A former employee of the Woodland School District has been charged with falsifying checks while employed by the school district.

Patricia Howe, 77, of Streator, allegedly falsified checks for more than $100,000 between March, 2005, and April 2009, according to Woodland Superintendent Doug Foster.

"We were notified April 29 of a theft from school accounts," Chief Deputy Ken White of the Livingston County Sheriff's Office told The Times. "The school requested an investigation. We made the determination (of) who we felt was responsible and forwarded the information to the State's Attorney's Office. Because of the complexity of the case, it took longer to complete the investigation."

Howe is not currently in custody.

Foster expects the school will recover the lost money through insurance and restitution.

Woodland grade and high school is along Route 17, five miles south of Streator. Many of its students are from the southern part of Streator that is in Livingston County.