NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Students and parents pressed the New Haven Board of Education on Monday night over the district's handling of a reported sexual assault of a Hillhouse High School student by an assistant principal, and two board members said they are prepared to vote against renewing Superintendent Madeline Negrón's contract.

During the student report, a student representative on the board said it has been "almost five months" since a Hillhouse student, identified only as Jane Doe, reported being sexually assaulted by an assistant principal in his office during school hours. The student said staff reported it to the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, the principal and New Haven police.

The allegation has not been proven. The student said the board's answers at its previous meeting "focused on the criminal case."

"You would think that after this report, the Hill House Assistant Principal would not be allowed access to Hill House's building or its students. That is not at all what happened here," the student said. "The very next day of school, which was after a three-day weekend," the student said, the assistant principal "was somehow able to return to the building and had the authority to call for a school lockdown."

"This is a system failure," the student said. "From what we can see as students, there's been no accountability by the board for this egregious failure."

The student read a list of demands: that the board "take responsibility," adopt a clear action plan after any reported assault, provide recurring consent education for students and Title IX and sexual assault trauma training for leadership, and convene a student-led task force on sexual assault, consent and trauma education. "And we demand accountability," the student said.

Board member Dr. Joyner praised the student. "In a time of Jeffrey Epstein and other predators, I'm glad to see that this generation of young people are stepping up," Joyner said. "And don't ever turn your back on wrongdoing."

Parents press on policies

Earlier, during public comment, a mother who said she is a former Hillhouse school social worker told the board that students "are experiencing sexual harassment, unwanted touching, and explicit messages," and that families who report it "do not get a clear explanation of Title IX, who the coordinator is or what the timeline is."

"Your handbook says that you will not tolerate any form of bullying," she said. "It says that you will prohibit sexual harassment, but a sentence in a handbook is not a working policy." She noted that at its Oct. 27 meeting the board was "still scheduling a governance review" of policies on staff-student fraternization and reporting child abuse.

Another speaker, an attorney, demanded that the board put the superintendent's evaluation in writing and make it public under the state's Freedom of Information Act.

Split over superintendent

As the board moved to go into executive session to discuss Negrón's 2025-26 evaluation, board member Downer read a statement on behalf of herself and Joyner.

"The burden is not on the board members to prove why a contract should not be renewed," Downer said. If they cannot point to "measurable results" with confidence, she said, "we believe our responsibility is to vote against renewal."

Board member Dr. Benitez warned that not renewing would "destabilize the city, destabilize the schools," adding, "we have done it in the past, and we have seen what were the results."

Joyner replied that stability "is a consequence of the behavior of the adults in the system." "It's not about avoiding stabilization because you don't renew something," Joyner said. "I mean, that's that's so irrational."

Before the vote to enter executive session, board member Wilcox said disagreement among members "doesn't mean that people aren't doing their due diligence."