A former D.C. public schools administrator pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing $30,000 from the grade school chess club whose run to the national championships four years ago fired the imaginations of area residents.

Sandy Jones, 40, a former business manager with the Moten Center Special Education School in Southeast Washington, admitted in federal court that she used the chess club’s bank account debit card and checks to illegally obtain cash from ATMs and forged checks, payable to herself.