business expenses. In January 2023, Chandler-Mitchell admitted under oath that she used POPPS’ nonprofit funds for these and other personal expenses. To this day, Chandler-Mitchell has yet to repay any of these funds.”

According to the lawsuit, after Truist Bank informed the POPPS Board on July 18, 2022, of the overdraft fees Chandler-Mitchell had accumulated, the Board members began to suspect financial mismanagement. Over the summer of 2022, the Powell Padres board tried to recover control over the PTA’s bank accounts and funds. (The PTA’s bylaws state that funds must be used to benefit the school’s children and not its officers.) After repeatedly ignoring the requests from the rest of the board members, she closed the PTA’s bank account without authorization on September 12, 2022, and had the remaining balance of $7,258.20 put in a check made out to POPPS. This froze out the Board from accessing any funds, forcing them to start the school year at a zero balance and unable to help children or pay for agreed upon activities like a student garden project.

Chandler-Mitchell finally agreed to return the check and the outstanding funds, but then never did so. The DC Attorney General’s office then decided to pursue a lawsuit to force the return of the money, and to preclude Chandler-Mitchell from serving as on officer or board member of any DC non-profit.

“POPPS has six (6) stated nonprofit purposes, none of which is to line the pockets of its officers,” states the AG’s lawsuit.

Screenshot of Chandler-Mitchell’s LinkedIn profile.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Robynn Chandler-Mitchell runs a catering business in Maryland and DC called Elevated Genius started in 2019 and used to run Culinary Genius Enterprises (see on Yelp) until 2019, and works at the Mirror Lounge on 9th and V Streets as their Menu Curator & Executive Chef. The AG’s complaint shows her living in Oxen Hill, Maryland.

The Powell Padres Board of Directors offered a simple statement they’re giving to all press inquiries, no doubt trying to avoid being pulled into the lawsuit themselves by giving interviews:

"The Powell Padres Parent-Teacher Association appreciates the Office of the Attorney General’s efforts to recover funds on behalf of the Powell Elementary School community and its volunteer-run PTA. The Powell Padres Board of Directors will continue to cooperate throughout this process."

The PTA did send students home on Tuesday, March 5th with a letter offering a bit of explanation: