KEY POINTS:
A school principal has been charged with fraud which, if he is convicted, may strip him of his permission to teach.
The man appeared in Hamilton District Court yesterday on five charges of using a document for pecuniary advantage. His appearance followed a joint investigation by police and
the Ministry of Education.
He was granted interim name suppression and all details of the offending were also suppressed.
He was remanded on bail to his home address and is to reappear on February 19. He has also been ordered to surrender his passport.
The man has been suspended from his job at the Waikato school, due to start the new year next week.
A caretaker who answered the school office phone last night said he knew about the charges but did not know who would be filling in for the principal in the new term.
He refused to give contact details for a deputy principal or another teacher.
New Zealand Teachers' Council director Peter Lind said if the man is convicted, he may be stripped of his practising certificate.
He said when any teacher was convicted of a criminal offence that is liable for three months' imprisonment, the teacher, his employers and the court must file a report to the council within seven working days.
A complaints assessment committee then screens the report and if they believe the teacher committed serious misconduct they refer the case to a disciplinary tribunal which has the ability to strike a person off the teaching register.
"Anything that could threaten the health and safety of the students will be considered," Mr Lind said.
He said a decision on whether the person could still teach was made as soon as possible but should not take longer than six months.
Of the 85,000 registered teachers in the country, fewer than 200 a year were convicted of criminal offences and fewer than 30 were referred to the tribunal, Mr Lind said. However a teacher may reapply for the certificate.
"They would have to provide evidence that they've turned their life around, "Mr Lind said.
"If the council decides the evidence is sufficient enough they could be a registered teacher again."
In April 2006, a Murapara school principal was convicted and discharged on two forgery charges after she admitted falsely declaring student numbers to get more government funding.
