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Darien parent tells State Board her daughter lost credits after approved UN trip; alleges disparate treatment
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Summary
During public comment at the State Board meeting, a Darien parent said her daughter was allowed by the principal to attend an international environmental conference but later had absences marked unexcused and faced administrative penalties; she asked the board to address what she called discriminatory treatment.
Luz Bueno of Darien told the Connecticut State Board of Education on Oct. 8 that her daughter, a senior at Darien High School, was granted permission by the principal to miss eight days to attend the U.N. Biodiversity Conference, yet school administrators later marked those absences unexcused and the student faced the risk of losing course credit.
"My name is Luz Bueno. 123 Hoyt Street in Darien, Connecticut," Bueno said during the public participation portion of the meeting at North Haven High School. She told the board her daughter had been invited to speak at the United Nations event, an opportunity the principal classified as "an extraordinary educational opportunity," but that the district nonetheless treated the absences as truancy in practice.
Bueno said the student—attled to avoid losing credits, that teachers were not informed of the approved leave, and that paperwork attached to the student's records contained "false statements" according to her account. She also said her family's Freedom of Information Act requests to the district had gone unanswered for 15 weeks.
Why this matters: Bueno framed her complaint as part of broader concerns about the state chievement gap and differential treatment of Hispanic students in Connecticut. "If this discrimination happens to Hispanic families like ours, what happens to those with fewer resources?" she told the board.
Board response and next steps: The transcript records Bueno's public comment but does not include a formal board response, a staff report, or corrective action taken during the meeting. The comment is recorded as part of the public-participation record and, under board practice, may be referred to staff for follow-up at a later date.
