Caledonia school employee on leave during embezzlement probe in Mississippi

A Caledonia high school guidance counselor has been placed on paid administrative leave amid embezzlement allegation.

Superintendent Lynn Wright would not identify the school employee or confirm the administrative leave citing the matter as a personnel issue but multiple sources within the district said the counselor, who has been employed with the district for six years, was placed on administrative leave Wednesday afternoon. Sources said approximately $3,000 has been reported missing from the high school's office. The money, which was collected from transcript fees, was reportedly left in an envelope in a vault, but it is unclear how many people may have had access to the vault.

Wright said an allegation was made last week and the incident is under investigation by the Lowndes County Sheriff's Department.

"Until we get all the facts, we don't want to speculate," Wright said. "There are too many unknowns. We want to get to the bottom of it and we want to hold the person accountable if something was done wrong or inappropriate but we don't want to hurt anybody that's innocent.