Councillors are to discuss failings which allowed a clerical assistant to steal from school funds – the day before she is sentenced for the offence.
Kelly Bruce, 26, admitted embezzling £9,000 between June 1, 2011, and August 20, 2013, while she was employed at Cauldeen Primary in the Hilton area of Inverness.
Bruce, now of 190C Rosemount Place, Aberdeen, was originally charged with embezzling £15,000 but a plea to a reduced sum was accepted by the Crown.
It is understood that the crime came to light when there were insufficient funds to pay for a large invoice relating to a school trip.
Bruce is due to appear at Inverness Sheriff Court for sentence on Thursday.
She is understood to have been sacked by the local authority following a disciplinary hearing last year.
On Wednesday, councillors on the audit and scrutiny committee will hear the findings of an audit report into the operation of the school fund.
The report was originally due to have been discussed by councillors in September last year but was shelved because of the ongoing court case.
Auditors found that the poor quality of record keeping meant that the fraud may have taken place over a longer period, and possibly in higher losses than originally stated.
They said: “The investigation found that the clerical assistant operated the school fund with minimal supervision.
“There was no evidence of reconciliations being carried out and therefore the head teacher was not aware of the discrepancy between the expected fund balance and the amount actually held.”
And despite guidance that the school’s financial officer should review bank statements annually, there was no evidence of this check being carried out.
In the report, which was completed last year, auditors recommended that head teachers were reminded of the need to comply with the council’s financial regulations.
They have been instructed to ensure school funds are scrutinised effectively.
According to the document, this instruction has already been issued by the council.
