Thousands of dollars is missing from a Northeast Philly elementary school. An investigation is underway.
Pollock Elementary School's principal had recently retired, and during a routine reconciliation of school accounts, possible mismanagement was uncovered.
The Philadelphia School District is investigating the possible mismanagement of money at a Northeast Philadelphia elementary school, according to documents reviewed by The Inquirer.
Funds that had been collected at book fairs, bake sales, and other school events at Pollock Elementary on Welsh Road were discovered missing in recent months, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal.
The discovery was made during a reconciliation of school accounts, they said — a standard district practice.
Sources familiar with the investigation said Scholastic Books was not paid for either its fall 2024 or spring 2025 book sales. Money collected in cash from the holiday bazaar and from bake sales was also missing, the sources said.
The school district’s Office of General Accounting filed a complaint with the system’s 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.
Typically, school staff run the events, and students — 71% of whom are considered economically disadvantaged — pay cash for books, baked goods, or trinkets.
“A lot of our families don’t have a lot of money,” a staff source said. “If they’re sending money in for the book fair or the bake sale, there’s a sacrifice that comes along with that.”
Multiple sources with firsthand knowledge of the school’s operations said Yvette Jackson, who was principal of the school from 2019 through the end of last school year, handled depositing the money for everything from eighth-grade dues to book fair funds at the bank.
Jackson did not respond to phone and text messages seeking comment.
A spokesperson for the school board — which oversees the Office of Inspector General — said the office does not comment on its investigations.
Robin Cooper, president of Commonwealth Association of School Administration Local 502, the union that represents district principals, confirmed the investigation and said any allegations of impropriety on Jackson’s part do not match “the person that I know and have known for over 30 years.”
“I have known this principal and she’s always had a stellar reputation,” she said. “I just think an investigation is just that — you have to have a wait-and-see approach.”
Jackson was popular among her staff, who felt respected and supported by their principal. They banded together to throw her a well-attended retirement party.
Principals have not always controlled all aspects of a school’s finances, Cooper said. In previous years, school operations officers kept track of accounts, but those positions have largely been phased out as budgets tightened.
A tight-knit community
It is not clear how much money is missing or over what period, but people with direct knowledge said Pollock’s two book fairs netted about $10,000 last year, and two bake sales brought in roughly $2,000 each.
The holiday bazaar yielded about $2,800 — money that was missing for a time, then recently paid back with a check from Jackson to the vendor who worked with the school on the event, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
Typically, money collected from those activities would go into an account used to pay for various student activities ranging from classroom pizza parties to extras like a Pollock Panther costume.
Book fair money is typically used to purchase books for the school library, classroom libraries, and a school vending machine that allows students to pick free, new books to take home.
Pollock, a K-8, educates over 800 students. It’s a tight-knit community and a well-regarded school.