According to charging documents, Denise Renee Shorts, a former Chief Academic Officer and Title I grant coordinator for Worcester County Public Schools, is accused of abusing her authority over federal education funds intended to support low-income students.
Prosecutors allege that between 2019 and 2025, Shorts used a school-issued purchasing card to buy personal items through Amazon, including household goods, clothing, electronics, and furnishings, which some were shipped to her home and even a vacation property in Florida.
To conceal the purchases, the documents claim she altered receipts, fabricated invoices, and submitted falsified documentation to the school system’s finance department, disguising the expenditures as legitimate classroom materials. In some cases, items like a robot vacuum, furniture, rugs, and iPads were allegedly misrepresented as school-related purchases or redirected for personal or private business use.
Shorts now faces multiple felony charges, including embezzlement by a fiduciary, theft over $100,000, and misconduct in office.