Former Des Plaines principal charged with stealing from school account

A former principal of St. Zachary Catholic School in Des Plaines is charged with stealing more than $39,000 from its bank account.

Caroline Forestor, 43, is free on a $10,000 I-bond, meaning she did not have to post money to be released from custody while awaiting trial on a charge of theft.

Cook County prosecutors said that from June 1, 2016, through Oct. 31, 2018, Forestor deposited 29 checks totaling $39,990.45 from the school's account into her own. The school account was established to provide needy families with scholarships and tuition assistance, authorities said.

School officials noticed discrepancies in the account during a November 2018 bank audit, prompting an Archdiocese of Chicago investigation, prosecutors said. According to authorities, Forestor provided bank records showing she used personal funds to assist needy families, then reimbursed herself from the school's account.

Forestor next appears in a Skokie courtroom on Aug. 26.