Published Monday, Jan. 24, 2011 12:48PM EST

Last updated Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011 7:41AM EST

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/toronto-special-needs-school-stunned-by-fraud-claims/article1880820/

Teachers and parents at a publicly funded school for disabled children are reeling after police revealed that a former principal and three other staff members were charged with stealing more than $700,000 from the school's coffers.

Toronto Police laid fraud and money-laundering charges Monday after a third-party forensic audit found financial irregularities at Bloorview School Authority dating back five years. Police allege school funds were redirected to pay off credit cards and other personal items. Among those accused was former principal and director Linda LaRocque, who was once highly regarded in her role as a special education superintendent for the Toronto Board of Education.

The investigation began after the current director, Saryl Jacobson, noticed something suspicious with the financial records when she joined the school in 2007. A review of the school's finances between July, 2006 and September, 2008 was sent to police and showed that hundreds of thousands of dollars was misappropriated.

“I'm outranged and so saddened … It was hard for the staff to receive the news. They had the same reaction I had. There was silence in the room,” Ms. Jacobson said.

Parents were equally angry when they learned about the allegations. Patricia Chaulk, whose daughter, Vanessa, attended the school between 2005 and 2007, expressed shock that money would be taken “that would [have] otherwise been used for these children that have substantial needs.”

The school receives about $6-million a year from the Ontario government to provide an education for children with cerebral palsy, spina bifida and other physical disabilities. The Bloorview School is located on the same site as the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, but remains a separate corporate and legal entity.

An Ontario government spokesman said it has co-operated with auditors and police. “We're quite concerned about the charges. … We're not tolerant of any fraud that undermines confidence in our publicly funded education system,” said Mike Feenstra, a spokesman for Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky. He said the ministry would not be getting involved because it is confident that the school has taken steps to strengthen its financial controls.

Those in the education sector were surprised to learn that Ms. LaRocque, 63, a resident of Vernon, B.C., was among those charged. She had worked her way up from an executive assistant to the superintendent of special education at the Toronto public school board during the 1990s, a former board employee said. Police have charged Ms. LaRocque with fraud over $5,000 and laundering the proceeds of crime. None of the charges have been proved in court.

A source said Ms. LaRocque had retired when she left Bloorview, and the three other staff members were fired by the current director when details of the audit started trickling in.

Others charged include former business and finance manager Paula Gerolimon, 49, of Richmond Hill, Ont.; she is charged with falsifications of books or documents, fraud over $5,000 and laundering proceeds of crime. Former administrative assistant Bo-Reum Han, 38, of Mississauga, Ont., and former secretary Rose Hudson, 37, of Brampton, Ont., are both charged with fraud over $5,000.

The fifth person accused, 36-year-old Sandra Charles of Toronto, was also charged with fraud over $5,000. She was not a school employee, but is believed to have known either one or all of the accused.

The accused are scheduled to appear in court in February.