 After 15 years she decided to leave that community, and joined the faculty of the state-funded Roman Catholic St John Rigby School where she was made headteacher in 1991.Before her extravagant spending was revealed, McCabe had been praised as a headmistress for her strong discipline in the school and for improving the school's facilities.She made the school grant-maintained in 1995, thus allowing the head to have complete control over the school's budget, having received the permission from the school's governors.