Norwich — The parents of an 11-year-old Norwich Public Schools student called for the resignation of Republican school board member Heather Fowler Tuesday after Fowler allegedly shared confidential information about their daughter with an outside parent activist group.

Jennifer Chrzanowski and Robert Allen addressed the board during public comment at Tuesday’s regular meeting and objected to the board’s response to their complaint. Allen said Fowler’s conduct was “an embarrassment” to the school board, the Norwich Republican party and Norwich taxpayers. Chrzanowski said Fowler has not yet apologized.

“Nothing less than your resignation tonight is acceptable,” Allen said.

Fowler did not comment on the issue during the meeting but later said she wanted to apologize to all Norwich students and never meant to offend anyone. The board did not discuss the matter following public comment.

Chrzanowski had complained to board Chairman Robert Aldi following the incident, which prompted two closed-door board meetings in recent weeks to discuss Fowler’s conduct. Following the April 7 meeting, Aldi said he would recommend the board undergo a training “refresher” course on board responsibilities and conduct. The board had a three-hour training session several weeks after the Nov. 2 election.

Allen on Tuesday reminded the board that Fowler’s breach of student confidentiality occurred “less than 60 days” after the board training session.

Chrzanowski summarized the incident for the board Tuesday.

She said after she initially was dissatisfied with school administrators’ response to her daughter’s assault, she had sent each school board member an email using their official Norwich Public Schools email describing the incident. Shortly afterward, she received what she called an anonymous email from an address with “fightforfreedomCT17” expressing concern and offering support to the family.

Chrzanowski said her first reaction was “Who is this?” She said she received different answers: that the person heard about it through the grapevine, that the email was forwarded accidentally and that it came to the person through a parents group. Chrzanowski said she did not receive a response from Fowler’s official school board email address.  

Chrzanowski cited a social media post by Fowler asserting that she would not trust anyone with her children, including teachers.

“How do we trust a board of ed member who shares private personal information about an assault?” Chrzanowski asked.

c.bessette@theday.com