Oversight of Student Activity Funds is Not to be Taken Lightly

Teachers often serve as extraclassroom activity advisors. Extraclassroom activities, in turn, often involve student fundraising efforts. Students use the fundraising experience to learn basic financial literacy and accounting, with the goal of using the money raised to participate in an extraclassroom experience. Club advisors should be provided with written guidance and support regarding their financial oversight obligations. There may also be Board Policies or administrative regulations that govern how extraclassroom funds are to be managed. What happens when the teacher responsible for oversight is negligent with the activity’s funds, or even worse, misappropriates that money for the teacher’s own use?

A recent matter handled by our office highlights that the proper oversight of student activity funds is a critical function of extraclassroom advisors, and that sometimes, a teacher may conceal his or her malfeasance over a period of years.

A tenured teacher with no disciplinary history and good evaluations was recently terminated from her position because she misappropriated and mismanaged thousands of dollars of student extraclassroom activity funds. The teacher was found guilty at an Education Law Section 3020-a hearing of multiple counts of conduct unbecoming a tenured teacher, misconduct, and immoral conduct. Not only was the teacher found guilty of misappropriation and mismanagement of student money, but she was also found guilty of submitting falsified extraclassroom financial records to the employer in connection with her malfeasance. It was the careful eye of a building treasurer, who noticed irregularities in the financial records, that sparked an investigation by the employer. The investigation revealed extremely concerning financial irregularities attributable to the teacher/advisor.

After finding the teacher guilty of “serious and egregious misconduct,” the Hearing Officer determined that termination was the appropriate penalty. In response to the teacher’s arguments that she had never previously been counseled or subject to progressive discipline related to her role as an extraclassroom club advisor, the Hearing Officer noted that some conduct cannot be cured.”

Stealing or misappropriating funds is misconduct requiring no remediation. Even though [the teacher] is a long-term … employee with highly effective service, her character flaws need not be remediated, and [the employer] has no obligation to convert a teacher who steals from her students into a more useful or competent pedagogue.

The Hearing Officer also stressed that the teacher was a role model to students, and that her behavior stood in stark contrast to her obligation to model appropriate behavior.

This decision reinforces the need to ensure that extraclassroom advisors are appropriately trained in their obligations with regards to student fundraising activities. The existence of proper training and resources for the advisor could be the difference between finding an advisor guilty of theft, versus being merely negligent, when student funds appear to be missing. It also reinforces the importance of viewing student fundraising activities as an extension of the curriculum, and the impact the teacher’s behavior had on the students themselves. The Hearing Officer also noted that this teacher’s behavior “harmed her students. It was their money she misappropriated. They worked hard to sell [fundraising goods] but realized no benefit for their efforts. They learned nothing except how to steal funds from their future clients’ or employers’ accounts.” Given the egregious nature of her behavior, and the negative impact it had on her students, the teacher was terminated from her position despite her record of good service.