BREAKING: Fmr. Worcester Assist. Supt. Receives Five Year Sentence After Pleading Guilty to Felony Theft

SNOW HILL, Md. – A former Worcester County Public Schools assistant superintendent has received a five-year jail sentence after pleading guilty to one count of felony theft on Wednesday.

According to court documents obtained by WMDT, 61-year-old Denise Shorts plead guilty to one count of theft greater than $100,000 on Sept. 23. Judge James S. Sarbanes sentenced Shorts to 10 years in prison, suspending all but five years. Following her release from prison, Shorts will serve three years of supervised probation.

Two other misdemeanor charges previously filed against Shorts, embezzlement and misconduct in office, were dropped. She was remanded into custody to start her sentence immediately after Wednesday’s proceedings concluded.

As WMDT previously reported, Shorts worked for Worcester County Public Schools (WCPS) from 1989 until early this year, most recently serving as the Chief Academic Officer, or Assistant Superintendent, and as the WCPS Title I grant coordinator. In the grant coordinator role, Shorts was permitted to make purchases for educational purposes and for the benefit of the school system. However, according to charging documents, from Jan. 2019 through Oct. 2025, Shorts used her school-issued Purchase Card to make $118,741.89 in personal purchases from Amazon, submitting invoices she physically altered in support of those purchases.

Shorts falsely indicated that $84,365.82 of the purchases made from Amazon were to benefit Title I schools, which resulted in that amount being deducted from a grant intended to support students of low-income families. Court documents showed that Shorts purchased thousands of dollars in pool equipment, clothing, make-up, hair and skin care, and other personal items. She also purchased materials and equipment for a learning center partially owned by her, and furnishings for her vacation home in Florida.

WMDT has reached out to the Maryland State Prosecutor for a comment on the outcome of this case.