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Lack of Transparency

My child is an athlete who was qualified to compete based on the Branford High School Handbook/Guide GPA requirement. The high school administration advised that even though the GPA requirement was published in the guide, it didn’t have to honor the published GPA guidelines.

The administration stated the guide was updated over the summer, but the changes made to the guide became effective for the 2016-2017 school year, with the removal of the GPA calculation method, after my meeting with the administration.

An email from the administration stated the guide was legal, policy, and procedural information. When I asked that the administration honor what was originally published, I was told that, despite the guidelines being changed after a qualifying GPA was achieved, it did not matter.

This change should not affect students’ GPA qualifying status, which is based on the last quarter 2016 under the policy of the 2015-2016 guide, the guide used to make decisions for the 2015-2016 school year.

I went to the Board of Education, which had approved the GPA information in the guide. The administration told the BOE that my child didn’t qualify per CIAC GPA requirements. CIAC doesn’t have GPA requirements.

The qualifying GPA was confirmed by Vice-Principal Joseph Briganti at school, using his copy of the guide, but Principal Lee Panagoulias says that it does not qualify. CIAC shows my child qualified based on the information given it by the high school, but the principal says “No.”

Schools should set honest examples for students and be transparent in their policies—that’s the purpose for publishing the Handbook/Guide, the one place to look for all rules and regulations.

Is the lack of transparency and bullying the reason that schools are having discipline issues? The students learn from adults and it becomes acceptable behavior.

Sandy Bohan

Branford