Superintendent Dr. Uyi Osunde Press Release
Lawsuit Filed Against Board of Education
Madsen, Prestley & Parenteau, LLC
Dr. Uyi Osunde Press Release
Madsen, Prestley & Parenteau, LLC
Representing Individuals in Employment Law and Litigation
Dr. Uyi Osunde, Superintendent of Stratford Public Schools, has filed a federal court lawsuit claiming race discrimination and retaliation against the Stratford Board of Education and certain of its members.
As detailed in the federal court lawsuit, Dr. Osunde alleges a disturbing sequence of discriminatory and retaliatory actions by Michael Henrick, the current Chair of the Stratford Board of Education, and other Republican members of the Board of Education. Throughout his tenure as Superintendent, Dr. Osunde has zealously advocated for students, staff, and families in the Stratford School district and acted to ensure that the district provides students with the best education available, in an environment that advances student health and well- being.
To that end, Dr. Osunde advocated against the actions of elected officials who have systematically sought to remove vital resources from the district – most blatantly demonstrated by the reprehensible insertion of a measure into legislation at the Connecticut General Assembly that specifically exempted only the Town of Stratford from a Connecticut law, applicable to every other Connecticut municipality, that requires a minimum level of funding to local school districts, and he also specifically identified a disturbing pattern in which the Town of Stratford decreased the percentage of funding that it provided to the Stratford Public Schools as the percentage of students of color in the school district increased.
Since Dr. Osunde objected to these harmful actions, certain Republican officials in Stratford have subjected him to acts of discrimination and retaliation and baseless attacks in a thinly veiled effort to remove him from his position.
Recently, after the Stratford Board of Education became controlled by a Republican majority in December, Dr. Osunde alleges that he has been subjected to acts of racial and political discrimination and retaliation by Republican members of the Board of Education, who launched a smear campaign against Dr. Osunde and have illegally sidelined him on administrative leave for almost four months.
In addition to his federal court lawsuit, Dr. Osunde has filed claims of discrimination and retaliation with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.
The allegations in Dr. Osunde’s federal court lawsuit reflect a board of education prioritizing a discriminatory and political agenda over the education of the students in the public schools.
We are proud to represent Dr. Osunde. He looks forward to vindicating his rights through the legal process.
I would say the Board of Education asked for it.
It’s clear the republican board members have their own agenda, and Henrick has been completely vile to and dismissive of Dr. Osunde even prior to this suspension. Funny how they’re looking so deeply into Osunde when Henrick himself admitted he couldn’t look into important documents prior to a meeting because of a birthday the night before. Partisan hypocrite.
It’s unfortunate to see a prideful town not have the ability to welcome everyone. Party politics is absolutely ridiculous. It comes at the expense of kids and parents. Nobody wins here. Sad day for Stratford.
whoever the board chairman is should resign or be put on leave until the lawsuit is clear. Same rules should apply but won’t. The lawsuit looks terrible and the courts can now have it with all the MAGA supporters. Blue State Mr. Chairman.
I’d like to get past all the “racism” BS and get more information about the man’s actual job performance. Are there issues with his competency and abilities to lead our school district and students? Does the Board feel he hasn’t performed well enough to be paid for the job he’s supposed to be doing? Don’t know how much the job pays but pretty sure it’s the highest paid person in the town. That brings some pretty high expectations. To me it gets down to that ONLY. When you start bringing Race into the discussion you run off the track of what should be the REAL discussions and determinations. Anybody have anything to offer regarding his “performance”?
I cannot understand why certain members of the BOE believe they have the right, expertise, and legal authority to conduct their own investigation against Dr. Osunde. Maybe Dr. Osunde’s attorney should propose the following offer: if the named BOE individuals publicly resign and acknowledge they made uneducated decisions, Dr. Osunde might consider dropping the personal lawsuits against them. The question is whether these individuals are truly qualified to be a part of the BOE and make important decisions for our children.
Clearly the BOE has opened up a can of worms that the Stratford Taxpayer will undoughtedly be on the hook for. One could see this coming a mile away. Crazy stuff going on at the expense of the kids.
It all boils down to unskilled stubborn insensitive management. Which always ends up costing more $$$ in the end.
This overqualified man should have been reinstated to complete his contract. Then forward from there on a fresh vote.
Test scores were up. What was the problem?