A former Worcester County Public Schools official is facing felony charges for purchasing pool equipment and furniture with school funding intended to help students from low-income families.

Denise Shorts, the district’s former chief academic officer, was charged with theft of over $100,000, embezzlement and misconduct, according to a Tuesday news release from the state prosecutor’s office.

“Officials entrusted with the administration of valuable community resources intended for the education of needy children have a responsibility to act with integrity,” Maryland State Prosecutor Charlton T. Howard III said in a statement. “Our Office is committed to holding accountable any individuals who are found to have abused such positions of trust.”

Shorts, who had worked in the school system since 1989, oversaw Title I grant money starting in 2014, the news release said. The federal funding went toward schools with high numbers of low-income students. The grant was intended to close achievement gaps by funding education programs and services, according to charging documents.

Shorts’ responsibilities included making purchases on behalf of Title I schools with purchase cards, or P-cards — credit cards issued to certain school district employees for education materials. From 2019 to 2025, Shorts used the cards to make $118,741.89 in personal purchases from Amazon, according to prosecutors.

“Shorts printed her actual Amazon receipt and a fake Amazon receipt,” the release said. “Shorts cut out the item description or shipping address from the fake receipt, and taped it over the actual Amazon receipt, copied the altered receipt, and submitted the altered receipt in support of her P-Card purchases.”

She falsely documented that $84,365.82 of the spending benefited Title I schools, diverting that amount from the Title I grant, the news release said.

The money was actually being used for pool equipment, clothing, makeup, hair and skin care products, and other personal items, the release said. Shorts also bought items to support a learning center she partially owned, as well as furnishings for her Florida vacation home, prosecutors allege.

A person who answered a phone number listed for Shorts declined to comment.

“We take our responsibility to safeguard public resources extremely seriously,” Annette Wallace, Worcester’s superintendent, said in a Tuesday news release from the school system. “Any misuse of funds intended to support students and staff is unacceptable, and we are committed to full accountability.”

The Maryland Office of Legislative Audits identified discrepancies in Shorts’ purchases in the fall while reviewing spending from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2025, according to the school system.

“On December 13, 2025, a search and seizure warrant was executed on Shorts’ office within the Board of Education building,” the release said. “At that time, Shorts was immediately placed on administrative leave.”

Shorts is still being paid by the school system, a district official said in an email.

District officials said they cooperated fully with the investigation and audit. Shorts submitted her resignation on March 26, and the board plans to “act on the separation” during its April 21 meeting.

“Our community places its trust in us to act with integrity,” Todd Ferrante, the district’s school board president, said in the school system’s release. “We are committed to strict oversight, learning from this situation, and implementing stronger safeguards to ensure it does not happen again.”

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