Former Principal at Schools in Pasadena, Inglewood Accused of Stealing Public Funds

A man accused of stealing $67,000 in public funds while working as a principal at schools in Pasadena and Inglewood over the past four years pleaded not guilty to criminal charges on Thursday.

Kyle Douglas, 50, denied counts of grand theft, misappropriation of public funds and forgery during an arraignment hearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

The case was first filed Feb. 22, district attorney’s office spokesman Greg Risling said in a written statement.

The alleged crime took place while Douglas was principal at Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Pasadena, where he was hired in October of 2017, as well as Inglewood High School, where he worked immediately before, according to prosecutors and the Pasadena Unified School District.

During his time as principal in Pasadena, “Douglas is accused of collecting about $10,000 for a student trip to China and never paying the company that he hired to organize the trip,” according to Risling.

While working in Inglewood, “The defendant is accused of negotiating a contract with a company for private use of the school’s parking lot,” Risling said. “He allegedly did not receive authorization and profited about $57,000 from the deal.”

L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón said Douglas abused the trust the community had placed in him.

“Betraying students, their parents and school administrators is the ultimate failure for those who are the face and voice of a school,” he said.

Prior to joining Inglewood High School in 2015, Douglas worked as an assistant principal in the Alhambra Unified School District between 2009 and 2012, as well as dean of activities in the Temple City Unified School District between 2007 and 2009, according to a PUSD statement. Prior to that, he taught at Rose City High School and Marshall Fundamental School between 1996 and 2007.

Douglas was scheduled to return to court on April 23 for a hearing in his case, officials said.

He was not being held in custody Thursday, according to county booking records.

“Although the district cannot comment specifically because of employee rights, any allegation of misconduct is taken very seriously and acted upon promptly,” a district statement reads. “As soon as the District learned about the allegations against Mr. Douglas, he was immediately placed on a leave of absence. We fully cooperated with law enforcement in this investigation.”

Mr. Douglas was hired as principal of Woodrow Wilson Middle school in October 2017. He was placed on leave June 27, 2019 and was released from service June 30, 2020.