A custodian for Veterans Memorial Middle School in Blue Island faces a misdemeanor charge of wage theft, according to a Blue Island police report.
Geoffery Farr, director of school safety for District 130, contacted Blue Island police on Feb. 17 alleging Maria Fernandez committed wage theft of $765.88 between Jan. 26 and Feb. 6.
A investigation conducted by Blue Island police found alleged wage theft of $373.77 between Jan. 6 and Feb. 6.
Fernandez was charged and released from custody and is scheduled to appear at 9 a.m. on April 27 at the Cook County Courthouse in Bridgeview. She was also placed on leave pending the investigation.
Farr said the school district began investigating Fernandez after a maintenance employee responded to a reported alarm call Jan. 6 at the school and found no employees on the site, despite Fernandez being scheduled to work.
Farr said an internal school district investigation showed Fernandez had left the school premises during paid work hours that night for 148 minutes and did not perform job-related duties for a total of 214 minutes.
Fernandez’s union, Service Employees International Union Local 73, condemned the arrest, saying in a statement District 130 had “escalated its campaign of harassment against union members by seeking the criminal referral, arrest, and prosecution of a school custodian for allegedly leaving work early.”
The union alleged in the statement members have documented multiple incidents since 2022, including retaliation, terminations and denial to translate disciplinary hearings.
Custodians and maintenance workers for Elementary District 130 serving Alsip, Blue Island, Crestwood and Robbins have called for the removal of the district’s superintendent and assistant superintendent of human resources in October 2025.
Blue Island detective Sgt. David Nedved said investigations showed Fernandez did not perform work duties while on her shift for 17.43 hours between Jan. 6 and Feb. 6. Nedved calculated the unproductive, paid hours totaled to $373.77 in wages, as her hourly rate was $21.44.
Blue Island City Administrator Thomas Wogan said the investigation was initiated based on a formal complaint from a District 130 official.
awright@chicagotribune.com
