The Daily News says a school official became suspicious of the forged death certificate. A special investigator's report says it had different fonts that weren't aligned properly.
According to court records, Joan Barnett pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in the case this fall. She was also fired from her job as a parent coordinator at the Manhattan High School of Hospitality Management.
She allegedly told school officials her daughter died in Costa Rica so she could spend 2 1/2 weeks there in March 2010.
A Costa Rican government official later confirmed the document was a fake, noting it dated from 2005.