A New Haven school leader is facing felony sexual assault charges involving a student, and this isn't the first time serious allegations have followed him through the district. Daniel Bonet, an assistant principal at Hillhouse High School, was arrested after police said a student described two assaults that happened in his office during the school day, allegations investigators said were backed up by surveillance video and witness accounts. Years earlier, while leading a different New Haven school, Bonet was placed on leave over harassment and child-welfare reporting concerns, cleared, and then moved into a leadership role at Hillhouse anyway.

That pattern is the real problem. When a district transfers an administrator with a documented history of serious misconduct allegations into another building full of kids, something in the oversight system has failed. New Haven Public Schools says "nothing is more important than the safety of our students," according to district spokesperson Justin Harmon, but a statement isn't a safeguard.

New Haven Public Schools and the Board of Education should commit to an independent review of how administrators with prior misconduct investigations are vetted, reassigned, or promoted, and put mandatory, transparent reporting protocols in place so a pattern like this can never again go unaddressed until a child is hurt. Students and families deserve to know the adults in charge of their schools have been fully and honestly vetted, not just quietly reshuffled.

Sign this petition to demand New Haven Public Schools reform administrator oversight now, before another student pays the price for a system that looked away.