DATE: Saturday, October 4, 1997             TAG: 9710040355

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: NEW KENT, VA.                     LENGTH:   26 lines

HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL CHARGED WITH EMBEZZLING

New Kent High School Principal Louise Carlton has been charged with two misdemeanor embezzlement counts in a state police investigation into the handling of a student activities fund.

Carlton, the school's principal for the past 10 years, was accused of taking less than $200 from the fund on two occasions during the 1996 and 1997 school years, according to papers filed in General District Court. She is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 14, according to a court clerk.

Carlton, 55, also is a member of the King and Queen County School Board. A woman who answered the phone at her home Thursday said she was unavailable. William Hefty, her attorney, declined to comment on the charges.

New Kent School Superintendent Roy Geiger said Carlton is still working for the school system and that her status wouldn't change ``until the situation is resolved.''

Each charge carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. KEYWORDS: EMBEZZLEMENT

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