Ex-Gulf Breeze Middle School bookkeeper avoids prison for organized fraud and theft

A former bookkeeper for Gulf Breeze Middle School avoided prison Tuesday after she pleaded no contest to organized fraud and uttering a forged instrument after being arrested in 2023 for stealing money from the school.

Summer Bourland was also charged with grand theft between $10,000 and $20,000, but that charge was dropped by the State Attorney's Office in exchange for Bourland's plea. Although she pleaded no contest to the charges, Circuit Judge James Duncan withheld adjudication of guilt on both counts.

Court records state that Bourland knowingly defrauded Gulf Breeze Middle School between Aug. 1, 2021, and May 12, 2023, by stealing "money that had an aggregate value of less than $20,000" and "unlawfully utter and publish as true" deposit slips receipts and bank statements.

While Bourland faced up to 15 years in prison for all three charges, her plea deal led her to be sentenced to 10 years of probation. She must also pay restitution to the Santa Rosa County School District in the amount of $16,281.15 and must stay away from Gulf Breeze Middle School.

Another Santa Rosa bookkeeper allegedly stole money from King Middle School

Along with Bourland, former King Middle School bookkeeper Rachelle McCary is under investigation after Martin Luther King Middle School discovered "discrepancies" with their internal fund accounts around Sept. 27, 2023, leading to an internal investigation.

School district officials say the employee announced her resignation on Oct. 9, 2023. Administrative documents obtained by the News Journal indicate Rachelle McCary was King Middle School's bookkeeper at the time and shows her effective resignation date was Oct. 10, 2023, with her final day in paid status being Oct. 9, 2023.

After the school district was notified and began "looking further into the initial discrepancies, law enforcement was involved on Oct. 17, 2023."

"At the point the Santa Rosa Sheriff's Office became involved, the school and school district relinquished lead investigatory efforts over to the Sheriff's Office," the school district told the News Journal in February.

The SRSO confirmed to the News Journal that the department is investigating McCary and the fund "discrepancies," but according to jail records McCary has not yet been charged.