Briggs Investigation Inflames Tensions at Norwalk Board of Ed Meeting

In this corner, John Mosby, former chief of the schools’ custodians union and a frequent critic of the Board of Education. In the other, Jack Chiaramonte, chairman of that board.

And the result: a shouting match during Tuesday's board meeting over whether schools leaders are shortchanging minority students in the Norwalk Public Schools.

It was not unusual for Mosby to criticize the board during the public comment period of the meeting, but it was unusual for Chiaramonte to forcefully respond to him and others.

It took Mayor Richard Moccia, making a rare appearance in his role as an ex-officio member of the board, to step in to quell the fireworks  amid tensions that have intensified over charges that grants intended to boost achievement at the alternative went for staff meals and other questionable purposes.

Before the loud argument began, Mosby’s daughter, Shirley, a former member of the board, had complained that the Briggs matter, which is now under investigation, shows that Superintendent of Schools Susan Marks is neglecting minority students. She then urged the board to reject a long contract for the superintendent.

The comments aroused the ire of Chiaramonte, who retorted that Shirley Mosby had no business promoting a story that he called “premature to print” until completion of investigations into expense reports and whether students were given credit for ineligible coursework.

“It’s a half-baked story,” he insisted.

But John Mosby followed his daughter, saying that under Marks—who has been superintendent for about a year—school officials had allowed his grandson to graduate Norwalk High without appropriate skills. “He never even took a final,” Mosby complained. “Let’s not sugarcoat this thing.

After a little more of the bitter exchange, Moccia asked Mosby to calm down. 

Mosby continued his complaints, calling for an independent instead of in-house investigation of the Briggs matter. He said the school district was “bullying the black community.”

The Mosbys were not the only ones with complaints about the district. Angela Harrison, said that she has found administrators “talk to us in a condescending matter.” She said minority parents should consider a class action lawsuit.

Chiaramonte said later he objected to Mosby’s “impugning people’s integrity” until the investigation results are in next month. “Then we’ll have the truth,” he said.