Former Jacksboro School Principal Faces Theft and Misconduct Charges

Nashville, TN (2011-05-26) A former Campbell County elementary school principal faces theft and official misconduct charges as a result of an investigation by the Comptroller’s Division of Municipal Audit. A Campbell County grand jury indicted Sandra Chaniott, the former Jacksboro Elementary School principal, last week.

Auditors determined that Chaniott made a deal to sell her school 33 air purifiers, but she actually delivered only 12. The school paid more than $8,000 for the undelivered air purifiers.

Chaniott made a profit of more than $2,000 for the air purifiers she did deliver, which allowed her to personally benefit from a school contract.

Auditors also learned that when Chaniott served as principal at Caryville Elementary School, she sold that school 47 air purifiers. Assuming all of those air purifiers were delivered, Chaniott would have personally gained almost $7,000 from those sales.

The investigation also revealed that Chaniott had hired her son and another individual to paint the school without putting the work out for bid, which violated the Campbell County Board of Education purchasing policy. Chaniott also failed to report payments made to the painters to the Internal Revenue Service.

Also, auditors noted that the school’s bank account shrank from $44,000 to $4,000 during the first 13 months Chaniott served as the school’s principal.

“It is not acceptable for people in positions of trust to divert public money for their own personal gain or the gain of their family members or friends,” Comptroller Justin P. Wilson said. “Money spent at schools should directly or indirectly benefit the students. It seems clear from our auditors’ report that wasn’t necessarily happening in all cases at Jacksboro Elementary School.”