Pinched! Principal bought steak and lobster with school funds
Topline: Most New York public school lunches consist of room temperature chicken nuggets or reheated pizza. But at Wyandanch Memorial High School on Long Island, principal Paul Sibblies dined on steak and lobster at taxpayers’ expense.
Sibblies reimbursed himself a total of $35,519 from 2021 to 2024 using cash meant for a school club, without approval or supervision from anyone besides his own secretary, according to an audit obtained by Newsday.
Key facts: Sibblies paid himself 41 times using money from the high school’s Kappa League club, a leadership program affiliated with the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.
The most concerning was the steak and lobster Sibblies and an unidentified person ate at a restaurant in Delaware. Sibblies reimbursed himself $126 for the bill, which also included alcohol. He logged the transaction as “EOY Academic Success.”
Larry Aronstein, the district’s former interim superintendent, told Newsday that Sibblies was paying himself back for expenses he had laid out on behalf of the school. Sibblies told Newsday the steak and lobster meal was “school-related” but declined to answer other questions.
The school board appears unsatisfied with that explanation. They appointed legal counsel in November 2025 to investigate the audit’s findings, according to Newsday.
“We know what is personal and what is for the sake of students,” board trustee Jarod Morris told Newsday. “A steak and lobster dinner in Delaware is personal.”
Separately, auditors flagged other questionable expenses at the Wyandanch Free Union School District, including a jet ski rental in Bermuda. The school district was also missing records showing how much was spent on field trips and donated to clubs.
The audit was completed in early 2025 and made public last month.
Background: Sibblies likely could have afforded his luxury meal himself. He made $192,479 in 2024, according to payroll records obtained by Open the Books.
That made him the fourth-highest paid person in the district. He was one of 24 people making at least $150,000.
Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com.
Supporting quote: “I know his character, and for whatever that’s worth, I think he’s a good man,” Aronstein told Newsday about Sibblies. “He runs a very good school and is committed to providing his students enrichment experiences that they can have going beyond the borders of Wyandanch.”
Summary: Even a high school student knows that taxpayer money should not be spent without basic checks and oversight.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com