An elementary school principal on administrative leave amid an investigation into “alleged state testing irregularities ” was admonished by administrators for allegedly sending messages that contained disparaging comments about students, parents and district staff, according to documents obtained by the Courant.
Emily Gomes, the principal of Ivy Drive School in Bristol, who has been out on leave since May 19 pending a state investigation into alleged “testing irregularities,” met with district officials on May 15 to discuss a collection of disparaging texts, according to district correspondence.
A “Letter of Counsel” dated May 24, is addressed to Gomes and signed by Bristol Public Schools Chief of Talent Management Kimberly Culkin. It states that Gomes sent the messages from her personal cell phone to a teacher identified by the district as a union member and who Gomes supervised at the time of the exchange.
The letter said Gomes’ messages did not “demonstrate that (Gomes) would provide specific students with disabilities quality learning experiences,” and that Gomes “discussed specific students and parents by names and in ways that did not uphold their dignity.”
The letter characterized Gomes’ messages as “disparaging commentary” about parents, staff and administrators, and “disparaging statements about the work and actions of particular building leaders, teachers, and Central Office administration.”
The collection, which was reviewed by the Courant, includes exchanges dated to 2021 and 2022. Other messages are not timestamped.
The texts include disparaging remarks about district and school operations, from bus duty to hiring practices to parent complaints.
In one text exchange, when Gomes encourages the teacher to take a day off, Gomes names a student, saying she will give the child “a chew toy and put on a movie for the others” in the class. In another a parent was referred to using a vulgar word.
The letter of counsel said Gomes “verified that the text messages were authentic,” during a May 15 meeting with now-retired Superintendent Catherine Carbone and other central office administrators.
According to the letter, Gomes stated that she “had ‘remorse’” for her actions and explained that “such comments were not reflective of (her) ‘finest moments.’”
During the meeting, the letter states that Gomes’ was “reminded” that the messages did not reflect the standards and conduct expected of an “educator and leader.”
The letter asked Gomes to “complete an online training regarding the (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)-Confidentiality of Records” and “review the Connecticut Code of Professional Responsibility for School Administrators” and the district’s student records and confidentiality policy.
The letter also clarified that the document would be included in Gomes’ personnel file.
Gomes did not respond to a request for comment. The president of Gomes’ union, who was also present at the May 15 meeting, also did not respond to the Courant’s inquiries.
According to the letter, district central office administrators received the collection of Gomes’ text messages on April 24.
Attorney James Demetriades, of the law firm Ferguson, Doyle & Chester PC forwarded photos of the text exchange to the Bristol Board of Education ’s legal counsel on April 18, 2024, according to an email obtained by the Courant.
In the email, Demetriades, who represents the Connecticut branch of the American Federation of Teachers and their local chapters, identified his client as the recipient of the messages.
Demetriades said he first offered to share the exchange in November of 2023 and apologized “for the delay in sending” the messages.
In an interview with the Courant, a Bristol mother who asked not to be named alleged Demetriades’ client was placed on leave following an interaction with her child, who has cognitive and speech delays, and is no longer an employee of the district.
In an email to the Courant, Demetriades declined to comment on the text messages and the circumstances that led his client to share the text exchange. Demetriades did not respond to a request for comment about the mother’s comments or his client’s employment status with Bristol Public Schools.
Board of Education Chair Shelby Pons did not respond to questions regarding Demetriades’ client.
When asked for a response regarding the text exchanges, Pons said “The text messages speak for themselves.”
“I have no further comment,” Pons said in an email to the Courant Monday. “As a member of the Board of Education, I may be called upon in the future to make a decision concerning those text messages.”
Pons said the exchange did not play a role in the district’s decision to place Gomes on administrative leave. She said she is “unaware of any additional discipline” regarding the text messages beyond the requests listed in the May 24 letter.
Acting Superintendent Iris White did not respond to the Courant’s requests for comment.
Gomes fell under public scrutiny after White and Pons announced in a May 19 message that she had been placed on administrative leave after the district became “aware of alleged state testing irregularities at Ivy Drive School.”
On Monday, Pons said the district learned of the allegations on May 15.
According to a June 7 statement from Matthew Cerrone, the director of communications for the Connecticut State Department of Education, the district notified CSDE of possible irregularities on May 16. The department hired a law firm to conduct an independent inquiry that launched on June 10 to assist the state “in determining whether further inquiry into the administration of these assessments is warranted,” according to Cerrone.
In a statement to the Courant Monday, Cerrone said “the investigation is ongoing” and declined to provide further details.
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