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Parent alleges pattern of retaliation and policy gaps in Bexley Board of Education public comment
Summary
Alicia Mitchell, a parent and former board member, told the Bexley Board of Education that a third-party investigation and administrative admissions substantiated harm to her son, and urged the board to add confidential reporting, accountability timelines and coach evaluations to updated handbooks.
Alicia Mitchell addressed the Bexley Board of Education on July 9, 2025, alleging that her son’s safety was compromised by a “pattern of retaliation, inequity, and adult failure” that persisted over years and that a third-party investigation, she said, substantiated the harm.
Mitchell, who identified herself as a parent of a rising senior and a former board member, described the district’s public messaging praising a former coach as “tone deaf” and “erasure” of documented harms. She said the investigative report and “administrative admissions” confirmed that students were harmed and that retaliation continued during and after the investigation.
Her remarks focused on missing safeguards in the district’s updated policies and handbooks, which were on the board’s agenda that evening. “First, there is no consistent confidential reporting process for students or families,” Mitchell said. “Second, there are no accountability mechanisms with timelines for action.” She urged the board to add a clear chain of command, timelines, coach performance evaluations and explicit protections for students with disabilities.
The board did not respond with policy commitments during the public-comment period. Chair reiterated the board’s role in orderly conduct and reminded attendees that personnel matters are legally restricted from public discussion; Mitchell pressed that the board could still update policy to fix structural failures. At the meeting, the board was reviewing updates to policy GBH, the athletic handbook, the employee handbook and the volunteer handbook.
Mitchell closed by saying she would continue to press the district for change: “I’m asking for progress, and I will not stop asking for it.” The board’s agenda included second readings and votes on handbook changes; the superintendent and staff said policy and handbook updates will be brought forward in future reports and that leadership will continue to review recommendations from the special-education evaluation.
The next procedural step noted in the meeting was that updates and follow-up on the special-education review and handbook revisions would be presented at future meetings (the superintendent said there will be updates at the August meeting). The board did not take a formal, recorded action in response to Mitchell’s public comment during the July 9 meeting.
Context: the chair opened the meeting under Ohio Revised Code section 121.22 and reminded the public that comments are limited to five minutes and are not a Q&A with the board.
Ending: The board proceeded with agenda votes that evening; staff said further updates on policies and the special-education review would appear at upcoming meetings.
