The New Haven School District received two significant donations that will go towards funding a new state mandate working to address period poverty.
Earlier in the year, the state legislature passed a mandate as part of the state’s menstrual equity law.
The new state mandate requires period products be available in women’s bathrooms grades 3 to 12, in all gender bathrooms and in at least one boy’s bathroom at public schools.
New Haven Public Schools will be able to comply with the mandate thanks to two large donations by Amazon and The Diaper Bank of Connecticut.
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Justin Harmon, the communications director for NHPS, said the district currently has a very tight budget that would have made it extremely difficult for them to meet the mandate.
“Between the generosity of the people at Amazon and our partners at the Diaper Bank of CT, we’re in good shape for the mandate for this year,” Harmon said.
The Diaper Bank of CT gifted the school district $450,000, which will provide period products for two years, and a partnership between Nathan Hale School and Amazon helped secure $60,000 a month for period products.
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“We support the intention behind the mandate and we’re just grateful we have the resources in the first two years to implement it,” Harmon said.
Jennifer Tolman, the president and chief operating officer for Dignity Grows, a nonprofit fighting against period poverty, said Connecticut is not exempt from period poverty.
“Over one-third of the women and girls who live in this state have faced or are facing period poverty," Tolman said.
Tolman said of the nearly 56,000 women and girls they support across the country yearly, in 2024, roughly 29,000 were from Connecticut.
She said period poverty can also lead to short-term issues such as chronic absenteeism in teens and even greater issues such as anxiety and depression in adults.
“There’s tremendous work to be done, we’re talking about a crucial public health crisis that’s really affecting so many women and girls across our state," Tolman said.
The New Haven School District includes 40 school campuses.
