Thieving Principal

Officials: Ex-Principal Stole From Parents

A former Camden elementary school principal and his top aide were indicted Monday on charges that they tricked parents and students in the nation's poorest city into paying for outings that were financed by the school district, then kept the thousands of dollars they collected.

They were also indicted, along with another former elementary school principal and her schoolteacher daughter, in a suspected scheme to overbill the district for leadership meetings authorities say never occurred.

Authorities say the ex-principal of H.B. Wilson Elementary School and the top staffer pocketed more than $14,000 — collected in increments as small as $5 — to fund trips to such destinations as the Philadelphia Zoo, Storybook Land and an American Indian reservation.