A long-term substitute teacher in the Clinton Community School District in Iowa was fired on May 29 after an investigation found she pressured high school students to donate to her personal GoFundMe page in exchange for extra credit.
Stephanie Mullaley was dismissed for violating the district’s ethics policy, according to findings from Administrative Law Judge Duane Golden reported by the Iowa Capital Dispatch. The GoFundMe had been set up to help pay for Mullaley and her husband, Nick, to travel to Ecuador in July for what she described as a medical mission.
“[She] promised high school students in her class that they would receive extra credit toward their grade in her class if they donated to her GoFundMe account. Students felt pressured to donate money to her personal GoFundMe page,” Judge Golden found, according to the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Mullaley had set a fundraising goal of $1,800 but collected just $140 from six donors, with individual gifts ranging from $5 to $50.
On the since-deleted fundraising page, Mullaley wrote that she and her husband had received “an official invitation end of 2025” to join a medical mission group and were seeking financial support from friends and family.
“Feels like a blessing to have an opportunity to serve a community in need of medical service and utilize my skills and serve. God put this in place for us, and we’re answering it,” she wrote. “Hope to have your support, and if you can’t financially, we understand and just keep us in your prayers.”
According to the Iowa Capital Dispatch, Mullaley told her students the trip represented a “unique opportunity to travel to Ecuador,” where she planned to serve as an interpreter for the mission team, writing that she would be “helping bridge language barriers so that care and compassion can reach those who need it most” while her husband would be “assisting the team in any way he can.”
The money raised was intended to cover transportation, food and hotel costs for the trip.
Following her firing, Mullaley sought unemployment benefits, but Judge Golden denied her claim, ruling that her conduct showed a “willful or wanton disregard” of her employer’s interests and that she was therefore ineligible.
