New details have emerged about a misuse of funds within New York City’s public school system. A recently released investigative report reveals six school employees took their own children on trips to Disney World, instead of using the funds on homeless students.
The report said funds intended to provide educational trips for students living in shelters were used by teachers. They allegedly brought family members on trips to places like Florida, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., and even to Broadway shows.
At the center of the scandal is Lisa Wilson, the Queens regional manager for the office that supports these low income students. The scheme ran from 2016 to 2019, and involved the misuse of $300,000 of federal grant money. All of the money was meant to help homeless children.
Investigators allege that Wilson encouraged colleagues to bring their own family on trips, while doing the same with her own. She reportedly told them, “what happens here stays with us.”
Wilson denies the allegations. In an interview with the New York Post , she calls the investigation a “witch hunt,” insisting that she didn’t take her family on trips or advise her staff to do so.