CSDE Finds No Merit in SEA’s Ethics Complaint Against Superintendent

In a detailed ruling dated October 31, 2025, the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) dismissed in full the Stamford Education Association’s (SEA) complaint against Superintendent Dr. Tamu Lucero, finding the union’s allegations “without merit.”

The complaint, filed by SEA President John Corcoran on July 9, 2025, accused Dr. Lucero of violating the Connecticut Code of Professional Responsibility for School Administrators. After a full review, the CSDE’s Director of Legal and Governmental Affairs, Michael P. McKeon, issued a joint letter of response to SEA President Corcoran and Board of Education President Michael Hyman stating that none of the allegations constituted ethical violations or warranted further action.

“The SEA’s June 9, 2025, claims that the Superintendent has violated the Code of Professional Responsibility for School Administrators is without merit,” McKeon wrote. “As such, there is no basis for the CSDE to take any action with respect to the Superintendent’s certification. Additionally, the CSDE has no authority for superseding or otherwise interfering with the Stamford Board’s personnel decisions or intradistrict policies, particularly when they are either a subject of the collective bargaining agreement between the Stamford Board and the SEA or have otherwise been negotiated thereunder. Consequently, the CSDE considers this matter closed.”

“The CSDE’s ruling validates what has been clear from the start, which is that the SEA’s complaint had no merit,” said Hyman. “This outcome confirms that these were professional disagreements, not ethical violations, and we hope the SEA President now understands the difference between the two.”  

In its ruling the CSDE further clarified that the SEA’s allegations amounted to district-level disagreements, not ethical breaches:

“On their face, the allegations upon which Mr. Corcoran predicated his June 9, 2025, letter on behalf of the SEA appear to constitute such district-level disagreements rather than violations of the Code,” the Department stated. “As such, the apparent crux of these allegations is that the SEA does not agree with the Superintendent’s exercise of her ‘executive authority over the school system’ and the discharge of her ‘responsibility for its supervision.’”

Regarding the matter of the high school schedule, the CSDE reaffirmed that no code violations occurred and that the Board acted within its contractual authority based on the collective bargaining agreement negotiated with, and ratified by, the SEA:  

“Mr. Corcoran’s citation to the high school scheduling disagreement ignores the fact there have been a succession of collective bargaining agreements between the Stamford Board and the SEA which provide in relevant part” that “the Board has and will continue to retain, whether exercised or not, the sole and unquestioned right, responsibility and prerogative to direct the operation of the public schools in the City of Stamford…” 

The Department also dismissed the notion that the SEA has any legal standing on which to object to the high school schedule: 

“...under the plain and unambiguous language of these collective bargaining agreements to which the SEA agreed, the Board had the right to make this determination. Furthermore, despite this language, in his July 25, 2025, response to the SEA’s June 9 letter, Mr. Hyman stated that the Board negotiated the impact of these changes pursuant to Connecticut’s labor laws. Thus, there having been no subsequent claim, much less showing, by the SEA that this is not true, it would seem as if the SEA had no recourse to the Connecticut Department of Labor much less to the CSDE. In short, with respect to the change in the high school schedule, there is no basis for the June 9, 2025, assertion that the Superintendent acted in any manner that violated the Code.”

“While professional disagreements are to be expected, Mr. Corcoran’s continued public efforts to discredit the Superintendent and the elected Board have been counterproductive, serving no other purpose than to waste time and taxpayer resources while undermining the SEA’s relationship with the BOE and District,” said Hyman. “We hope that Mr. Corcoran can finally set aside his personal animosities and find a way to work productively with the BOE and District on matters of importance to teachers, students, families, and Stamford’s taxpayers.”

Read the full text of the CSDE’s ruling here.