Latest news with #HartfordPublicSchools
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hartford mayor allocates additional $3 million for city schools. District started $30 million short to maintain status quo.
Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said Tuesday that Hartford Public Schools would receive an additional $3 million to help mitigate a $6.7 million shortfall in the Board of Education's budget, which will preserve several crucial programs for students. But education advocates and some city council members say that the funding does not go far enough to restore teacher cuts and that there needs to be more investments in education. Carol Gale, president of the Hartford Federation of Teachers, said while she welcomed the funding, she is disappointed. 'While it is something to help the Board of Education, it does not close the budget nor does it restore a single teacher cut or laid off,' she said, adding that while 194 teacher positions were cut, an additional 100 teachers were displaced. The mayor said he is hopeful the remainder of the shortfall at $3.7 million will be funded from the state. But Councilman Josh Michtom of the Working Families Party, said the city could find an additional $8 million to fund education from the fund for health care expenses for city employees. Since 2022, Michtom said the city's health care claims budget has been over budget by over $20 million a year. 'If we invested less than half of that we could protect educator jobs and sustainably provide our students with programs to give them the support they need,' he said. 'Hartford parents are no fools. They know that when a city cares about funding a department, they prioritize it. We stand with them in their calls for prioritizing the children of Hartford.' Michtom continued: 'We should have a serious conversation whether we want to make a modest reduction in the police budget so we can do better public safety, which is frankly education and youth programs.' Mayor's allocation The $3 million in funding, which includes $1.5 million from city funds and $1.5 million from corporate and foundation funding guarantees, would safeguard the district's dental clinic, programs supported by Catholic Charities, the Opportunity Academy and ReadyCT career pipeline programs, which the Board of Education identified to cut. The $3 million is in addition to another $3 million the city contributed to Hartford public schools this past March. Arulampalam said those programs are critical, citing the Opportunity Academy as the last chance for students to get a high school diploma and the career pathways program ensuring students seek careers after high school. The mayor said that he will continue to advocate for funding for schools. 'This is not the final word for us,' the mayor said Tuesday at Hartford City Hall. 'We want to ensure every school building has the resources they need and support staff they need. Our goal is not to fill one budget gap. It is to create centers of excellence for all of our kids. We can't reach our great challenges if we are not willing to work together.' House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said in an email Tuesday that he expects school funding will increase this year. 'The Hartford Legislative Delegation is always focused on securing funding for our schools,' he said. 'Last year we were able to increase school funding by $5 million in state ECS grants. We fully expect to increase funding this year as well, in both our priority bill on special education and through other legislation.' Board of Education Chair Jen Hockenhull said in a statement the funding was crucial. 'Not only does this ensure our students receive a quality education, but also have access to the resources they need to thrive,' she said. Hartford School Board member Tyrone Walker told the Courant that the mayor identified crucial programs that should be saved, also citing the Opportunity Youth Academy, as an opportunity to get students back on track. But one program still on the chopping block that has not been funded yet is the Hope Academy, Walker added, stating that program is also crucial as another one that helps students recover. Calling for more funding Gale said one of the ways that the Board of Education has lost funding is because some students opted to go to magnet schools in other districts and open choice districts. 'We need to attract them back and the only way to attract them back is investing in our schools,' she said. 'Opening back up our libraries and getting our drama programs and things that other districts have that excite kids.' And she called for more collaboration. Gale said that members of the Board of Education and City Council were present at the press conference, she noted the absence of the union and parents, many of whom have been calling for increased funding at recent budget meetings. She called for increased funding from the city, stating that the Hartford Federation of Teachers asked for $10 million. 'That would have balanced the superintendent budget and restored a little bit more,' she said. 'Quite frankly the state wants to see the city doing its part.' In response, Arulampalam told the Courant that he would love to have $10 million to put into the schools. 'Teachers and advocates have been convinced by some city council members that there is $10 million in the city budget,' he said. 'What the council members have not told them is that the plan to find that is to fire 120 police officers and slash health benefits to city employees, including teachers, firefighters and police officers. We are not going to do that. It is irresponsible and wrong.' Michtom argued that the city could stand to cut back on police a little bit, adding that the Board of Education has never gotten an increase in its budget over the past decade. By comparison, the police department's budget has gone up by $17 million, he said. Flat-funded budget Gale told the Courant that the city has flat funded the Board of Education budget for the last 10 to 12 years. 'We have received the same base amount from the city,' she said. 'There has been no cost of living increase. No adjustment for inflation over all of that time.' Gale said the overlay that adds to the complexity of the flat funding is the creation of magnet and charter schools, which has drawn students away from Hartford, affecting enrollment, which determines state grant funding. 'Arts and music has been a source of an opportunity gap between Hartford and our magnet counterparts,' she said. She added that the district has reduced the number of libraries from eight to three. 'We have lost our instrumental music program,' she said. 'We have lost many of our dance teachers. 'Five thousand Hartford students do not get art and music in their elementary years.' Equitable funding Hartford has faced increasing funding challenges over the years, receiving millions less from the state in funding than outlined under the Education Cost Sharing formula. The Board of Education's $6.7 million budget deficit in its $250 million budget has resulted in cuts to teaching positions and also impacted classroom resources and student programs. 'Until we deal with structural issues leading to budget deficit growth we are going to continue to be in this cycle of survival,' the mayor said. 'It is not a sustainable cycle. We are committed to advocating for more funding.' Since the start of the ECS formula in FY 2019 to 2024, Hartford has received $126 million less than what full funding called for, according to the School + State Finance Project. The School + State Finance Project states that 'large, urban districts tend to educate the greatest number of students with higher learning needs, and have student populations composed of the largest percentages of economically disadvantaged students, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities. These districts also tend to have larger percentages of BIPOCB students. Despite serving students with overall greater learning needs, these districts often do not receive funding that reflects the needs of their student populations.'
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
100 jobs, middle schools sports targeted for cuts in Hartford schools due to $6.7M budget gap
During an emotionally fraught Hartford Board of Education meeting Tuesday night, a handful of parents, students and educators pleaded with board members to demand the city give more money to the reeling school district that is facing a $6.7 million budget deficit. More than 130 Hartford Public Schools staff members, including some teachers, are facing pink slips at the end of the school year if the district can't find a way to close the nearly $7 million budget gap, a task that advocates say is impossible without additional funding from the city. The board on Tuesday approved the district's $452 million balanced budget for the next school year, while making an unprecedented appeal directly to the city by adding a resolution asking for funds to help close the $6.7 million funding gap. The budget vote included several cuts to middle school athletic programming, security guard positions, student support and success centers, and on-track graduation programs. while also attaching a resolution that formally requests the city to 'identify an additional appropriation' for $6.7 million to fund its programs. The district, which was facing a $30 million budget deficit earlier this year, already made several reductions and realignments at their central office totaling around $15 million, according to Hartford Superintendent Leslie Torres-Rodriguez. Those reductions, along with an expected $5 million in additional state funding, have brought the budget deficit down to $6.7 million. The district expects around $3 million from the City of Hartford. Among the challenges facing the city's school system are ballooning operating costs, including tuition and special education funding, a decline in student enrollment, loss of federal funds and continued flat funding on the city level for necessitating the cuts. The city continues to flat fund Hartford Public Schools on education spending. Hartford allocates $284 million, which represents a zero increase over the last decade despite rising costs. Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam has previously contended the majority of district funding comes from the state. Also at issue is a decline in student enrollment between Hartford Public Schools and the Capitol Region Education Council or CREC, which operates interdistrict magnet schools that draw interested students by lottery from Hartford and the surrounding suburbs. Torres-Rodriguez has said that the district has seen increased enrollment of Hartford students at CREC schools, which has added to costs. The district must pay tuition for Hartford students who enroll at CREC schools and also loses funding due to decreased enrollment figures within the district. Since the 2016-17 school year, enrollment across the district has decreased by more than 4,000 students. The largest decrease in enrollment came during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic with a loss of more than 1,100 students during the 2020-21 school year. Since 2010, the district has seen a 21% decrease in enrollment and a 197% increase in magnet and open choice tuition costs, according to the district. The district said that under the current plan, Hope Academy, a program that offers small class sizes for students who need support in staying on track for graduation, would lose more than half of its funding. The city's Opportunity Academy, a school which serves approximately 155 students in grades 9 through 12 through project-based learning, would be eliminated. 'It's hard to fathom the lasting impact of additional cuts to our public school system. Over the last 11 years of flat funding from the state of Connecticut and the city of Hartford, the district has mitigated almost $144 million in budget reductions, eliminating 644 positions to adopt balanced budgets,' said Hartford Public Schools Superintendent Leslie Torres-Rodriguez. 'We've closed schools and consolidated programs, and we've lost many talented educators because the district did not have competitive compensation. We were able to bring back some essentials, including middle school sports or student support and success centers that are community priorities. But now we are on the brink of closing down those programs as well in order to balance next year's budget,' she said. Carol Gale, president of the Hartford Federation of Teachers, said that if the cuts go ahead they will have a negative impact on student learning and growth. The Hartford Federation of Teachers said the district has already cut 194 employee union positions over the last few years. 'Our students are taking the hit of losing 134 staff members in order to reduce an already $30 million deficit to the current $6.7 million deficit,' said Gale. 'For our students, this means higher class sizes, less course offerings, less support, less enrichment, and less opportunities. Further cuts only exacerbate the losses.' Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Yahoo
Teens who put out Hartford fire honored by sheriff's office, fire department
HARTFORD, Mich. (WOOD) — Van Buren County deputies recognized two teens who jumped in with fire extinguishers when they witnessed a construction trailer set ablaze in Hartford. It happened March 13 when three kids set the trailer on fire. Two teenagers who lived nearby, Rigo Moreles and Kamryn Johnson, saw the kids run from the burning trailer and ran over with fire extinguishers to put it out. They saved both the trailer and the items inside, according to the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office. Detectives were able to track down the arsonists, who were charged. They had also been involved in other cases, deputies said. Moreles and Johnson, both high school students at Hartford Public Schools, were named Honorary Sheriff's Deputies because of their actions. The Hartford Fire Department honored them with a certificate, two new fire extinguishers and a photo of them putting out the fire. 'It was truly great to see young adults in our community not afraid to do the right thing when it needed to be done. We see incidents across the United States over and over with people not wanting to get involved, so it was great to see these two lead by example,' the sheriff's office wrote in a news release. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
These CT students will receive up to $100,000 for college. Here is how and why that is possible.
As president and CEO of the Hartford Foundation, Jay Williams knows full well that there is an issue on the minds of people across the state and the nation: the negative impact that enormous student loans can have on college graduates. 'Students who graduate college with crushing student loans, the ability to make life choices, buy a house, start a family, give back to the community, is limited,' Williams said. Combine this with the fact that college can be out of reach of many young people, even with student loans, and there is a financial problem to solve. And that is just what the Hartford Foundation has planned, in partnership with the scholarship program Hartford Promise, The new Greater Futures Scholarship Fund, will provide qualifying Hartford Public Schools students with up to $100,000 over four years for a college or university education anywhere in the country, according to Williams and Dr. Sivan Hines, president of Hartford Promise. To qualify, students must be a city resident enrolled continuously in Hartford Public Schools since ninth grade, have an attendance rate of 93% or higher throughout high school and have GPA of 3.0, or higher, on a 4.0 scale, according to Williams and Hines. 'This will be a huge lift,' said Hines, speaking of students who receive the scholarships. 'It's like telling them they won the lottery.' To Hines, the new scholarship program is a way to open up choices for young people in Hartford in several ways. The Promise program works with students to find the best college match for them, and this initiative could mean being able to attend an HBCU or other school in another state, could address the need to live on campus in Connecticut rather than commuting, the need not to work grueling hours while obtaining an education, or the need to fill the gap in what a family is able to afford, Hines said. 'Despite all of the aid they get, there is still a gap. While $2,000 may not seem that insurmountable… $2,000 can be a huge amount,' Hines said, citing an example of what a student could face. 'It will make a difference for students … generational change.' Hines said that while 76% of Hartford Promise students choose to attend in-state institutions for higher education, 'You can go anywhere in the country with our scholarship.' Williams said the initial Hartford Foundation $20 million investment means the qualifying members of the class of 2025 will be awarded $20,000 a year, which will be paired with the Promise $5,000 annual scholarship and that means the student will receive up to $25,000 per year or up to $100,000 for four years of school. He said while more than 110 graduates from the class of 2025 are expected to receive the scholarship, there are plans to expand the scholarship to serve up to 500 students a year. Promise currently serves about 500 scholars, Hines said. Williams said the foundation has $20 million of endowed resources from an older scholarship program and it generates $800,000 a year in income that will be used for the new program. 'The money is coming from the foundation,' he said. Further, for the first time in its history the foundation is doing a fundraising campaign, with the goal of raising $10 million in four years, he said. The initiative is part of the Foundation's 100th anniversary programs. Williams said that six months into the campaign, about $6.3 million has been committed. Among donors are CVS Health/Aetna, Fairview Capital Partners, The Hartford, Stefania Campbell and AnnMarie LaBreck, Liberty Bank Foundation, Bank of America, and Travelers, as well as 40 individuals and families. 'We have never done a campaign in the entire history of this organization,' Williams said. 'That is how much we believe this has the power to transform our region.' Williams noted that, in addition to having the ability to make more life choices when they graduate debt free, the scholarship students will have 'dramatically higher' earning potential, as well as expanded ability to take positions in academia or policy positions, and not amid crushing debt. 'It opens up a world of possibilities for communities, we think that is how powerful this new scholarship is,' he said. 'They now can achieve education dreams … a post college world absent student debt.' Williams and Hines both also emphasized the wraparound support that Promise scholars receive, the supports that help them navigate higher education. The wraparound services can include academic coaching and career guidance, financial assistance for books, laptops, and emergencies, mental health support, soft skills training and career development such as internships, mock interviews, and networking opportunities, the officials said. The program will follow the students through college and into their careers, Williams said, and 'in just four years you will have a pipeline of students coming out of college with no debt — the economic impact of that, we think is significant. We do think this has significant ramification for the region and Connecticut.' Williams also noted 'our corporate partners see this as an investment,' in the state and the workforce. 'The ripple effect for those student, those corporation, those families … is also something significant,' he said. Hines noted that with its focus, the scholarship highlights city residency. 'We want as many families to be invested in Hartford,' as possible, she said. Williams also noted that those organizing the new program had not identified any across the country that are 'as robust' as the Greater Futures Scholarship Fund. The goal, he said, is to 'serve as a national model for education-driven economic transformation.'
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Yahoo
Student who says she is illiterate — despite graduating with honors — sues Connecticut school district
A Connecticut honors student is suing her school district, saying she is illiterate. Despite graduating from Hartford Public High School in June with honors and getting a scholarship to the University of Connecticut, Aleysha Ortiz is claiming she cannot read or write. The 19-year-old, who spent 12 years in the Hartford public school district, testified at a May city council meeting, explaining her unique situation and how the educational system failed her. 'I decided, they [the school] had 12 years,' Ortiz, a native of Puerto Rico, told CNN. 'Now it's my time.' Ortiz is suing the Hartford Board of Education, the City of Hartford and her special education case manager, Tilda Santiago, for negligence. According to her lawsuit, she began having problems with 'letter, sound and number recognition' as early as first grade, and because those issues were not addressed, she began acting out in school. 'I was the bad child,' she told the outlet. When she was in 6th grade, she was reading at a mere kindergarten or first-grade level, Ortiz alleges. When Ortiz was a sophomore at Hartford Public High School, Santiago was assigned as her special education teacher and case manager. Santiago bullied, harassed and stalked Ortiz, and was later removed from the role, the suit claims. Although she hardly speaks English, Ortiz's mother, Carmen Cruz, did her best to advocate for her daughter, speaking to the principal and other school officials. 'I didn't know English very well, I didn't know the rules of the schools,' she told the outlet. 'There were a lot of things that they would tell me, and I let myself go by what the teachers wouldtell me because I didn't understand anything.' By the 11th grade, Ortiz began taking matters into her own hands and started speaking up for herself, which led her teachers to suggest she get tested for dyslexia. Just one month before graduation, she began receiving the testing, which was not completed until the last day of high school, the lawsuit states. The testing concluded that Ortiz was in fact dyslexic and 'required explicitly taught phonics, fluency and reading comprehension.' School district officials told Ortiz she could defer accepting her diploma and receive intensive services, she alleges. 'While Hartford Public Schools cannot comment on pending litigation, we remain deeply committed to meeting the full range of needs our students bring with them when they enter our schools —and helping them reach their full potential,' Hartford Public Schools said in a statement to CNN. Ortiz, who dreams of becoming a writer, is currently attending the University Connecticut as a full-time student, although she hasn't been to classes since Feb. 1 in order to get mental health treatment. To complete her college assignments, she is relying on apps that translate text to speech and speech to text, as she did in high school. The apps gave 'me a voice that I never thought I had,' she said.
