Earlier this week, Logan Park High School sent a letter to all parents informing them of the matter.
The school’s board of trustees said after seeking legal advice, it had treated the issue as an employment matter, noting its priority had been to recover the missing funds.
University of Auckland Faculty of Law professor Mark Henaghan said he understood why the school would have taken this approach.
"I think that’s a matter of a choice for the school.
"They may have thought that the time it takes to go through the criminal courts, it’s not going to happen quickly.
"The school may well be thinking, which I can understand, that if they get on with a payment plan, how they’re going to pay it back, etc, that can happen a lot quicker."
Prof Henaghan said once matters went through the courts, they could be long, arduous, and not necessarily deliver the right outcomes for the school or individuals.
Police have said there was no complaint filed about the Logan Park matter.
"Because if it’s going to be a trial, the person may want to defend it in some way or whatever it is, even if it comes to courts, it’s going to be full out of time," Prof Henaghan said.
"There are a lot of people involved in a criminal trial, it’s quite expensive. So, the police may be thinking ‘we’ve got enough on our books — if no-one’s going to officially complain to us, we’re not going to hit it’.
"In these matters, the police might be quite relieved that they don’t have to go into investigation, go through all the books."
Prof Henaghan said for most schools, $365,000 represented a significant amount of money, and retrieving it would have been first on their mind before seeking justice.
"I think at the end of the day, they’ve got the money back, which is the most important thing for the school.
"The school’s not going to be out of pocket because schools don’t have a lot of leeway to use money in these days and they’ve obviously felt they’ve been open about it, which I think is a credit to the school."
Such levels of misappropriation were "sadly all too common" in charities and community organisations, Prof Henaghan said.
An email to parents, signed by the school’s board of trustees, and obtained by the Otago Daily Times, said that in 2024 the school "identified a misappropriation of funds that took place over the 2019-24 financial years".
The total amount involved was $364,884 (GST inclusive).
The ODT yesterday approached the Ministry of Education about the Logan Park matter.
The ministry said it was advised in April the school was working with the Office of the Auditor-general.
"We will be following up with the school to better understand the processes they followed."
