Defrauded kura while chairing its board

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A woman has admitted stealing funds from rural school Te Kura o Waikaremoana when she was chairwoman of its board of trustees.

Moana Janice Mary Shuttleworth, 48, appeared yesterday in Gisborne District Court, flanked by two co-accused — the school’s former principal Roberta Lee Ann Little, 51, and Little’s daughter Awhina Carol Roimata Little, 23, who had occasionally been an administrative assistant at the school.

Shuttleworth pleaded guilty to eight charges of dishonestly using documents (school cheques) to obtain a pecuniary advantage at various times between June 2016 and May 2017.

One of the charges was representative.

She also pleaded guilty to two charges of theft by a person in a special relationship, admitting she used money in circumstances she knew were contrary to what was required of her by the Ministry of Education.

Both those charges were representative and together related to offending spanning October 2015 to August 2017.

Judge Warren Cathcart further remanded Shuttleworth on bail for sentence on July 17.

A report assessing the suitability of electronically-monitored sentence options, was ordered.

The amount by which she personally benefitted from the offending is yet to be agreed.

However, the amounts police allege for her and Awhina Little are substantially less than for Roberta Little.

Roberta Little and Awhina Little previously pleaded not guilty and are awaiting a jury trial.

The judge further remanded each of them on bail to appear again at another Crown callover on June 7.

Te Kura O Waikaremoana is a bilingual school at Tuai, about 50 kilometres north-west of Wairoa.

It has about 20 students, mostly Maori, and two classes — one mainstream, the other Maori immersion.

In its 2014 report on the school, the Education Review Office identified concerns about the school’s management, performance and compliance, and recommended Ministry of Education intervention.

Issues with finances were identified by a financial support agency employed by the school in July, 2016, to replace one it dismissed.

That agency subsequently also contacted the MoE with its concerns, triggering the ministry to engage Deloitte to conduct a targeted review of school finances between August 2016 and May 2017.

Deloitte’s findings prompted a complaint to police.

The school board was dissolved in September 2017 and a commissioner appointed.

A new principal was appointed early last year.