SAN DIEGO (CBS 8/AP) — A former suburban San Diego elementary school principal has been ordered to spend 90 days in jail for stealing nearly $50,000 from her school district and parent-teacher groups.
Paulette Dastrup Thompson did not speak at her sentencing hearing Thursday in San Diego after pleading guilty in January to grand theft and misappropriation of public funds. Her attorney said the 59-year-old educator acknowledges wrongdoing and is remorseful.
Prosecutors say Thompson took money from the school district and the local PTA while she was principal at San Luis Rey Elementary and Reynolds Elementary from 2005 to October 2009.
The Oceanside Unified School District put Thomson on unpaid leave when charges were filed in August 2009. The irregularities were discovered during an audit of the parent-teacher organization.
An Oceanside Unified School District official told the judge that Thompson had repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
A parent who raised questions early on said she got harassing phone calls from Thompson supporters, her tires were flattened, and someone left the head of a cat on her lawn.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
