An ex-principal has been censured for serious misconduct after she used a school credit card at McDonald's and petrol stations.
Toni Hill, the former head of Waikato's Mercer School, says she used the card because she couldn't find her wallet.
"I had already put the petrol in my car. I looked where I normally stored [my wallet], but it wasn't there. I searched all through my car," she told the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal.
She ended up spending $390.31 in six transactions at petrol stations, McDonald's, Countdown and in Rotorua.
"Deep down I knew using the school credit card was the wrong choice," she said.
"I felt guilty and sick. I was unsure how I would [tell the school] without sounding like I had done something bad."
She failed to tell the school board until her spending was found by admin staff - at which point she repaid the money and admitted what she had done was against the school's policy.
She then resigned before an investigation was complete.
Ms Hill was censured for serious misconduct, and ordered to pay half the costs of the disciplinary proceedings.
Conditions were also put on her practising certificate, including being prevented from working in positions involving managerial financial responsibility over the next year.
"I knew there would be consequences but never would I have thought I would have to resign and leave the job I loved," she said.
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