Teacher in Salford who failed to repay £28,000 of loans to parents and colleagues is banned

A teacher in Salford who failed to repay more than £28,000 of loans to parents and colleagues at her school has been banned from the profession.

Susan Pletnick, 56, was a special educational needs co-ordinator (Senco) at Broughton Jewish Cassel Fox Primary School in Salford.

And she was found by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel that she was ‘abusing her role’ after borrowing money for a variety of reasons.

The tribunal heard reasons that included flights to South Africa, private healthcare, visa applications and a house deposit.

In February 2018, parents of a pupil agreed to lend Mrs Pletnick money to enable her to travel to South Africa and they initially transferred her £5,000 – which she said she would repay.

However, Mrs Pletnick then said her flights had been cancelled and she needed more money to travel so the parents lent a further £4,440, the panel heard.

Another time in 2018, the teacher in Salford told them she needed to pay £12,800 in connection with a visa application otherwise she would have to return to South Africa, so the parents lent her the full amount.

The parents said Mrs Pletnick made “false promises” and she did not repay any of the £22,740 she owed.

The parents told the tribunal that the money lent has “had devastating financial consequences” for them.

Another parent of a pupil lent Mrs Pletnick £1,500 during her employment at the school after she said she had been unwell and needed money to have an operation privately – and the loan was not repaid, the panel heard.

Mrs Pletnick, who worked at Broughton Jewish Cassel Fox Primary School between April 2013 and April 2019, also borrowed around £4,000 from a colleague which was not repaid.

Mrs Pletnick informed her colleague that she was moving but did not have money to pay for a deposit and her colleague offered to help her.

In addition to this, in 2016 she was lent thousands of pounds from the school’s charity account to support her expenses in staying within the country. 

The panel heard that £4,000 still remained outstanding.

Mrs Pletnick said she had no money and was “desperate” and this led her to ask people for help and accept money from people when it was offered.

The tribunal concluded that Mrs. Pletnick’s conducted “fell significantly short of the standards expected”/ 

Following the tribunal she has been banned from the teaching profession, with a review period of three years put in place.

Ruling on behalf of the Education Secretary, Sarah Buxcey said: “The findings of misconduct are serious as they include a finding of obtaining money from the school, parents and colleagues. 

“Failing to repay, conduct that amounted to an abuse of her role as a teacher and Senco and conduct that lacked integrity and was dishonest.”