A Farmington schools employee was charged and arraigned on Monday accused with embezzling from the district.

Hatty Ligon, 54, of Sterling Heights, who worked with students experiencing homelessness, is accused of embezzling over $100,000 from the district, including money meant to support those students, the district’s superintendent said in an Aug. 26 letter to the community.

According to court documents, she is charged with felony embezzlement of $100,000 or more and another four felony charges relating to either not filing taxes or filing a false tax return, as well as a misdemeanor charge relating to safekeeping of public money.

According to the statute, the safekeeping of public money makes it illegal to “commingle” public funds with personal funds.

Ligon was arranged before Judge Marla Parker on Monday and bond was set at $500,000. Her next hearing is set for Sept. 4.

In her letter, Farmington Superintendent Kelly Coffin said some of the funds allegedly taken were grant dollars intended to support homeless students.

“We understand how concerning that may sound, and we want families to know that protecting the resources meant to serve students is a responsibility we take very seriously,” she wrote.

Coffin said Ligon was immediately put on leave, her access to the funds were removed and no other district employees were involved.

In 2013 Ligon was honored by the Oakland Schools Homeless Student Education Program (OSHSEP) and was a special education teacher at Warner Upper Elementary and Homeless Services Coordinator.

She was the district liaison to a federal program called the McKinney-Vento Act created in 1987 that is paid for through federal grant dollars meant to address the educational needs of children and youth experiencing homelessness.

OSHSEP supports students throughout the county through the McKinney-Vento Act.

According to Oakland Schools, some of the services provided include school supplies and uniforms, transportation, housing, health care and food referrals.

“Because this is an active investigation, we are limited in the details we can share at this time,” Coffin wrote. “What we can confirm is that the issue was discovered internally, addressed promptly and that additional safeguards and financial oversight measures are already in place.”