The headteacher of a Tyneside school has been suspended by the local authority and the governing body stripped of its powers amid allegations of financial irregularities.
North Tyneside Council is now running Killingworth middle school while it carries out a joint investigation with Northumbria police into the school’s finances. Seven counts of gross financial mismanagement are being investigated.
The intervention of the local authority - just six days after the head, Stuart Todd, was reinstated by the governing body following a month-long inquiry into alleged financial irregularities - is highly unusual.
Killingworth middle school governors originally suspended him without prejudice on full pay in October until the results of a council audit were known. But councillors decided to act after an education meeting last Thursday.
Concern about the school’s financial affairs arose after local authority auditors reviewed its accounts. It is thought they became suspicious after a Northumberland school bought a carpet and made the cheque payable to Mr Todd. They then investigated claims that he was involved in selling carpets to other North-east schools.
A council spokesman said it was now responsible for handling the school’s financial affairs and staffing matters, though its governors would remain.
He said the school’s deputy was now acting as head, and the local authority had put into place “a full package of support for teachers and pupils”.