Ex-school employee gets probation for $68K theft

Pearl Ridge Elementary School officials discovered that school administrative assistant Denise Hayashi had stolen $68,870 from the school account when "the principal got a call from the bank that the account was overdrawn," said Christopher Young, deputy attorney general.

A state judge sentenced Hayashi, 41, on Wednesday to five years of probation and 1,500 hours of community service, fined her $10,000 and ordered her to pay $10,845 in court costs and fees for 98 counts of second-degree forgery and one count of first-degree theft. She pleaded guilty to the charges in June.

Circuit Judge Richard Perkins also ordered Hayashi to write a letter of apology to the school, according to the terms of her plea agreement with the state.

If she fails to pay her fine and fees at a rate of at least $450 per month, or is late for a payment, and fails to work on community service at a rate of at least 25 hours per month, she could go to jail for a year. She has already paid back what she stole, her lawyer said, with money she borrowed.

Hayashi apologized to the school’s staff and teachers for stealing from the school and to her family and friends for the shame she brought them. But she did not reveal to the court or to the prosecutor her motivation for stealing or how she spent the money.

As the school’s special administrative services assistant to the principal, Hayashi was solely responsible for the money parents donated or collected through fundraisers held to pay for student activities. Over a two-year period, Hayashi wrote checks to herself from the account in amounts ranging from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand, Young said.

"I’m sure the (Department of Education) is looking at this issue. They have made changes. I know they’re doing more audits now," he said.

On the day the principal received the call from the bank, Hayashi was on vacation, Young said.

The state fired her last September.

Hayashi is the second former elementary school secretary prosecuted for stealing money from a school’s account for student activities.

Janel Echiberi pleaded guilty last year to stealing more than $15,000 from Lehua Elementary School in Pearl City. Perkins ordered her in December to perform 450 hours of community service but also gave her the opportunity to clear her criminal record of theft and forgery charges.

Young said he agreed to Hayashi’s probation sentence because he did not want her to get the same opportunity to keep her record free of criminal convictions.