Two former employees of the now-closed Bridges Academy in Wilkes County have pleaded guilty to embezzling government property. The former executive director, Shannon Pruitt Caudill, and former finance officer, Kimberly Nicole White, plead guilty to the crime of stealing more than one thousand dollars from a government office.
WXII reported on the case in 2021 when the school closed leaving parents scrambling for alternatives. A state audit months later found the charter school falsified enrollment numbers to obtain more than $400,000 in funding they weren't meant to receive. Auditors also found that the school misused almost $79,000 of taxpayer funds to support the school that also required tuition, which was unusual for a public school.
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In the pleas, Caudill and White both agreed to pay back $37,500 to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development and the Surrey Bank and Trust, totaling $225,000 in reparations. Court documents also show the state recommends sentencing them to two years of probation.
The pleas were filed in July and August, roughly three years after the school closed. Their sentencing is scheduled for February, where the two could face up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.