New charge for former Georgia Superintendent of the Year

A former Georgia Superintendent of the Year accused of stealing money from an adult education program is now charged with forgery, the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.

Robert Ronald Saunders, the executive director of Adult Literacy Barrow, was arrested Thursday on a charge of felony theft by taking. The sheriff's office added a misdemeanor charge of fourth degree forgery, according to sheriff's report obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Adult Literacy’s board of directors called a Barrow deputy into a meeting Monday to discuss concerns over missing finances. Adult Literacy is a program that offers GED programs and education opportunities through Lanier Technical College.

Board members told the deputy they suspected Saunders of forging their signatures on checks and cashing them, the sheriff’s office said in the report.

The deputy met with Saunders on Tuesday, and he admitted to forging the signatures and taking the money, the sheriff’s office said.

Saunders was arrested at his home just before noon Thursday. Saunders served as Barrow’s school superintendent from 1998 until he retired in May 2010. He was Georgia’s Superintendent of the Year in 2008.

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