By Trevor TenBrink
EAGnews.org

NEW YORK – In most schools, the principal serves as the responsible leader and role model for the staff and students.

But that’s not the case for a school in the Bronx, where a principal is being charged with collecting overtime pay for hundreds of hours she never worked.

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According to a report from GothamSchools, Liza Cruz Diaz, the principal of P.S. 31 in the South Bronx, collected hundreds of hours of overtime pay by having a secretary repeatedly punch her time card long after she had left for the day.

Altogether, it has been documented that Cruz Diaz received pay for more than 111 hours of unworked time.

Since 2008 she has charged 900 hours of overtime and has received roughly $40,000 as compensation, according to the news story. Considering all the recent budget cuts for New York schools, this would be fiscally irresponsible even if she was truly working all those hours.

City investigators also allege that Cruz Diaz used school funds to purchase personal items such as Mardi Gras beads and metallic sunglass for her daughter’s birthday party. She is also facing accusations of falsifying school accounts and smuggling records outside of the school once the investigation became apparent.

To make matters worse, P.S. 31 is a financially struggling schools. Over the past two years the school has faced a $1.2 million dollar budget deficit and has lost hundreds of students.

Despite this fiscal crisis, the school increased its overtime budget by $210,000. Once the investigation of Cruz Diaz began, this budget fell by $62,000.

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In a time when money is tight and student performance is historically low, schools need strong leaders to guide them through the challenges. In this case it appears the principal has created more problems than solutions.