The head wrestling coach and assistant principal at Hastings High School is accused of spending nearly $14,000 in school district money to attend college football games.
Joshua G. McLay, 37, of Hastings was charged Tuesday in Dakota County District Court with eight counts of embezzlement of public funds and eight counts of theft by swindle. McLay, an assistant principal since July 2016, was charged by summons and is scheduled to make his first court appearance April 8 in Hastings.
A criminal investigation alleges that McLay claimed the money was spent for out-of-state clinics for wrestling coaches but that no clinics took place.
The allegations, which surfaced in early October, led to a November agreement that was approved by the Hastings school board in which McLay would resign as assistant principal at the end of the school year, be placed in a teaching position for the 2019-20 school year, repay the money and receive a 10-day suspension without pay after wrestling season ends.
Superintendent Tim Collins said Tuesday that the agreement is binding, pending the outcome of the criminal charges, and “we are continuing to move forward with that agreement at this point in time.”
According to a criminal complaint:
McLay told the school district’s accounting supervisor in a Sept. 13, 2011, email that he was taking his coaching staff to Lincoln, Neb., for a coaching clinic the next month and that he needed money to pay for gas, a van and hotel rooms for two nights. McLay also said he wanted to take the coaches to the Nebraska football game and asked if that would be possible.
The accounting supervisor told McLay that travel expenses were OK for a coaches clinic, but entertainment expenses were not.
But McLay allegedly used school district money to buy several tickets for an Iowa State University football game in 2012; a University of Wisconsin-Madison game in 2013; a 2014 University of Minnesota game; and a 2018 University of Notre Dame game.
The investigation revealed that some expenses for several other trips, including three to Florida, were either charged by McLay to a school district credit card or were paid by him and he was later reimbursed.
This report includes information from Forum News Service.
