Logan Park High School’s board of trustees said yesterday the school had treated the issue as an employment matter, noting its priority had been to recover the missing funds.
"We sought legal and accounting advice on the matter," the board said.
"As our priority was to recover the funds in full and as quickly as possible, while ensuring the matter was handled appropriately, the legal advice to us was that this was best pursued through a civil employment route.
"An individual was acting in isolation and they are no longer employed by the school."
Ministry of Education acting hautū (leader) Te Tai Runga (South) Andrea Williams confirmed the ministry was aware of the matter, but said it was not involved in the resolution because the school was working with the Office of the Auditor-general.
When asked whether the ministry was concerned the school had not involved police, Ms Williams said: "We will be following up with the school to better understand their processes."
Yesterday morning 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 discrepancies were discovered by one of our external professional providers.
"We understand this news may come as a surprise."
After uncovering the issue, the board identified "necessary improvements" and changes to the school’s processes, which were implemented immediately last year, the board later told the ODT.
The school and the board had been working through the investigation, recovery and audit process, "which took considerable time".
"To ensure due process was followed, including the full recovery of funds, it was necessary to wait until the audit was completed and the results were published before disclosing details of the matter.
"We have only just had sign-off on the audit process, which is why we are sharing this now."
Because it was an employment matter, the board said it would not comment further.
A statement from the Office of the Auditor-general said yesterday the school’s appointed auditor informed the office of the potential misappropriation of funds when they were made aware of it.
The school’s 2023 annual report said an additional $24,821 of related costs was also incurred by the school.
The report said all the money, including costs, had been recovered.
An audit completed by Crowe New Zealand Audit Partnership senior partner Phil Sinclair on May 14 this year noted money was returned to the school last year.
Mr Sinclair also noted the school failed to provide its audited financial statements by May 31 last year as required by the Ministry of Education.
The school’s financial statements for 2023 were only signed off by co-principal Peter Hills and board chairwoman Ronda Tokona this month.
The email to parents yesterday morning said the matter had been "fully resolved".
It said the school wanted to assure parents that "moving forward, our systems and processes are robust".
"We can also confirm that the financial risk to the school as a result of this issue has been eliminated.
A thorough review was conducted to understand the nature of the misappropriation and changes were immediately made in the school’s financial processes and practices, the email said.
"We ... remain committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity in our school’s financial management.
"The school has remained in a stable and secure financial position throughout this period," the email said.
