Headteacher and Deputy Barred for Misusing £250,000 from Special School
Two senior teachers have been banned from teaching after misusing £250,000 in school funds over a decade at a special needs school.
Warwickshire, Mike Turner, Simon Constantinou, School Funds, Teaching Regulation Authority
Warwickshire: So, here’s the scoop. Mike Turner and Simon Constantinou, two top dogs at a special needs school, have been banned from teaching. They were found guilty of misusing a whopping £250,000 in school funds over more than ten years.
Turner, who’s been the head since 2000, and Constantinou, the deputy since 2004, really messed up. It all came to light when a new staff member noticed some financial oddities back in 2015 and called for an audit.
Turns out, Turner was pocketing extra cash he wasn’t supposed to get. He accepted over £36,000 in ‘Recruitment and Retention’ bonuses that were only meant to be a one-time deal. And he kept getting that money every year until the audit kicked off.
Then there’s the IT contract worth £180,000 that he set up for his own school. Yeah, that wasn’t approved by anyone and broke some serious rules. Plus, he let Constantinou claim a ton of overtime and mileage expenses that just didn’t add up.
Constantinou tried to justify his claims by saying it was for extra work due to student behavior and staff wellbeing. But the panel wasn’t buying it. They said the hours he claimed were just too much to be believable.
They were even charged with theft at one point, but that case got dropped back in 2018. Now, both men are in their 70s and are no longer working in education. The Teaching Regulation Authority made their findings public recently, and it’s a real eye-opener.