Latest news with #LeslieTorres-Rodriguez
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
31-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘We did that:' Hartford Public Schools superintendent reflects on tenure as she prepares to step down
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Hartford will have a new superintendent at the start of the next school year. On Thursday, News 8 sat down with current superintendent Dr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez as she prepares to transition out of the role. Hartford Public Schools superintendent stepping down at end of school year 'Since the beginning, it has been a true approach of partnership and collaboration,' Torres-Rodriguez said. As she reflects back on her time as Hartford's superintendent, partnership is something Torres-Rodriguez said she is proud of. 'There are many moments that I say, 'we' did that,' she said. 'I don't think there's a moment that I can count to say I did that alone.' Torres-Rodriguez announced last week her time as superintendent is winding down. She's served in this capacity since 2017 and will leave this position at the end of the academic year. 'It'll be a process, it'll be a process that I'll walk alongside,' she said. Over her tenure these last eight years, the district boosted graduation rates, landed a new competitive teachers contract, expanded community outreach and programs to help students excel both in and out of school. 'The biggest impact and effect on a young person's academic outcome is high quality teacher and all the supports,' Torres-Rodriguez said. She has also seen the district through some tough times including the pandemic, budget deficits and staffing shortages. But she said they've worked to tackle this head-on — together. 'We collectively committed that with every decision we were making — whether it was myself, in a group, at a board level — that we were doing so focused on all students, not just some neighborhoods, not just some schools had resources,' she said. Hartford BOE approves teacher salary raises, reduced workdays A graduate of Hartford Public Schools herself, she's among a handful of superintendents of color across the country to lead an urban school system for as long as she has. 'I'm the longest serving Latina urban superintendent in the country,' she said. 'The average tenure of a superintendent in a community like ours is less than two or three years.' News 8 asked Torres-Rodriguez about what's next for her. 'I'm really excited and I'm holding it tight for right now,' she said. 'Because I'm fully committed to making this transition as smooth as possible and remain focused on what matters.' There will now be a search for the new superintendent. The mayor and Board of Education, with input from the community, will work together to determine who will be stepping into this role. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
