A substitute teacher in the Clinton Community School District was fired for telling her students they could earn extra credit by donating to her personal GoFundMe page, which she set up to pay for a trip to Ecuador.
Stephanie Mullaley, a full-time, long-term substitute, was terminated on May 29 for violating the district’s ethics policy, according to the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Administrative Law Judge Duane Golden found that Mullaley promised high school students extra credit toward their grades if they donated to her fundraiser, which was meant to cover a trip to Ecuador with her husband, Nick, in July.
“(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,” Golden wrote.
Mullaley had set a fundraising goal of $1,800. She collected $140 from six donations ranging from $5 to $50.
In a Facebook post linking to the now-deleted fundraiser, Mullaley described the trip as a medical mission opportunity she and her husband had been invited to join.
“Nick & I are embarking on a journey this summer with a medical mission group. This was only a thought a year ago, and it became real when we got an official invitation end of 2025.”
“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. Hope to have your support, and if you can’t financially, we understand and just keep us in your prayers.”
Mullaley told her students the trip would “pay for her education” and described it as a “unique opportunity to travel to Ecuador,” where she said she would 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.” She said her husband would be “assisting the team in any way he can.”
The money she sought to raise was intended to cover transportation, food and hotel costs for the trip.
Judge Golden denied Mullaley unemployment benefits after the circumstances of her firing came to light, ruling that her conduct showed a “willful or wanton disregard” of her employer’s interests.
