MEXICO - A former secretary at Mountain Valley Middle School pleaded guilty to one charge of felony theft in Oxford County Superior Court on Friday.

Susan Lizotte, 49, of 685 Prospect Avenue, Rumford, will face sentencing on May 27.

She was scheduled to go to trial Monday morning.

Lizotte, who had served as a secretary to now retired middle school Principal Charles Lever for 10 years, was indicted by a grand jury in June 2007 for stealing more than $10,000 from the school over a two-year period.

The theft was discovered in November 2005.

Mexico Police Chief Jim Theriault and SAD 43 Superintendent Jim Hodgkin, who had been subpoenaed to testify if the case had gone to trial, said the figure was closer to $14,000. About $125 of that money had been raised by students to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Lizotte has been free since her arrest July 9, 2007.

Assistant Oxford County District Attorney Joe O'Connor said Friday afternoon that the form or type of sentencing will be up to the court. He said none of the money has been repaid.

When Hodgkin learned of Lizotte's indictment, he said the district felt a sense of relief.

Lizotte reported the money missing from the middle school vault in November 2005. After an investigation, she was fired from her job, Hodgkin said.

Since the theft, the school has changed the way it secures checks and cash. Previously, the vault had usually been opened in the morning and closed at the end of the school day because student records, along with money and checks, were stored in the vault.

Now, checks and cash are deposited within 24 hours, and only two people have access to the vault, which is kept closed, Hodgkin said.

Telephone calls to Lizotte for comment were not returned.