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AFSCME Local 3144 President Gildemar Herrera, whom NHPS has placed on leave.
New Haven Public Schools has placed two of its employees on paid administrative leave as of 4 p.m. Wednesday: The district’s director of I.T. and the senior I.T. information specialist.
According to schools spokesperson Justin Harmon, the action was due to “performance-related concerns” and “not directly related” to last year’s cyberattack that resulted in hackers stealing $6 million from the school district.
However, according to Harmon, these performance-related concerns “surfaced subsequently related to implementing corrective measures to strengthen our IT systems from future attacks.”
UPDATE: AFSCME Local 3144 Staff Representative Patrick Sampson released a statement Friday identifying the district’s director of I.T. as union President Gildemar Herrera. The union represents more than 400 management workers employed by the city.
“Herrera’s placement on administrative leave is concerning,” Sampson’s statement reads. “We plan to seek every avenue of recourse, including but not limited to filing complaints through the State Board of Labor Relations, to ensure President Herrera was not unfairly targeted due to her role as union president. We will monitor the investigation closely to ensure her right to due process is not violated.”
Herrera did not respond to the Independent’s request for comment.