Suspended New York state principal pulled in $606,000 during paid leave: report - Fox News

A suspended principal from Buffalo, New York, on paid administrative leave since 2017, raked in $606,000 during the past four years – and the district has yet to hold a hearing on the effort to fire her, according to a report.

The Buffalo News reported that the process to fire Crystal Boling-Barton has been moving at a snail’s pace even considering the usual "slow process under the best of circumstance." The paper said the COVID-19 outbreak has also played a role in the delay.

Boling-Barton, the former principal at McKinley High School, was accused of misappropriating money, a claim that she has denied. WGRZ reported in 2019 that some of the funds in question are tied to purchases for an African American exhibit at the school. The paper said Barton is accused of misusing about $10,000 over three years. No criminal charges were ever filed, the report said. 

The station said the principal was accused of reimbursing herself thousands without appropriate documentation. 

FLORIDA TEACHER OF THE YEAR ACCUSED OF STRIKING STUDENT WHO QUESTIONED HER WIN

Robert L. Boreanaz, her attorney, told the newspaper that he is confident that his client will be vindicated and will return to school. His client has accused the district’s superintendent of discrimination and harassment. The school district and Boreanaz did not immediately respond to after-hours emails from Fox News. The district denied her claims, the report said.

CALIFORNIA TEACHER ON LEAVE FOR NOT WEARING MASK

The four and a half years' of paychecks opens the school district to criticism. A district spokeswoman told the paper in an email that they have "been unable to move the needle on the expedition of the 3020-a for Crystal Boling-Barton," a reference to the termination procedures in New York state.

"We feel it has been dragged out to the financial detriment of the district," she told the paper.

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Boreanaz told the paper that this client would prefer to be back leading a school, which "she's done for the past 30-plus years.

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Suspended New York state principal pulled in $606,000 during paid leave: report - Fox News
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Principal Adds Spanish Option to Mobile Retirement App | PLANSPONSOR - PLANSPONSOR

Principal Financial Group has announced it has expanded its suite of retirement solutions for Hispanic workers by adding a Spanish-language option to its mobile retirement application.

The enhancement is designed to help increase retirement savings and management access for the thousands of Hispanic workers Principal serves, as many face a retirement savings gap made worse by the pandemic, Principal says.

“Cultural and language barriers can often limit the engagement of Hispanic workers and hinder retirement outcomes, particularly during times of economic uncertainty,” says Joleen Workman, vice president of customer care, retirement and income solutions at Principal.  “By adding a full-service Spanish-language retirement mobile app to our solutions for Hispanic workers, we are focused on helping even more people feel secure and confident in their retirement planning.”

Principal brings the Spanish-language mobile app to participants at a time when it says mobile use for retirement saving and planning has increased significantly. According to Principal, in 2019, more than 21% of participants used the retirement app via a mobile device, with that rate jumping to 37% of participants on mobile devices this year.  

The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) has found fewer than half as many (25.5%) families with Hispanic heads reported having retirement plan assets compared with families with white, non-Hispanic heads. Principal says its app’s bilingual capability helps employers reach more Hispanic workers.

The app provides the appropriate language in Spanish or English based on a user’s phone language setting, allowing Spanish-speaking users to:

• Check retirement account balances;
• Make contribution decisions;
• Monitor their retirement progress; and
• Get immediate assistance from bilingual customer support.

The Spanish-language app is available to all Principal customers and adds to the company’s Principal Hola Futuro, a free educational and financial wellness resource for the Hispanic community. It will also be an immediate resource for Spanish-speaking workers who onboard with Principal Real Start en Español, a bilingual digital enrollment platform.

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Former Dubuque school principal pleads guilty to Wire Fraud - KWQC-TV6

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - A former curriculum and technology director and principal who stole at least $250,000 from the private school system in which he worked pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Todd Charles Wessels, age 49, from Dubuque, Iowa, was convicted of one count of wire fraud. Wessels admitted he was the Curriculum and Technology Director for a private, religious, not-for-profit school district in Dubuque in a plea agreement. Wessels was responsible for ensuring that the school district met the technology needs of approximately 1,800 students at its high school, middle school, and elementary schools. Before 2016, Wessels also served in a dual role as the principal of one of the elementary schools.

Since June 2011, Wessels had made purchases of pre-paid debit cards using the school district’s store credit cards at area businesses upon the false and fraudulent pretense that he needed funds for “apps” for students’ computers. Wessels then electronically transferred the balances of the pre-paid debit cards to another account that he controlled at PayPal, Inc., an electronic payment transfer system based in California. Without the school district’s knowledge, Wessels had falsely and fraudulent opened the PayPal account in the school district’s name but under the handle “WENWESS”. Finally, Wessels provided the school district receipts for the purchases of the pre-paid debit cards on the false and fraudulent pretense that the use of the store credit cards was for legitimate purchases. Wessels also sold the school district’s computer equipment on third-party Internet websites without its knowledge or permission.

In July 2019, a new chief administrator at the school district began looking into Wessels’s spending practices. Wessels repeatedly lied to administrators and submitted fraudulent invoices and receipts to them in order to conceal his scheme to defraud. At meetings in January and February 2020, Wessels provided hardcopy versions of false, fraudulent, and fictitious spreadsheets purporting to show the apps he had purchased.           

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Wessels remains free on bond pending sentencing. Wessels faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

Copyright 2021 KCRG. All rights reserved.

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Former Dubuque school principal pleads guilty to Wire Fraud - KWQC-TV6
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Elementary school principal dies unexpectedly, Fort Worth ISD says - WFAA.com

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Elementary school principal dies unexpectedly, Fort Worth ISD says  WFAA.com
Elementary school principal dies unexpectedly, Fort Worth ISD says - WFAA.com
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New Fort River Elementary School leadership team in Amherst; new principal is sixth in ten years - masslive.com

AMHERST – Superintendent Michael Morris on Friday announced a new leadership team at Fort River elementary school.

Tammy Sullivan-Daley, who had been interim vice-principal since July, was promoted to interim principal; she had been a special education teacher at Fort River since 2003. She is the school’s sixth principal in the past ten years.

Her Masters Degree in Education is from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

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Principal® Expands Retirement Plan Access to Hispanic Workers by Taking Savings Mobile - Stockhouse

Retirement industry leader adds Spanish-language option to retirement app, enhancing suite of resources customized to address savings gap for Hispanic workers

Principal Financial Group® announced today an expansion of its suite of retirement solutions for Hispanic workers by adding a Spanish-language option to its mobile retirement app. This enhancement is designed to help increase retirement savings and management access to the thousands of Hispanic workers Principal® serves as many face a retirement savings gap made worse by the pandemic.1

“Cultural and language barriers can often limit the engagement of Hispanic workers and hinder retirement outcomes, particularly during times of economic uncertainty,” said Joleen Workman, vice president of customer care, Retirement and Income Solutions at Principal.“By adding a full-service Spanish-language retirement mobile app to our solutions for Hispanic workers we are focused on helping even more people feel secure and confident in their retirement planning.”

Principal brings the Spanish-language mobile app to participants at a time when mobile use for retirement saving and planning has increased significantly. In 2019, over 21% of participants used the retirement app via a mobile device, with that rate jumping to 37% of participants on mobile devices instead of desktops this year. 2

Research also shows that access to employer-sponsored retirement plans for Hispanic workers is lower as compared to other groups: 48% of Hispanic workers with fulltime jobs don’t have access to plans as compared to 24% for other fulltime workers.3 The Principal® app’s bilingual capability can help assure employers they can reach more Hispanic workers. The app provides the appropriate language in Spanish or English based on a user’s phone language setting, allowing Spanish-speaking users to:

• Check retirement account balances
• Make contribution decisions
• Monitor their retirement progress
• Get immediate assistance from bilingual customer support

The Spanish-language app is available to all Principal customers and adds to the company’s Principal®Hola Futuro, a free educational and financial wellness resource for the Hispanic community. It will also be an immediate resource for Spanish-speaking workers who onboard with Principal® Real Start en Español, a bilingual digital enrollment platform.

1 About four-in-ten Hispanic adults (43%) say they have used money from a savings or retirement account to pay their bills since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak compared with 29% of White adults and 33% of Asian adults (The Pew Research Center, Sept. 24, 2020).
2 Principal reporting as of March 31, 2021.
3 The Pew Charitable Trusts, September 2017.

Beyond language

The advancement of the mobile app is part of the Principal approach of building customer experiences that go beyond just language. The company has a bicultural approach which doesn’t just translate for Spanish-speaking audiences, but takes cultural influences into account to accurately express meaning and purpose.

Principal® Hola Futuro (“Hello Future”) is an accessible, culturally-appropriate resource providing employees with financial wellness videos, worksheets, FAQs, and access to a bicultural support team. In addition, Principal® Real Start en Español is a personalized retirement plan onboarding experience available in Spanish and English. Since 2019, Real Start has led to an average savings deferral rate of 8% among Hispanic participants.

“To make financial security more accessible, we are creating opportunities to reach more people and businesses,” Workman said. “This mobile retirement savings platform is an important step in that work.”

To learn more, download the Principal® app today and visit Principal® Hola Futuro.

About Principal Financial Group®

Principal Financial Group® (Nasdaq: PFG) is a global financial company with 18,000 employees[1] passionate about improving the wealth and well-being of people and businesses. In business for more than 140 years, we’re helping more than 45.5 million customers[2] plan, insure, invest, and retire, while working to support the communities where we do business, improve our planet, and build a diverse, inclusive workforce. Principal® is proud to be recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies[3], a member of the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, and a Top 10 “Best Places to Work in Money Management[4].” Learn more about Principal and our commitment to sustainability, inclusion, and purpose at principal.com.

[1] As of June 30, 2021.
[2] As of June 30, 2021.
[3] Ethisphere Institute, 2021.
[4] Pensions & Investments, 2020.

Principal® app is available for iPhone® and AndroidTM. Apple and iPhone are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.
Android is a trademark of Google LLC.

The Retirement Wellness Planner information and Retirement Wellness Score are limited only to the inputs and other financial assumptions and is not intended to be a financial plan or investment advice from any company of the Principal Financial Group® or plan sponsor. This calculator only provides education which may be helpful in making personal financial decisions. Responsibility for those decisions is assumed by the participant, not the plan sponsor and not by any member of Principal®. Individual results will vary. Participants should regularly review their savings progress and post-retirement needs. ​

Insurance products issued by Principal National Life Insurance Co (except in NY) and Principal Life Insurance Co. Plan administrative services offered by Principal Life. Principal Funds, Inc. is distributed by Principal Funds Distributor, Inc. Securities offered through Principal Securities, Inc., 800-247-1737, member SIPC and/or independent broker/-dealers. Referenced companies are members of the Principal Financial Group®, Des Moines, Iowa 50392.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211101005255/en/

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Principal® Expands Retirement Plan Access to Hispanic Workers by Taking Savings Mobile - Stockhouse
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After husband's cancer diagnosis, former principal returns to teach - WFAA.com

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After husband's cancer diagnosis, former principal returns to teach  WFAA.com
After husband's cancer diagnosis, former principal returns to teach - WFAA.com
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