ALBANY — Brenda McClaine agreed to a plea deal Tuesday for one count of third-degree grand larceny, a felony, that will put her in jail for six months and on probation for five years. She is to be sentenced on Oct. 28.

Had McClaine gone to trial instead, she could have served a maximum of two-and-a-third to seven years.

McClaine had worked as a math teacher at Farnsworth Middle School and is still being paid by the Guilderland School District while on administrative leave. She was arrested in March for second-degree grand larceny for stealing more than $100,000 from the Guilderland Teachers’ Association, according to the Guilderland Police who arrested her.

McClaine had served as treasurer of the association, having been elected in the spring of 2012 to serve a two-year term, starting on July 1, 2012. The felony complaint states that, between Aug. 13, 2012 and Oct. 28, 2013, McClaine stole $100,382.50 from the First Niagara Bank account of the GTA.

Albany County Court Judge Stephen W. Herrick said from the bench on Tuesday that restitution had been paid in full before the criminal investigation began.

Maceo Dubose, who was the president of the GTA at the time of the arrest, told The Enterprise earlier that the local union, affiliated with New York State United Teachers, had been reimbursed in full in February. He said the check came through NYSUT, which had been investigating the case, but he did not know if the funds had been returned by McClaine or not. Neither did Captain Curtis Cox, spokesman for the Guilderland Police, who said, “reimbursement before or after, the crime still exists.”

“NYSUT did not cover it,” said Carl Korn, spokesman for NYSUT, in March. “I don’t know where it came from.”

Over the last seven months, McClaine has not returned calls from The Enterprise. After McClaine appeared before the bench Tuesday morning, she declined to acknowledge The Enterprise when approached and addressed in the courtroom’s gallery.

McClaine, dressed in black capris and a black sweater, kept a serious demeanor throughout the proceedings. She did not smile or show any sign of emotion.

Throughout the brief court session, McClaine gave simple declarative answers to Herrick’s questions, mostly “yes” or “no.”

She gave her age as 39, said she was divorced, and reported that she had two dependent children. At the time of her arrest, she lived at 37 Armstrong Court in Altamont.

“Are you pleading guilty because you are in fact guilty?” asked Herrick.

“Yes,” McClaine answered.

She also told the judge she was employed by the Guilderland Central Schools.

McClaine worked for the district since 1999, most recently teaching math at Farnsworth to 70 students in an Academic Intervention Services program, offering additional help to sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders.

Marie Wiles, superintendent of the Guilderland schools, said Tuesday morning, when asked about McClaine’s status, “Nothing has changed since the end of last year.” Before her arrest, during the police investigation, McClaine had been re-assigned to work on a curriculum project “so as not to disrupt the educational process,” Wiles said at the time. After her arrest, she was placed on leave and paid her regular teacher’s salary on a per diem basis.

McClaine is currently receiving that salary — $66,268 annually — Wiles said this week. “We have been waiting for the court system to work through its process,” Wiles said after learning of the guilty plea. She said late Tuesday morning that she had just emailed the school board members about the court proceedings. “We need to take stock of things,” said Wiles. “We’ll take the appropriate next steps.”

Asked what those steps might be, Wiles said, “We probably need more information before I can speculate on the next steps.”

In the courtroom, discussing McClaine’s probation responsibilities, Herrick told her, “You need to be consistent in your acceptance of responsibility.”

He also said, “You need to remain free of new arrests and new charges.”

McClaine answered “yes” when the judge asked her if she admitted to stealing payments in excess of $3,000, forging the signature of the GTA president to cash association checks, collecting dues, and then depositing them into her personal checking account.

She answered “yes,” too, when Herrick asked if she stole money from the teachers’ association for her personal benefit.

“How do you plead?” he asked.

“Guilty,” she said.