Why did Jan McGee resign? Florida Principal and Elon Musk scammer controversy explained

Jan McGee, longtime principal of Burns Science and Technology Charter School, stepped down from her position on Tuesday after she allegedly sent $100,000 in school funds to an internet scammer posing as billionaire Elon Musk.

She reportedly believed that Musk would invest millions in the popular STEM school in exchange for an upfront payment.

The school's business manager was on edge and eventually learned about the agreement between McGee and the pretender. They managed to cancel the transaction before the money was cleared.

However, McGee's actions were noticed by parents and board members of the Florida school, who insisted that she was inexplicably reckless with important school funds.

Doctor Jan McGee resigns after administrators threaten to leave if made to work with her (Image via WESH)

Several speakers at Tuesday night's meeting emphasized that McGee's colleagues had warned her prior to her being scammed.

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Doctor Jan McGee claims to be a "very smart lady" who "fell for a scam"

Jan McGee had worked at Burns Science and Technology Charter in Oak Hill since 2011. The highly-rated school and McGee have been well revered throughout the years. The school is A-rated with just under 1,000 students and a long waiting list.

In her Tuesday night meeting, McGee told the packed audience that she was taken in by someone possing as the Tesla owner. She allegedly spoke to the fraud for at least four months despite the staff warning her that the person was a fraud.

Ex-principal McGee spent years talking to anyone who would hear about involving Musk in the STEM school along with an investment by the Tesla CEO. She thought that she had finally gotten his ear when the pretend Elon Musk was talking to her.

She said:

"I am a very smart lady. Well-educated. I fell for a scam."

She claimed that he groomed her, according to WESH. Jan McGee said:

"Grooming is when you talk to somebody and you believe in them, and they get you to trust them that this is really real, and so I fell for it."

Jan McGee resigned along with her husband who was a teacher at the school (Image via Twitter/benjsequations)

Several board members were agitated and claimed that they could no longer work under Dr. Jan McGee. They threatened to quit. McGee resigned on the spot and left the building, to cheers from the audience.

At the Volusia County gathering, Dr. Jan McGee said:

“I love this school more than anything else. If it means your administration is going to stay, I’m turning in my resignation."

Albert Amalfitano, the chair of the board, said:

"Somehow she believed it. He must have been really convincing."

Amalfitano believed that McGee wrote the $100,000 check out of the school's account. She was made to believe that the person she made the check out to was Elon Musk's right-hand man.

Some users believe the board was too harsh on her (Image via Twitter/BoiMan24437243)

The school's code allows the principal to write a check for up to $50,000 out of the school's account. No more could be given without the board's approval, which Jan McGee did not get. Brent Appy, the business manager, stopped the check before it was too late.

McGee said:

"I put myself into this position and into this mess and I made a bad decision."

McGee resigned and left the meeting with her husband, who was also a teacher at the school. Since then, he has resigned too.

The board has committed to conducting a national search for another principal of the esteemed school. They plan to hire an outside investigator to look into the matter of the pretend Elon Musk-Jan McGee case. They are also hiring an outside agency to do a thorough audit of the school's finances.