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Public commenter alleges unaddressed safety and discrimination concerns as board prepares superintendent evaluation
Summary
Angelica Mercer told the Bridgeport Board of Education her emails about student-safety concerns, retaliation and harassment went unanswered and urged the board to weigh leadership responsiveness when evaluating Superintendent Dr. Avery.
Angelica Mercer told the Bridgeport Board of Education on July 6 that she had repeatedly reported student-safety concerns and alleged her own workplace discrimination and harassment went unresolved, and she asked the board to consider leadership responsiveness in the superintendent's evaluation.
"Our children deserves leadership that listens, asks, and puts their safety 1st," Mercer said during the public comment period, adding that she had contacted state departments after local emails went unanswered. Mercer said she first contacted the district in 2017 about discrimination and harassment while pregnant and that more recent reports about student safety, retaliation and neglect had not been addressed.
Mercer urged the board to consider whether the superintendent and district leadership responded appropriately when staff raised safety concerns affecting students and staff. "As an employee, I believe I had a duty to report these matters," she said, and later told the board, "I was left questioning whether protecting children was truly the district's highest priority." Mercer also said several children who she alleged had been neglected "have not received any assistance." She asked the board to weigh those failures as it evaluates Dr. Avery.
The board did not respond substantively to Mercer's allegations during the public comment period; no corroborating evidence or formal findings were announced in open session. Mercer said she escalated some concerns to state agencies after receiving no local assistance.
The board proceeded to other public comments and to its agenda; it later entered executive session to draft the superintendent's evaluation. The transcript does not record any investigation, remediation, or administrative response to Mercer's specific allegations in this meeting.
The board is scheduled to meet again next Monday in executive session to review the draft evaluation with the superintendent.
