A former Philly principal must repay $31k in school book fair, trip and class dues money

The former principal of a Northeast Philadelphia elementary is on the hook for $31,000 paid to the school by students but never deposited into its bank account.

According to the Philadelphia School District’s Inspector General, the former principal of Robert Pollock Elementary, Yvette Jackson, received the money from events including book fairs, holiday bazaars and class trips — plus dues for graduating eighth graders — but “failed to deposit proceeds.” Jackson has since retired.

» READ MORE: Thousands of dollars is missing from a Northeast Philly elementary school. An investigation is underway.

Multiple vendors, including Scholastic Books Inc., were not paid for goods delivered under Jackson’s watch, according to Pollock sources and documents reviewed by The Inquirer. The Inspector General’s report confirmed the lack of payments.

Jackson’s actions violated the district’s policies, “eroded the public’s trust and violated the district’s ethical standards required by the [Employee Code of Ethics] mandating honesty and forthrightness and avoiding falsification, misrepresentations and deceptions in records the former principal kept while managing and administering” school activities funds, wrote Sha S. Brown, the Inspector General.

The report stopped short of accusing Jackson of taking the funds, but said she was liable for all losses “resulting from administrative negligence and failure to exercise proper oversight and accounting” of student funds.

At Brown’s recommendation, the district is withholding $31,576.24 from Jackson’s final termination pay. Jackson did not respond to a request for comment, but, according to the Inspector General’s report, “the former principal acknowledged receipt of the memo and did not object to the proposed withholding.”

Pollock, a K-8 on Welsh Road, educates 900 students, 77% of whom are considered economically disadvantaged.

The possible financial improprieties came to light during a reconciliation of school accounts after Jackson retired from Pollock at the end of the 2024-25 school year.

When district personnel attempted to balance the books, money from trips, bake sales, class dues and the holiday bazaar were missing, according to sources. Scholastic Books was not paid for either its fall 2024 or spring 2025 book sales.

Ultimately, the district’s Office of General Accounting filed a complaint with the Inspector General’s office “pertaining to the mismanagement of the Robert Pollock School Student Activity Fund (SAF) by the retiring principal,” according to documents reviewed by The Inquirer.

The Inspector General’s probe ultimately concluded that Jackson failed to keep adequate records and that over the course of the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years, she only made five bank deposits, despite cash being received for various school events through the year.

District policy requires cash received for student activities be deposited into the bank “as soon as possible, ideally daily unless this would cause an undue hardship.”

None of the deposits Jackson made came with required documentation, such as the dates and descriptions of the activities, number of students who participated, cost of participation, and more, the report said.

“The former principal failed to account for, and deposit, the proceeds of several fundraising activities including book fairs and class dues (graduation fees)...the OIG could only partially match one bank deposit pertaining to the school’s 2023 fall book fair sales over this two-year period. Further, records indicate the former principal failed to pay invoices of SAF-related vendors,” said Brown.

Brown found that Jackson collected the $31,576.24 but never deposited it. She also told a staffer managing the book fair that there was “no need for receipts,” the investigation found, despite district policy explicitly stating that receipts were required.

In some instances, vendors were stiffed. Both Scholastic and a business that provided goods for the holiday bazaar were not paid, the report said.

Book fair money is typically used to purchase books for classroom libraries and for students to take home. Other activities like the bake sale fund things like classroom pizza parties and assorted celebrations.

“According to an administrator of the school, the holiday bazaar vendor said the former principal kept telling the vendor they were ‘...good for the money.’,” the report said. “In total, the OIG found that three invoices remained unpaid and totaled $16,840.49.”

Going forward, Brown said, the district must require student activities fund money be deposited into a bank account weekly.

“Accounting and Financial Reporting staff will continue to work with school leaders to make timely deposits,” chief financial officer Mike Herbstman said in the district’s response to the report.

The school district had no immediate comment Tuesday on the Inspector General filing.