How does former Hayfield principal still have a job?

[Anonymous]

With the latest news about embezzlement at Hayfield, how does that former principal Darin Thompson of the school still have a job in FCPS??? He still has some administrator position of nontraditional programs.

He brought in the football coach who was shuttling kids from Prince William County and breaking all sorts of residency rules. Now this comes out about the finance tech embezzling $40K. All of this was done under his watch while at Hayfield. The principal has to sign off on all of these financial transactions. He was principal when all of this went down. Please make this make sense.

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/fcps-employee-charged-embezzling-40000-from-school.amp

Funds embezzled from Hayfield, police say

Separately, a finance technician at Hayfield Secondary School has been accused of embezzling over $40,000 from the school.

FCPD detectives began investigating the school’s finances after FCPS Auditor General Esther Ko’s office reported “potential misappropriation of funds by an employee.”

Following an investigation, detectives obtained warrants charging Stephanie Gale, a 45-year-old Lorton resident, with embezzlement and computer fraud. She turned herself in at the county jail on Monday (June 1), the FCPD says.

Court records list the date of the alleged embezzlement as Jan. 1, 2023.

Gale was released on her own recognizance but is scheduled to appear in Fairfax County General District Court for an arraignment on Monday (June 8), followed by a preliminary hearing at 2 p.m. on Aug. 10.

In a letter sent to families today, Hayfield principal Tony DiBari confirmed without naming her that Gale has been suspended without pay following her arrest. Hired by FCPS in 2019, she had worked in other positions before joining Hayfield Secondary School.

“We have been working closely with Fairfax County Police after this was uncovered during a routine financial audit that began as I joined the team at Hayfield Secondary School,” DiBari wrote. “I will continue to support this investigation and will address any other issues that may be identified.”

[Anonymous]

Don’t you remember? FCPS investigated itself and found no evidence of wrongdoing. Of course this guy is still employed.

[Anonymous]

Gatehouse knew that Hayfield parents had no trust left in Dr. Thompson last year, but they left him there.

As far as I'm concerned, the money stolen on Thompson's watch, is his and Gatehouse's responsibility to return to Hayfield's students. In full.

Dr. Thompson and the arrestees should be responsible for making full restitution.

Hayfield parents in an FCPS focus group voted No Confidence in Darrin Thompson at least once last school year -- in my direct knowledge bc I was there.

I also attended parent nights in which Hayfield teachers and staff of all kinds introduced themselves to loud applause from us parents.

Then Dr. Thompson introduced himself with enthusiastic showmanship, not ONE parent applauded. Not one. Silence. No smiles. People either glared or stared at their shoes. That was the last parent event he ever attended in my knowledge. Same year as the football scandal. A lot of money was misused in that -- Hayfield had been allocated extra funds to hire two security guards. Thompson used those positions to hire Overton and his brother in law. Then FCPS -- to parent ire -- waived Overton's mandatory Head Security training until after football season. Which meant our kids weren't safe at all. So many kids got in fights. Overton was there to win football games, not bother being a good school security leader.

We had been SO excited when he became principal. Hayfield had been a few years without a long-term principal, and we hoped he would be a good leader.

Instead, he ran off good staff, like the building manager. He divided her building maintenance tasks among the vice principals, and work orders started getting ignored, lost, or never written. Teachers told the office about the mold, but were ignored. Then it grew into a nightmare. Parents weren't told, so the band camp parents sent their kids into the building every day . Teachers had to throw away years of supplies. Thompson told the teachers to clean the mold-filled chairs and rooms by themselves.

Thompson ignored the teachers -- 4 SpEd Hayfield teachers won awards last year but Thompson never congratulated them, much less bothered to put the huge wins in a newsletter. Hayfield has AMAZING teachers, especially in Science, English, and Foreign Languages.

The new principal seems awesome so far... He shows up to many extracurriculars to cheer on the kids and is well liked by teachers. He does right by the kids and teachers, and the parents will stay on his side.

FCPS needs to help the new principal and the kids by aggressively cleaning house.

I know it means some bad press for a minute, sure, but as a parent and homeowner, I'd rather the school get cleaned up so that we can be proud again.

It's FCPS' job to do right by us, not play a shell game on parents.

Had FCPS done right by Hayfield parents in the first place, we and FCPS wouldn't be in this mess now.

I appreciate a lot about FCPS, but I hate how they keep shady principals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With the latest news about embezzlement at Hayfield, how does that former principal Darin Thompson of the school still have a job in FCPS??? He still has some administrator position of nontraditional programs.

He brought in the football coach who was shuttling kids from Prince William County and breaking all sorts of residency rules. Now this comes out about the finance tech embezzling $40K. All of this was done under his watch while at Hayfield. The principal has to sign off on all of these financial transactions. He was principal when all of this went down. Please make this make sense.

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/fcps-employee-charged-embezzling-40000-from-school.amp

Funds embezzled from Hayfield, police say

Separately, a finance technician at Hayfield Secondary School has been accused of embezzling over $40,000 from the school.

FCPD detectives began investigating the school’s finances after FCPS Auditor General Esther Ko’s office reported “potential misappropriation of funds by an employee.”

Following an investigation, detectives obtained warrants charging Stephanie Gale, a 45-year-old Lorton resident, with embezzlement and computer fraud. She turned herself in at the county jail on Monday (June 1), the FCPD says.

Court records list the date of the alleged embezzlement as Jan. 1, 2023.

Gale was released on her own recognizance but is scheduled to appear in Fairfax County General District Court for an arraignment on Monday (June 8), followed by a preliminary hearing at 2 p.m. on Aug. 10.

In a letter sent to families today, Hayfield principal Tony DiBari confirmed without naming her that Gale has been suspended without pay following her arrest. Hired by FCPS in 2019, she had worked in other positions before joining Hayfield Secondary School.

“We have been working closely with Fairfax County Police after this was uncovered during a routine financial audit that began as I joined the team at Hayfield Secondary School,” DiBari wrote. “I will continue to support this investigation and will address any other issues that may be identified.”

Well…maybe he doesn’t anymore ???!

[Anonymous]

He was walked out of Gatehouse by FCPS security on Friday and no longer has an active email in the FCPS registry. He’s either fired or been out on leave.

[Anonymous]

How is the embezzlement his fault? You all want to blame Darin for everything, but won't dare blame Donald Trump for all the hell he is causing this country. The man made one bad decision with a football coach and you all want his life ruined. Are you without mistakes? Praying for him because it's absolutely ridiculous the amount of hate he gets. He who is without sin cast the first stone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is the embezzlement his fault? You all want to blame Darin for everything, but won't dare blame Donald Trump for all the hell he is causing this country. The man made one bad decision with a football coach and you all want his life ruined. Are you without mistakes? Praying for him because it's absolutely ridiculous the amount of hate he gets. He who is without sin cast the first stone.

LOL. I can tell by the syntax-You are the one Daryl Overton lover from all the posts about his huge fraudulent cheating scandal and public shaming. He had to flee real schools to work at a gym.

[Anonymous]

Oh yes, "the man" posted.

I always thought it was Karen? "the chaplain" nutjob.

[Anonymous]

Re: accountability

Dr. Thompson COULD have chosen to be an example of great leadership for the kids, in an era where they desperately need to see honest, ethical male leaders.

In an era where we see people not being held accountable nationally, where we see policy driven by ego instead of what the population needs.... Dr. Thompson chose NOT to be a solution or a positive example for the kids.

Dr. Thompson created an environment where wrongdoing was rewarded, justified, and wasn't caught. He ignored teachers who were bringing positive awards to the school at a time when teachers are burnt out,
He ignored embezzling,
He ignored the students who weren't part of his own doomed ego-plan for football greatness.
He lied to parents,

and he left every single child and adult in that building breathing MOLD.

Dr. Thompson had to know as a principal that building trust with the parents was important,
that building trust with the kids was important.

Of all the things he failed at his job, he failed at that the most.

All of which was 100% his to lose, because we were so excited when he was originally made principal.

He hurt our kids. People lose sight of that.

If he had just supported the teachers and been honest with the parents, that would been amazing.


Ps. Most Hayfield parents would probably love to see both Thompson and Trump held accountable for the various financial failures on their watch.

Let's hold them both accountable in their respective spheres because they're the same kind of dude.

People who don't care who they hurt and get angry when their own misdeeds get them called out and make them look bad.

I grew up hearing the famous Eisenhower phrase, "The buck stops here".

Dr. Thompson never took accountability for anything, and that's not leadership.

Mr. DiBari came in and the financial discrepancies were caught within the first few months of his tenure. He paid attention. The results speak for themselves.

If we can hold the staffers who took 40K responsible - and we should -- then we also need to hold Dr. Thompson responsible for his misuse of funds and role as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re: accountability

Dr. Thompson COULD have chosen to be an example of great leadership for the kids, in an era where they desperately need to see honest, ethical male leaders.

In an era where we see people not being held accountable nationally, where we see policy driven by ego instead of what the population needs.... Dr. Thompson chose NOT to be a solution or a positive example for the kids.

Dr. Thompson created an environment where wrongdoing was rewarded, justified, and wasn't caught. He ignored teachers who were bringing positive awards to the school at a time when teachers are burnt out,
He ignored embezzling,
He ignored the students who weren't part of his own doomed ego-plan for football greatness.
He lied to parents,

and he left every single child and adult in that building breathing MOLD.

Dr. Thompson had to know as a principal that building trust with the parents was important,
that building trust with the kids was important.

Of all the things he failed at his job, he failed at that the most.

All of which was 100% his to lose, because we were so excited when he was originally made principal.

He hurt our kids. People lose sight of that.

If he had just supported the teachers and been honest with the parents, that would been amazing.


Ps. Most Hayfield parents would probably love to see both Thompson and Trump held accountable for the various financial failures on their watch.

Let's hold them both accountable in their respective spheres because they're the same kind of dude.

People who don't care who they hurt and get angry when their own misdeeds get them called out and make them look bad.

I grew up hearing the famous Eisenhower phrase, "The buck stops here".

Dr. Thompson never took accountability for anything, and that's not leadership.

Mr. DiBari came in and the financial discrepancies were caught within the first few months of his tenure. He paid attention. The results speak for themselves.

If we can hold the staffers who took 40K responsible - and we should -- then we also need to hold Dr. Thompson responsible for his misuse of funds and role as well.

Good post. One correction: "the buck stops here" was Harry Truman not Ike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gatehouse knew that Hayfield parents had no trust left in Dr. Thompson last year, but they left him there.

As far as I'm concerned, the money stolen on Thompson's watch, is his and Gatehouse's responsibility to return to Hayfield's students. In full.

Dr. Thompson and the arrestees should be responsible for making full restitution.

Hayfield parents in an FCPS focus group voted No Confidence in Darrin Thompson at least once last school year -- in my direct knowledge bc I was there.

I also attended parent nights in which Hayfield teachers and staff of all kinds introduced themselves to loud applause from us parents.

Then Dr. Thompson introduced himself with enthusiastic showmanship, not ONE parent applauded. Not one. Silence. No smiles. People either glared or stared at their shoes. That was the last parent event he ever attended in my knowledge. Same year as the football scandal. A lot of money was misused in that -- Hayfield had been allocated extra funds to hire two security guards. Thompson used those positions to hire Overton and his brother in law. Then FCPS -- to parent ire -- waived Overton's mandatory Head Security training until after football season. Which meant our kids weren't safe at all. So many kids got in fights. Overton was there to win football games, not bother being a good school security leader.

We had been SO excited when he became principal. Hayfield had been a few years without a long-term principal, and we hoped he would be a good leader.

Instead, he ran off good staff, like the building manager. He divided her building maintenance tasks among the vice principals, and work orders started getting ignored, lost, or never written. Teachers told the office about the mold, but were ignored. Then it grew into a nightmare. Parents weren't told, so the band camp parents sent their kids into the building every day . Teachers had to throw away years of supplies. Thompson told the teachers to clean the mold-filled chairs and rooms by themselves.

Thompson ignored the teachers -- 4 SpEd Hayfield teachers won awards last year but Thompson never congratulated them, much less bothered to put the huge wins in a newsletter. Hayfield has AMAZING teachers, especially in Science, English, and Foreign Languages.

The new principal seems awesome so far... He shows up to many extracurriculars to cheer on the kids and is well liked by teachers. He does right by the kids and teachers, and the parents will stay on his side.

FCPS needs to help the new principal and the kids by aggressively cleaning house.

I know it means some bad press for a minute, sure, but as a parent and homeowner, I'd rather the school get cleaned up so that we can be proud again.

It's FCPS' job to do right by us, not play a shell game on parents.

Had FCPS done right by Hayfield parents in the first place, we and FCPS wouldn't be in this mess now.

I appreciate a lot about FCPS, but I hate how they keep shady principals.

your new principal will put on a show for a little.....he is not corrupt but he leaves a lot to be desired in terms of leadership. good luck

[Anonymous]

He was very mediocre at Westfield, but it sounds like that's a huge improvement over what you had.

[Anonymous]

I remember some of the texts that were leaked during the scandal, the principal or someone at Hayfield specifically mentioned the huge increase in gate receipts a winning team would bring.

Is that the money that was embezzled?

[Anonymous]

Wow, they put him in charge of all non-traditional programs after this, including Homebound.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh yes, "the man" posted.

I always thought it was Karen? "the chaplain" nutjob.

Apostle Karen! The wackiest of all the DO supporters. Her son still works at Hayfield, which is very concerning!