“I have worked hard like all of you to have a reputation, integrity and dignity and I won’t let anyone take that away from me. I will even take legal action to clear my name.”

Jeanette Borg Calleja will be the interim chair.

During the meeting, the board explained that it will be heading an internal inquiry and are yet to go to the police because there is not enough hard evidence in hand. 

Tortell’s resignation comes soon after principal Stefania Bartolo suspended herself.

The alleged financial revelations came after a former assistant head Trevor Templeman revealed claims of financial mismanagement ranging up to over €4 million.

Templeman claimed that former chairperson Kevin Spiteri allegedly defrauded the school of over €200,000 in “miscellaneous” transactions, while a separate former member of staff was paid €25,000 to keep quiet.

He is allegedly said to have received this information from the school principal Stefania Bartolo and head of finance Leanne Spiteri in the presence of other employees, according to MaltaToday.

He sent a recording with a testimony he gave to the school board last month to parents of San Andrea students allegedly detailing the meeting he had with Bartolo and Leanne Spiteri, along with the aftermath that led to his resignation.

Templeman resigned from the school he had worked at for 20 years in October after he allegedly presented the financial mismanagement claims to the school’s board members and board of trustees and was subsequently intimidated.

He also claims that Kevin Spiteri demanded for his children’s school fees to be waived and that there was an allegedly suspicious contract to rent a property belonging to a person linked to the school.

This has unsurprisingly garnered a furious reaction from staff members and clients of the school, with many parents of former pupils informally accusing the school of being indebted to them.

What do you think of the issue?