by Laura Glesby
A plan to overhaul New Haven Public Schools’ facilities team received mixed reactions from the Board of Alders Education Committee on Wednesday, as alders weigh whether to approve a $1.35 million budget transfer to fund an associated 39 new staff positions.
New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) Superintendent Madeline Negrón and Chief of School Operations Paul Whyte appeared before the Education Committee to pitch the proposed facilities team revamp.
The committee alders didn’t take a vote on that proposed budget transfer on Wednesday.
Instead, they debated whether or not the plan relies too much on new management hires, and they pressed the district do more research into how other cities structure their school-facilities departments.
The plan will next go before the alders’ Finance Committee for an initial vote, prior to review and a final vote by the full Board of Alders.
The overhaul, first announced at a press conference earlier this month, comes in the wake of mounting public pressure around the state of school facilities.
Students and staff have reported mold, intense temperatures, infestations, and other health concerns across many of the district’s 39 school buildings. Throughout the summer and fall, in conjunction with advocacy from the New Haven Federation of Teachers (NHFT), the Education Committee held a series of hearings and issued a set of 16 demands, including a call for the city to produce an organizational flow-chart outlining the chain of command in the facilities department.
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