John Weldon, who served as chairman of the Board of Education from 2017 to 2022, shares this commentary asserting the hiring process for a school chief is “sham and has been hijacked before it has even started.”
Since November 2024, after getting rid of the former Superintendent and firing everyone she hired (except for Deputy Supt. Dr. Royce Avery), and virtually bankrupting the school system (all of which caused the State to intervene) the Bridgeport BOE has been operating for the last 2 years under mandated State oversight with the assistance Dr. Avery as Interim Superintendent. Two years operating under a “temporary” arrangement, while they’ve dragged their feet revising policy and taking other steps the State has required of them.
For the last 9 mos. of that time, Dr. Avery has not been shy about his desire to fill the job permanently. He’s done so through statements made at BOE meetings, and events he has hosted which have endeared him to the school, business and political communities. I personally find his degree of public self-promotion for the job a bit distasteful, but I acknowledge he seems to be doing a good job running the District. The BOE, for its part, also appears to be more than satisfied with him, as they recently gave him a 10% ($25,000) salary increase.
Why, then, do they not just hire him? Instead, they’ve spent the better part of the last year looking for a search firm, finally settling on Zeal Educational Group, and developing an extensive process with that firm to solicit information from all segments of the community about what they want to see in the next Superintendent, when those very same segments of the community have already made it clear that they are happy with Dr. Avery.
The BOE, at its most recent meeting, announced that candidate interviews would not be conducted publicly, with no reason given. When BOE Member Andre Woodson expressed his objection to that, he was summarily shut down by the Chair. Ostensibly, this is being done to protect candidate confidentiality to foster maximum applicants and to protect the process from interests trying to promote certain candidates. However, the next day, a graphic was circulating on social media, with Dr. Avery’s picture, encouraging the community to come to Bassick High School on August 31 at 6:30 PM to “Support Dr. Avery being the next Superintendent”.
Bridgeport BOE does it again. The hiring process is a sham and has been hijacked before it has even started.
If the BOE wants to hire Dr. Avery, it is disingenuous of them to hire a search firm (which they’ve gotten the State to pay for) and engage community stakeholders about what they want in a new Superintendent, while allowing Dr. Avery to promote himself for the past 9 mos. to those very same stakeholders.
If the BOE really cares about doing what’s best, they will either stop wasting everyone’s time and hire Dr. Avery, or back off and let the process play out legitimately without anyone promoting one candidate or another.
First, a Police Chief all-around bogus search and now this. Why give someone who may not be employed for long, a 10% raise? If he can’t speak fluent Spanish, he is definitely not worth $175,000 a year. The fix is in.
Interesting take.
As a longstanding member of the BOE, I pride myself on integrity and transparency in all things. I agree 100% that no single candidate should be given an unfair advantage in the superintendent search. However, what we are seeing is a handful of politically connected individuals pushing a single candidate. They obviously do not understand the process we are undergoing and think we can simply bypass a formal search to pick their favorite—something that, in the normal course of business, might be possible, but is not where we are today.
Being under state oversight has hindered this board from moving forward in a timely manner. We attempted to start the search earlier and were stopped by the Once the primary window of opportunity closed to attract top-tier applicants, we intentionally slowed down because rushing the timeline would have left us with leftover candidates other districts passed on. Because the delay was state-imposed, the state offered to pay for a brand-new search firm to do this right.
Every applicant deserves a level playing field.
Speaking strictly as an individual board member, I remain completely neutral and open-minded. I will not make up my mind on anyone until ALL qualified candidates are fully vetted, interviewed, and evaluated against what is best for our city.
Regarding the decision to hold candidate interviews in executive session, that was a determination made by consensus of the full Board. While I am bound to uphold the decisions of the Board as a body and cannot disclose confidential discussions that took place, my long-standing public record on transparency and open government speaks for itself.
That being said, when our meetings resemble ghost towns with very few members of the public in attendance, it becomes much harder for the Board to see where the real community actually stands. If residents want a different direction, they need to get involved and show up in large numbers, engage in public comment, or, at the very least, send emails. That is the kind of pressure that can cause a Board to revisit and potentially modify any decision.
My focus remains on serving our students, staff, and community, and I am always listening when the public speaks up.
When the public doesn’t speak, I can’t listen. The silence is deafening.
Written as an individual.