Parent tells board a classmate’s behavior has left other students anxious and asks for help

During public comment at the Oct. 1 New Haven Unified Board meeting, Carolyn Chen addressed the trustees and superintendent with a request for help after incidents in her child’s classroom.

“Within my child's class, there's a student who is prone to inappropriate touching of intimate areas, indecent exposure, and violence,” Chen said. She said school staff have emphasized the privacy and dignity of that student even as "numerous injured students" have had their own dignity violated and felt their experiences minimized. Chen asked the Board what steps the district will take to uphold one student's rights while not sacrificing the mental health and safety of the majority of the class.

Chen said affected students are “going to school with frayed emotions, anxious, and apprehensive wondering if they are going to be kicked, bitten, punched, fondled, or groped in intimate areas again,” and asked the Board to both ensure the student in question receives appropriate support and to protect classmates.

The Board acknowledged the comment and thanked Chen; no formal response or action was recorded in the meeting transcript during public comment. Board members later continued with the agenda and subsequent items.

Because the comment raises safety and privacy concerns and names no district personnel or students, the Board's publicly recorded response is limited to acknowledgment. Any specific personnel or safety steps were not described on the public record at that time.