April 6, 2016

NEWS Rick Hartford | The Hartford Courant  Eduardo Genao, then Hartford schools’ assistant superintendent for early literacy and parent engagement, led the pledge of allegiance at a 2013 ceremony at Hartford Public Library. By HARTFORD COURANT PUBLISHED: April 6, 2016 at 6:48 p.m. | UPDATED: December 12, 2018 at 4:55 p.m. HARTFORD — A longtime school official has abruptly resigned amid a police investigation, a city schools spokesman said Wednesday. Police informed school officials this week that Eduardo “Eddie” Genao was under criminal investigation, said Pedro Zayas, the district’s director of communications. Genao, the schools’ executive director of compliance, resigned Tuesday. “The alleged victim of this investigation is not a staff member or student of Hartford Public Schools,” Zayas said. The school system is cooperating with the probe, he said. Genao, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, has worked for the school system since 2005, when he became principal of Sport and Medical Sciences Academy, a magnet school. He has held a variety of central office roles, including executive director of the district’s adult education center and assistant superintendent of early literacy and parent engagement. -Presse/Getty Images Genao’s salary this year was $176,274, district records show. His latest job included handling compliance issues with expulsions and adult education. Deputy police Chief Brian Foley said Hartford police and other agencies are involved in the fast-moving investigation. Genao has not been charged with a crime. “Right now, they’re just allegations,” Foley said at a press conference Wednesday morning. He said police served search warrants Tuesday and that evidence was seized, but he declined to discuss the nature of the allegations. The search warrants are sealed, he said. A couple of days ago, a member of the community approached the police “regarding criminal allegations” involving a Hartford schools employee, Foley said. Police then notified the school system. “It’s important to know that, one, no one’s in danger, currently … and we have no indication that any students or staff in the Hartford school system were ever in danger, at this point,” Foley said. Dr. Aaron Lewis, president of a literacy and advocacy group called The Scribe’s Institute, said he sent a text message about two weeks ago to the Hartford superintendent’s chief of staff, Gislaine Ngounou, warning, “I need to bring a situation to your attention” and that it was “urgent.” Genao’s name was not included in the text message. Lewis provided The Courant with screen shots showing his March 22 communication with Ngounou, who sent a follow-up text message that afternoon saying, “I have a couple of minutes now. May I call?” Lewis replied that he was in a meeting and asked to speak in a half-hour. A few hours later, in the evening, Ngounou texted that the day had been “hectic” and asked “if it’s too late to connect.” Because hours had passed since his initial message, Lewis said he decided to bring the matter to school board Chairman Richard Wareing. Lewis emailed Wareing on March 23 with the subject line “IMPORTANT message from Dr. Lewis,” informing him of his earlier attempt at notifying Ngounou regarding an “urgent matter concerning one of your directors.” Lewis forwarded a copy of the email to The Courant. He never got a response from Wareing, Lewis said. “I was extremely disappointed.” “I just found that email,” Wareing said Wednesday. “I didn’t see it when it came in. I missed it. I try to respond to things as quickly as I can, and I missed that one. … Obviously, I get a lot of emails. It’s my work email address. I overlooked it. “If I’d seen it, I would’ve referred it to the superintendent and asked her to deal with it,” Wareing added. “But I didn’t see it.” In response to Lewis’ remarks, Zayas said the “first official notification that the district received was on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 5th, from the Hartford Police Department and the district took immediate action.” Zayas acknowledged in a statement that “Lewis reached out on March 22nd to one of our senior staff members with some information about the alleged incident. The staff member replied attempting to speak with Dr. Lewis, but they were unable to speak directly.” Before he joined Hartford schools, Genao worked as an administrator for the New York City Department of Education until January 2005, according to his resume.