'Dishonest' teacher borrowed thousands from school, parents and a colleague and didn't pay it back

A 'dishonest' teacher who failed to pay back thousands of pounds of loans from her school, parents and a colleague has been banned from the classroom.

Susan Pletnick, a senior teacher and special needs co-ordinator at Broughton Jewish Cassel Fox Primary in Broughton, Salford, 'abused her position' to borrow more than £30,000, a disciplinary tribunal said. The 55-year-old gave various reasons for needing the money, including because she was 'struggling financially' after moving to Manchester from South Africa, to pay for flights, for private healthcare, a house deposit and to renew her visa.

But Mrs Pletnick failed to pay back the majority of the money, a Teaching Regulation Agency tribunal heard. Mrs Pletnick, who worked at the school from April 2013 to April 2019, borrowed £4,000 from the school's charity, another £4,000 from a colleague and a total of £23,500 from parents of pupils.

In February 2018 parents agreed to lend Mrs Pletnick money to travel to South Africa and transferred her £5,000. But Mrs Pletnick then said her flights had been cancelled and she needed more money for a new flight so the parents lent a further £4,440.

That same year the same parents lent her £12,800 to pay for a visa application after Mrs Pletnick told them she would otherwise have to return to South Africa. The parents told the tribunal Mrs Pletnick didn't repay any of the money she owed which 'had devastating financial consequences' for them.

Another parent of a pupil lent Mrs Pletnick £1,500 after she said she had been unwell and needed money to have an operation privately. Mrs Pletnick initially told the tribunal this was for dental work, but then later said it was to pay for an operation to have kidney stones removed. The loan was not