Michelle Gayle Leon County Schools Case: Court Records Put $1,279.49 at the Center of the Charges

Newly released court records are filling in the case against one of Leon County Schools' top administrators. Deputy Schools Superintendent Michelle Gayle turned herself in and was charged on Oct. 29 for allegedly using her position to steal a little over $1,200 from the Foundation for Leon County Schools, the nonprofit that supports the school system. Court records show she bonded out of jail the same day.

According to the records, investigators found discrepancies in Gayle's receipts, and two district administrators, including the director of internal auditing, told the Leon County Sheriff's Office they suspected Gayle had been taking foundation funds over the last year. The administrators said they believed Gayle claimed to purchase items or give personal funds to individuals for foundation work, then applied for reimbursement without receipts or documentation. The purchases included gift cards that administrators think she kept while also being reimbursed for them, according to the records.

A sheriff's detective wrote that he spoke with 12 people who either received or were supposed to receive cash or gift cards from Gayle for work connected to the foundation and school events. Four of those people said they did not receive the money she had claimed to have given them, a total of $1,279.49 unaccounted for, according to the records.

One transaction in the records involved Leon High School's band at graduation in May. Gayle offered to pay someone to oversee the return of band equipment, handed an employee an envelope containing $70 in cash, and later gave a $330 donation to the band, according to court records. The reimbursement check in that transaction was written for $613.90, which the records say contradicts the $400 receipt she provided as justification. The foundation's executive director, Margaret Farris, told detectives she authorized the $613.90 reimbursement.

Other examples in the records include an employee Gayle said she paid $146.64 for working the 2025 Longest Table event, who told investigators he never worked the event, and an employee who supposedly received $117.27 for a Community Celebration Event, who said he never worked that event either. In both instances, according to the records, Gayle cashed checks $100 to $200 more than what the employees were allegedly paid.

Gayle serves as the district's only deputy superintendent, overseeing professional, intervention and community services as the No. 2 official under Superintendent Rocky Hanna, and she has been with the district for more than 35 years. Both Gayle and Farris were placed on administrative leave on Aug. 21, and the foundation has suspended activities pending the conclusion of an internal investigation. The district has said that when potential financial misconduct was discovered, it alerted authorities right away and initiated an independent, third-party investigation and audit of the foundation's records. Gayle has not responded to requests for comment on the case, according to the reporting.