Spa City teacher charged with theft

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A now-former Saratoga Springs City School District middle school teacher is facing charges, accused of stealing from the school’s yearbook club, state police said Friday.

Thomas Coons, 57, of Wilton, is accused of taking a total of $3,000 from the club at Maple Avenue Middle School. Coons served as co-advisor of the club.

Coons was arraigned in Wilton Town Court and was released to appear at a later date.

In a statement issued Friday, district officials said Coons has resigned, and that the district is seeking ways to prevent such thefts from happening in the future.

The district indicated the arrest stemmed from a district investigation into possible misappropriation of funds by Coons.

Officials then referred the matter to state police, the statement reads.

“The district takes these charges very seriously and is fully cooperating with the police investigation,” the district’s statement reads.

The district did not say when the investigation began but indicated it had enough information last month to place Coons on administrative leave, effective Dec. 21.

Coons submitted his letter of resignation to the district effective Dec. 31, officials said. The letter is to be presented to the Board of Education at its Tuesday meeting.

“We believe this is an isolated incident; however, we will work with the District’s auditors to ensure this does not occur in the future and seek restitution for any funds taken,” district Superintendent Michael Piccirillo said in the statement.

Coons remained listed on the district’s web site Friday evening as a sixth-grade computer science teacher in the business department at Maple Avenue Middle School.

Information available on the SeeThroughNY web site lists Coon’s 2016 total pay at $105,772.