Police accused former Derby High School Principal Greg Gaillard of stealing about $13,000 from the union representing school administrators.
Gaillard turned himself in at Derby police headquarters Tuesday evening after learning there was an warrant for his arrest. He is free on a $5,000 bond pending a Feb. 25 court date in Derby.
He is charged with second-degree larceny.
Gaillard resigned his position in December, citing “personal reasons” in a one-sentence letter.
Shortly after he left, members of the Derby’s Administrators’ Association — Gaillard’s former union — filed a complaint with police after members allegedly found “discrepancies” in the union’s financial transactions.
In total, $13,200 was missing, according to police.
Gaillard was president of the administrators’ union before his resignation as high school principal. He “maintained financial control” of the union’s bank account, according to a prepared statement from police.
Police said the alleged theft was not connected to Gaillard’s abrupt departure.
Detectives reviewed the union’s paperwork and concluded Gaillard was cutting checks from the union’s bank account for events that never happened.
Gaillard was appointed principal at the high school in 2011. He was employed in the district for four years prior to being named principal.
His salary was $135,259, according to the administrator’s contract posted on the ConnCann website.
The union includes the district’s four principals, along with assistant principals and three special education supervisory positions.
Gaillard’s resignation happened after the top two administrators at Derby Middle School were put on administrative leave Nov. 25.
The middle school leaders resigned, in part, because of the way they handled a written threat discovered at Derby Middle School earlier in the school year, though district officials kept most of the details private, dismissing it as a “personnel matter.”
Gaillard was a popular presence at the high school.
He was just 33 years old when he was appointed principal.
The members of Derby Class of 2011 dedicated their yearbook to him, saying “Thank you Mr. G. for always being there for us! We will always think of you when we look back on our time at Derby High.”
Superintendent Matthew Conway and parents sung his praises when he was part of the transition team at Derby Middle School after the administrators there got into trouble.
In 2012, Gaillard organized a relief drive for neighborhoods in Rockaway, Queens devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Gaillard, a Naugatuck resident, lived in the Rockaways until eighth grade.
He accompanied 50 Derby High School students to drop off the supplies they collected.
James Stadt, a member of the Derby Board of Education, said he was surprised by the accusation.
“It was quite a surprise to everybody, but it was nothing that involved the board,” he said. “It’s confusing, at this point for me, because I don’t know anything.”
Gaillard is the second Derby school administrator to be accused of a crime in four years.
In 2011, the middle school’s dean of students was charged with drug possession. He resigned and was eventually given probation.
