A Long Island high-school principal dropped thousands of dollars on steak-and-lobster dinners, boozy staff parties and jet-ski rentals using funds meant for a youth mentor program, a scathing audit says. The financial investigation said it found that longtime Wyandanch Memorial High School Principal Paul Sibblies repeatedly reimbursed himself from student-club funds for the “questionable” expenses — even signing off on the checks made out to him. “This lack of additional outside oversight raises significant concerns regarding financial accountability and internal controls,” said the audit, which was conducted by the district and Island-based accounting firm R.S. Abrams & Co. and released last week.
The dough was drained from the school’s Kappa Club account, which was meant for after-school student activities and trips as part of a mentoring initiative, the auditors said. Some of the suspect expenses involved events labeled “End of Year Party” and “Staff Faculty Party” that were held at local restaurants and included open bars, according to the audit.
