A new study says the New Haven School District needs to hire 700 more staff to meet the needs of its students, but it would need help from the state to cover the costs.
Among the 40 schools and nearly 20,000 students in New Haven Public Schools, there’s a math problem, according to New Haven Federation of Teachers President Leslie Blatteau.
“And then New Haven, we have 56% of our property is nontaxable. So then our students suffer? This is where the state of Connecticut, being a wealthy state, should absolutely step in to make sure every child in the state has what they deserve," Blatteau said.
Blatteau said there are shortages across school specialties including among librarians, counselors and social workers.
A 2023 study by the union and the district provided an assessment of staff needs. A recent update by the district shows they’ve hired 10 positions last year and four this year, and would still need to hire 709 roles at a cost of $55 million.
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The district is facing an $18 million budget shortfall next year following its request to the city, challenging the potential to fill more of those roles.
“They deserve more school counselors, they deserve better ratios for special education, and we’re here to make sure that happens,” Blatteau said.
The calls for more state support are reaching lawmakers. Senator Martin Looney was a leader in revising the state’s Payment In Lieu of Taxes Program, or PILOT, which helped cities like New Haven with a large number of tax-exempt properties.
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“New Haven and Hartford having the most tax-exempt property got the most out of the reframing of the pilot grant,” Looney said, adding that New Haven now gets $50 million more annually under the new system.
While advocates like Blatteau say they need more, Looney is eyeing another potential issue on the horizon: cuts to $400 million in federal education grants.
“And a substantial part of that comes to the cities for programs like Title One assistance for low-income schools, special education, other things in that nature,” Looney said.
Blatteau has called for using extra state funds to fill the gaps in New Haven and other districts, and Looney agrees in light of potential federal losses.
“I think that we’re going to have to modify the state fiscal guardrails to allow for some additional spending,” Looney said. “We do have a substantial surplus and a substantial reserve fund.”
He said the state worked hard to build the surplus since 2017 and now it’s time to address a financial shortfall.
“Now we need to recognize that the world is not as it was in 2017 and we do need to have greater flexibility to use the funds that we have built up over the years," Blatteau said.
