A former Waipahu elementary school principal was ordered to pay a fine after pleading no contest to record-tampering charges Monday in Circuit Court.

The state attorney general’s office had charged Florentina Smith in June with two counts of tampering with a government record, a misdemeanor.

The state alleged she authorized $200 stipends to each of nine staff members for training sessions that they did not attend. The state alleged the crimes were committed Nov. 12 and 19, 2011, while Smith was serving as principal of August Ahrens Elementary.

Smith, 68, last month had pleaded not guilty to the charges, and her case was scheduled to head to a jury trial.

After changing her pleas Monday, she was ordered by Judge Patrick Border to pay a $500 fine to the state general fund. The judge granted Smith a one-year deferral of her plea.

She had faced up to a year in jail and/or a $2,000 fine for each misdemeanor offense.

Smith’s attorney, Eric Seitz, said she explained to the judge that she had made efforts to get compensation for some of her teachers who were doing extra work but couldn’t get paid for it.

The staff members have since repaid the money.

"Regardless of what Ms. Smith’s motivation might have been, we will not condone the falsification of government records," acting Attorney General Russell Suzuki said in a statement. "Principals are required to comply with the law and cannot arbitrarily authorize the expenditure of funds to staff members for work that was not performed."

Smith had been placed on administrative leave in January 2012 as the state investigated allegations against her. Smith’s employment with the Department of Education, where she worked since 1971, ended in September 2012.