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GREENSBORO — Manny Bloom, the Northwest Guilford High School basketball coach, resigned from a similar position in Florida last year to avoid a reprimand after violating the school system’s fundraising policy, Palm Beach County schools officials said Wednesday.

The account by school officials there contradicts Bloom’s version — first told to Northwest Guilford officials in 2008 and again to the News & Record this month — that he was cleared of any wrongdoing.

At the time of his resignation last year from Boca Raton High School, Bloom and the school’s principal were being investigated by school system officials for depositing $421,983 in basketball proceeds into three private accounts, according to documents obtained by the News & Record.

More than $250,000 of that money was deposited into two personal accounts opened by Bloom, said Cindy Adair, who leads the Palm Beach school board’s audit committee.

“Did he resign? Absolutely. Was he cleared? Absolutely not,” Adair said. “Mr. Bloom avoided a reprimand and having a record of that reprimand in his file by resigning, but it’s very clear he violated school board policy here. For him or anyone else to say otherwise would be inaccurate.”

Bloom, who also works at the school as a behavior-improvement teacher, did not return calls Wednesday.

Northwest Guilford principal Angelo Kidd said Wednesday night he was surprised to hear that Bloom’s and Adair’s versions of the investigation’s outcome differ.

“I’m not sure what to say because what you’re telling me is entirely different and new from what I’ve heard before,” Kidd said. He said he would meet Thursday with Bloom and Northwest Guilford Athletics Director John Hughes, who hired Bloom.

Hughes said Bloom told him about the investigation when he interviewed for the job in the spring of 2008. At the time, Bloom told Northwest Guilford officials he had been cleared in the investigation, both Hughes and Bloom said earlier this month.

Asked Wednesday if he felt he’d been misled, Hughes declined comment.

Hughes said Wednesday he called about 20 people in Florida for references on Bloom. “I went above and beyond the three people (Bloom) gave me,” Hughes said. “Everyone was very glowing in what they had to say about Manny.”

Hughes said he supports Bloom “100 percent.”

At the time Bloom was hired last year, Hughes said he made it clear that all camp money had to be deposited into the school’s nonprofit basketball booster account.

“He goes through the same checks and balances all of our coaches have to go through,” Hughes said.

Bloom ran a camp at Northwest this past winter, Hughes said. The camp brought in about $1,600, with Bloom and the booster club splitting the proceeds, Hughes said.

School officials in Florida said Bloom used Boca Raton’s gym for his camps and clinics but never signed a lease to use the facilities.

Bloom ran several camps and clinics for students of all ages out of Boca Raton High. He also sought sponsorships from local businesses, promising to hang their banners in the school’s gym for $300 and sold advertisements in a school-sponsored program.

In most cases, Bloom paid camp employees under the table and did not provide correct tax forms, Adair said. One employee of Bloom’s camp said Bloom paid his outstanding furniture bill — $2,591 — in lieu of an official salary.

Since the camps were for-profit ventures — in many cases checks were made out to Manny Bloom Inc. — Adair said Bloom should have signed a lease with the school system or deposited the proceeds into an internal school account. Bloom did neither.

Palm Beach officials estimate that Bloom would have owed $100,757 had he leased the school’s gym. The principal who allowed Bloom to use the school was suspended without pay for three weeks for not getting a lease from Bloom, Adair said.

Adair said Bloom also faced a reprimand had he not resigned.

Contact Robert Bell at 373-7055 or robert.bell@news-record.com