Former Monroe City School Board Superintendent Charged in Theft Investigation

Kevin Dudley, Jr. and Haylee Hines

19 mins ago

MONROE, Louisiana. (KTVE/KARD) — In 2023, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office opened an investigation into a complaint made by the Monroe City School Board about Brent Vidrine. After the investigation was completed, the information obtained was reportedly turned over to the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office for review.

According to court documents, officials found probable cause and accused Vidrine of failing to provide documentation showing that he made a $48,148 payment to the Teacher’s Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL), which was originally paid to him by the Monroe City School Board.

The Monroe City School Board requested the document, and Vidrine later provided the school board with a letter as proof that TRSL had received the payment. However, TRSL’s records did not indicate that it had received a $48,184 payment from Vidrine.

According to authorities, evidence from Vidrine’s school board-assigned desktop revealed that a Microsoft Word document was created showing that Vidrine received a check for $48,184 from the school board for one year of eligible services on July 8, 2021, and that TRSL received the payment on July 13, 2021.

On January 10, 2022, the school board requested Vidrine’s letter, and on January 12, 2022, they also requested the Microsoft Word document. The documents were reportedly moved to the “trash” on June 19, 2023.

Vidrine was also accused of sending a demand for payment to the school board on February 22, 2022. The demand reportedly included a letter from TRSL dated January 28, 2022, showing costs of $99,818 to purchase two years of creditable service and $67,422 to purchase one year of creditable service with the school board.

According to court documents, on March 4, 2022, the school board issued Vidrine a check for approximately $67,422, which he could use to earn one year of creditable service. Officials mentioned that there were no records proving that Vidrine transferred the funds to TRSL.

Records provided by TRSL show that the Jan. 28, 2022, letter to Vidrine listed the cost of earning one year of creditable service as $47,422, not $67,422. Officials say the altered document resulted in Vidrine receiving an additional $20,000 to which he was not entitled.

According to authorities, Vidrine’s email account with the school board showed that he allegedly sent an uneditable file to a Monroe City School Board employee. In return, Vidrine received an editable file back five minutes later. The file sent was reportedly a copy of the legitimate TRSL letter dated January 28, 2022, which indicated that the cost to purchase one year of creditable service was $47,422.

Vidrine was arrested and charged with the following offenses:

• Two counts of filing or maintaining false public records
• theft
• Abuse of office