Schools

Teacher Resigns After Kohl's Theft Charges

Stacee Banko, 34, of Lower Nazareth Township, was charged in September with retail theft and receiving stolen property. She was a fifth-grade teacher in the Nazareth Area School District.

The Nazareth Area School Board accepted the resignation of a district teacher charged with stealing from a Lower Nazareth department store—and leaving her 11-year-old daughter behind.

Stacee Banko, 34, of the 300 block of Township Line Road in Lower Nazareth Township, was charged in September with retail theft and receiving stolen property from Kohl's.

Banko was accepted into the accelerated rehabilitative disposition (ARD) program for first-time offenders and ordered to pay $1,032.50 in fines, according to court records.

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Her resignation is effective Feb. 25.

Banko was a fifth-grade teacher in the Nazareth Area School District, where she taught for 10 years, according to a Teacher Web profile that is no longer available.

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On Sept. 22, according to court records, Banko was at the Kohl's store in the Northampton Crossings shopping center when store security spotted her taking a shopping bag and loading it up with clothing.

Although Banko paid for one item, she left the store without paying for $184.94 in merchandise, according to Colonial Regional Police.

Police say Banko's daughter was with her at the time, unaware that her mother was stealing, or that she had left.


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