Updated 5.33pm

San Andrea School principal Stefania Bartolo has suspended herself from her role after the school launched an independent inquiry into allegations of mismanagement of millions of euros.

Bartolo informed staff members on Monday that she would be suspending herself pending the outcome of the internal investigation, Times of Malta is informed. 

Bartolo became principal back in May, after having worked at the school for more than 19 years. She previously worked as a teacher, assistant head and then interim head of school. 

In a letter to parents, she said she had taken the "very difficult" decision "with great sadness" to suspend herself pending the independent inquiry.

"I feel I need to step aside in order to set a good example in corporate good governance, and in order to take legal action to defend my name and reputation which I have worked extremely hard to build over the years," she said.

The school will be holding a meeting with both educators and parents on Monday evening. 

However, Trevor Templeman, the former assistant head who informed the school about the claims, will not be allowed to attend the meeting.

He said his lawyer had been told by the school that he was not entitled to participate because he is an ex-employee.

Trevor Templeman, a former assistant head of San Andrea, informed the school about claims of financial irregularities. Photo: Facebook

Financial irregularities

On Friday, the school confirmed it had launched an independent inquiry into a series of claims by Templeman relating to financial irregularities to the tune of over €4 million.

Templeman went public with the allegations after claiming he was “sidelined and intimidated” by the school’s management team when he flagged financial issues that were highlighted to him by Bartolo.

He is alleging that the school’s principal told him and one of the school's assistant heads, Ruth Azzopardi that former chairperson Kevin Spiteri had defrauded the school of some €200,000 through “miscellaneous” transactions. 

He claimed he was also told Spiteri benefited from projects totalling some €4 million.

Azzopardi said she confirmed being called in for a meeting with Templeman and that both of them were told about the financial irregularities by Bartolo.

The principal, Templeman claims, also told the pair about another staff member being paid €25,000 to keep quiet.

Bartolo did not respond to any of the specific claims in her letter to parents and staff but thanked the school's trustees and the school board for their support.

"I am not worried - sad yes, worried no," she wrote. "With the right strategy in place this too shall pass."

Times of Malta has contacted Spiteri about the claims. He would not comment and, instead, asked for questions to be sent to his lawyer, Ian Vella Galea.

Chairperson Alexander Tortell said the board would take “all necessary action” following the inquiry.

In a further statement on Monday, the board said that Templeman had presented his allegations to the school board on September 20 and the board had "strongly agreed that such allegations should be investigated".

"The board acted on this instantly and following advice from three different legal professionals they all agreed that the best course of action would be to set up an independent inquiry and then act on the findings of the said inquiry," it said.

It said its only interest is to safeguard the interest of the school and its children.

It is understood that the school's board was initially split on whether to contact the police with the allegations or to carry out an internal inquiry first, to establish if there was prima facie case to answer.

However, they decided to do the latter after following legal advice.

Meanwhile the Malta Union of Teachers said it was following the situation as it is unfolding.

In a statement on behalf of its members at the school, it said the teachers' main focus would remain the wellbeing and academic progress of the students.