Headteacher and deputy struck off after stealing £200k of funding from special educational needs school
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A headteacher and his deputy have been banned from teaching after a panel found they had swindled their school out of more than £200,000. Deputy Simon Constantinou, 73, claimed £174,000 in overtime he was not entitled to, as well as travel expenses and a bonus for duties he was no longer doing. Headteacher Mike Turner, 70, was given a £4,000 recruitment bonus that should have been a one-off payment, but he continued to claim it for nine years, totalling £36,000.
He also signed off Constantinou's false expenses and failed to carry out DBS checks on staff, putting pupils at risk of harm. The pair faced a police investigation but ultimately the CPS didn't bring any charges against them. The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel found both men's behaviour was dishonest and lacked integrity and amounted to unacceptable professional conduct. They ruled that Constantinou had a "cavalier attitude" to laws and regulation and a significant amount of public money had been "taken away from pupils that were deemed to be the most vulnerable.".
Both men worked at River House School in Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire. The community special school under Warwickshire County Council control was for boys aged 11-16. In 2011, it had been rated "Good" by Ofsted, but by 2013 it had fallen to "requires improvement" and by 2015 it was in special measures.
A consultant was brought in to work with the school and discovered potential financial irregularities which then led to a full audit. Constantinou and Turner were charged with conspiring to commit theft from Warwickshire County Council, but the CPS then dropped the case and offered no evidence in 2018.
