Hundreds of thousands of dollars may have been taken from Bremond ISD by its former superintendent, so go the charges laid out by special prosecutor Jim James Wednesday.

"It's very important that we make sure the people understand that if there's an allegation that you violated the law, there's going to be a jury that will look at it and make a determination," James said.

And what a jury will determine is whether Kenneth Johnson, the superintendent in Bremond for a decade, stole more than $100,000 from the district using a credit card. Johnson allegedly used ISD money to pay for island vacations and expensive jewelry, among other things. Two charges of theft are on the table, as well as embezzlement.

"With the misapplication of the fiduciary funds, the fiduciaries, the persons that are the beneficiaries of the fiduciary, are the school children of Bremond that have been deprived of the use of this money," James said.

Parents, including Nancy Gadbois, began to see signs of budget overspending, looked into years worth of records, and passed along findings to the authorities.

"I can't tell you how many hours went into looking stuff up, because no one else was going to do it," Gadbois said. "If we didn't do the work and bring it to the forefront, who was going to."

Two others face charges of theft surrounding Johnson's alleged acts. Former ISD business manager Sandra Nolan and the son of the superintendent, Jason were also handed charges.

According to James, Kenneth Johnson has paid back a portion of what he supposedly stole, but that doesn't erase the crime.

"If you catch a burglar in your house and he says, 'I'm sorry, here's your TV back,' that doesn't undo what's been done," James said.

A trial is still months in the making.