JANESVILLE — The head of the Janesville School District Information Technology Department said he has resigned in the wake of a viral infection that hobbled school district computers for weeks.
Brandon Keirns on Thursday chose to resign rather than be fired, he told The Janesville Gazette this morning. Doug Bunton, director of business services for the school district, gave Keirns the choice, Keirns said.
This morning, Bunton said Keirns' resignation was news to him and would not comment on the situation.
School board member Kevin Murray said he got an e-mail Thursday night stating Keirns had been terminated and that Superintendent Tom Evert supported Bunton's decision.
Keirns, who started working for the district in January, said the forced decision is connected to the recent computer virus that damaged the district's network.
Bunton would not comment.
Keirns plans to ask the school board to refuse his resignation and place him on administrative leave while the reasons for his possible termination are investigated.
"The long-term effects would be better if I submitted a voluntary letter of resignation, even thought it's not really my intent," Keirns said. "I do not wish to leave the school district's employment."
The board will discuss the issue in a closed session Monday night, board President DuWayne Severson said.
The virus was detected Sept. 19. Officials told the board Tuesday the virus finally had been eradicated, although some related, isolated problems remain.
Bunton never publicly expressed any dissatisfaction with how his staff handled the virus, although he did bring in temporary workers and a consulting company, Elert & Associates, to help out.
Keirns said Bunton talked to him about three weeks ago and told him he was considering terminating him. Bunton told Keirns he brought in Elert to take over management of the computer system so Keirns could be let go, Keirns said.
Bunton confirmed to the Gazette that an Elert representative was managing the department. Elert said the district handled the virus attack correctly, Bunton said.
Instead of managing the IT department and finishing the job of removing the virus, Keirns was told he could be responsible for security and network engineering, Keirns said.
Bunton would not comment on that statement.
On Thursday, Keirns said, Bunton told him that he was being let go because it took too long to eradicate the virus. Keirns' response was that he had been removed from that job.
Bunton also said Keirns has good skills but does not have the ability to manage people, Keirns said.
Keirns said he remains a district employee until Thursday, Nov. 27. This is a standard practice in the IT world, he said, because he might be asked to supply key information or provide a password needed to run the computer system.