Ex-Tift County High School principal faces more charges

Terry Richards, The Valdosta Daily Times, Ga.
·1 min read

May 16—TIFTON — A former Tift County High School principal faces more charges following his initial arrest in February.

Chad Stone, 50, of Tifton was arrested a second time Wednesday, according to Tift County Jail booking records.

He was charged with three counts of unauthorized use of financial transaction card and two counts of false statements or writings, conceal facts or fraudulent documents, records show.

These are on top of the charges of theft by taking and unauthorized use of a financial transaction card-misuse of government-issued cards from his February arrest, the statement said.

Tifton police asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to investigate on Feb. 6; on Feb. 12, Stone resigned as principal, the GBI said.

The Tift County Board of Education had refused to renew his contract at its Jan. 11 meeting. Then-Board chair Jonathan Jones stated following the motion that the decision came as a result of an incident involving Stone last September.

Tift County School officials stated, "The charges were brought in connection with multiple incidents that were identified during the investigative period that was initiated based on the original (Professional Standards Commission) complaint."

The latest round of charges against Stone are for incidents in 2022-2023, jail records show.

Once the investigation is complete the case file will be given to the Tift County District Attorney's office for prosecution, a GBI statement said.

Anyone with information on this case should contact the Tifton Police Department at 229-382-3132 or the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Sylvester at 229-777-2080. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://GBI.Georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.