On Thursday, April 26, Parents for Batchelder requested that the CT State Department of Education (CT SDE) move forward with its complaint to keep Batchelder School open. The original complaint alleged that the Hartford Board of Education failed to implement the educational interests of the State by not following the Hartford school board’s written policy and regulations on school closure and by steering parents to more racially and economically isolated schools than Batchelder.

The letter from Parents from Batchelder came in response to CT SDE’s letter on April 17 stating that the Department would “stay” or delay the original complaint to keep Batchelder School open. In that letter, CT SDE stated that proposed legislation, Senate Bill 526 sponsored by Senator Fonfara, would make the original complaint “moot” or irrelevant. Parents for Batchelder disagreed with this inaction for the following reasons:

• While Senate Bill 526 (2018) may offer some relief, it does not address all of the concerns of our complaint.
• As each day passes, HBOE’s actions continue to harm to parents and students.
• We are concerned that CT SDE seeks to delay our complaint based upon pending legislation, which is not an action supported by State law or regulations.

Only a full investigation and comprehensive action by CT SDE can stop HBOE’s unlawful closure of Batchelder School and address the harm to parents and students.