Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board has released a statement to Quinte News after the OPP charged a former principal in their school board.
Fifty-one-year-old Todd Bishop was charged by Prince Edward County OPP following a lengthy fraud investigation.
An unnamed organization reported that $80,000 in funds were misappropriated.
The Brighton native had the following charges laid against him:
- Criminal breach of trust
- Forgery – three counts
- Fraud over $5,000 – four counts
- Fraud under $5,000 – one count
- Theft over $5,000 – four counts
- Theft under $5,000 – one count
The Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board says the charges are related to his role as principal.
Bishop was the principal of Murray Centennial Public School from September 2018-September 2023 and previously served in the same role at Brighton Public School.
Quinte News has confirmed that the investigation surrounds the time when Bishop was at Murray Centennial Public on County Road 40 in Quinte West
The following statement was made to Quinte News by Jaine Klassen Jeninga, chairperson of the Kawartha Pine Ridge DSB
“As a public organization, we take our responsibility for financial accountability very seriously. Mr. Bishop is no longer an employee of the board.”
“We have ongoing processes in place for the monitoring of all school-related funds, and whenever we believe there may be financial irregularities within a school, we immediately contact police authorities. In this case, we reported our findings to the Ontario Provincial Police.”
“In addition to conducting our own internal investigation, we have been active partners in the external police investigation of this issue.”
“As part of our internal investigation, we have replaced any school-based funds that were lost. As this matter is currently before the courts, we are unable to comment further.”
None of the allegations has been proven in court.
