Paris, Tenn.–A former Paris Special Schools employee pleaded guilty to theft of $7,300 from the school system during an appearance in Henry County Circuit Court.
Allyson Leigh Palmer, age 38, pleaded uilty to theft of property and was placed on deferred state probation. That means she will serve no jail time, but she was ordered to pay restitution of $7,383.49 to the PSSD, which has already been done.
The court also ordered that she not seek employment with any school system in Henry County.
Palmer presently lives in Princeton, Ky., but at the time of the theft lived in Springville. At PSSD, she was the Early Learning Coordinator and was charged with misappropriating money from both the PSSD and Rhea Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization.
Palmer was employed as the Early Learning Coordinator for PSSD and the grand jury indictment stated the thefts occurred between July 1, 2017 and June 15, 2022. The counts involve cash and property valued at $2,500 or more but less than $10,000.
She is charged with using a credit card issued to the PSSD for personal purchases not authorized by the district. She also wass charged with knowingly using the district-issued Walmart credit card “to make unauthoried purchases for personal use” and with taking money from the W.G. Rhea School Parent-Teacher organization funds.
She resigned from the PSSD on June 15, 2022. Based on the state comptroller’s office investigation, in July 2023, she was indicted by the Henry County Grand Jury for one count of theft of property over $2,500, one count of fraudulent use of a credit card over $2,500, and one count of official misconduct.
She was represented by Paris Attorney Hansel McCadams.