LI principal uses student funds for steak-and-lobster dinners, booze, jet-ski rentals: audit

A Long Island high-school principal dropped thousands of dollars on steak-and-lobster dinners, boozy staff parties and jet-ski rentals using funds meant for a youth mentor program, a scathing audit says.

The financial investigation said it found that longtime Wyandanch Memorial High School Principal Paul Sibblies repeatedly reimbursed himself from student-club funds for the “questionable” expenses — even signing off on the checks made out to him.

“This lack of additional outside oversight raises significant concerns regarding financial accountability and internal controls,” said the audit, which was conducted by the district and Island-based accounting firm R.S. Abrams & Co. and released last week.

Longtime Wyandanch Memorial High School Principal Paul Sibblies paid himself thousands of dollars in “questionable” purchases using funds that were supposed to be for reserved for an after-school club, an audit claimed. Linkedin

The dough was drained from the school’s Kappa Club account, which was meant for after-school student activities and trips as part of a mentoring initiative, the auditors said.

Some of the suspect expenses involved events labeled “End of Year Party” and “Staff Faculty Party” that were held at local restaurants and included open bars, according to the audit.

Other expenses were listed under the descriptions of “Jet Ski Rental — Bermuda Trip” and “EOY Academic Success,” which covered a steak-and-lobster dinner for two in Delaware, including alcohol, the auditors said.

The expenditures explicitly did not align with New York State Education Department guidelines governing the use of extracurricular activity funds, the audit found.

Sibblies received more than 40 suspicious reimbursements between July 2021 and November 2024 for over $35,500, financial experts said. Google Maps

Sibblies, who has led the school since 2009, received more than 40 suspicious reimbursements between July 2021 and November 2024 for over $35,500 through the school club, which — which he was in charge of but which was never formally recognized or approved by the school board, according to auditors. 

“We were unable to determine the appropriateness of employee reimbursements issued to the Kappa Club’s faculty advisor, who also serves as the High School Principal,” the auditors wrote in their report.

“We identified questionable expenditures within the extracurricular activity fund that do not appear to be directly related to club activities,” the audit continued. 

The audit found that Sibblies, who also served as the Kappa League’s faculty adviser, not only handled the club’s cash and approved all of its disbursements — but would even sign off on his own checks tied to the reimbursements through the club’s activity fund.

For years, Sibblies consistently issued checks to himself without independent review or approval from any other district employee other than the club’s treasurer, who also served as his clerical secretary, auditors said.

Beyond the reimbursements, the audit also cited hundreds of thousands of dollars in poorly documented donations tied to the Kappa club and another middle-school club, noting missing records, vague descriptions and a lack of documentation detailing how the money was collected, tracked or spent.

In response to the audit, which officials said was completed in February of last year but only publicly released this week, the school board voted nearly unanimously in November to hire outside lawyers to investigate the financial concerns raised in the report. 

That investigation remains ongoing, officials said.

“The district is continually reviewing policies and protocols, and we have begun implementing strengthened financial oversight measures,” Wyandanch Superintendent Dr. Erik Wright told The Post in a statement.

“As this is a matter of personnel, the district has no further comment,” he added.