A former Toronto district school board principal and staff member have been charged by police in a $64,000-fraud investigation at an east-end elementary school.
Toronto police detective constable Rob Barnett said the principal and office administrator at Owen Public School misappropriated funds raised by the school's parent council between 2006 and 2009.
"They used funds from the school's operating budget to buy school-related things that were supposed to be from the parent council fund," Detective Constable Barnett said. "And then used the funds from the parent council for non-approved items and expenses for the school and for themselves."
Police say the former principal and office administrator were jointly responsible for control of the school's accounts. Detective Constable Barnett was called to investigate the misappropriated funds in February by the TDSB after the parent council complained.
Trustee Gerri Gershon said parents were "really concerned and upset" at meetings held at Owen P.S. last year. "They also assisted with the police investigation."
The misused money had been earmarked for whiteboards, caretaking costs and field trips for students at the school near Bayview Avenue and York Mills Road.
"Our focus is on fiscal responsibility and we take that very seriously," said Vidyia Rego, TDSB's chief financial officer. "When there are allegations of fraud or mismanagement, we are following it up ... our parents are demanding it from us and the board is responding. We're fully co-operating with the police."
Stephan Howard, 62, and Androniki Lambiris, 51, of Toronto, have both been charged with fraud, theft and misappropriation of funds held under direction. They are scheduled to appear in court on February 7.