by Supt. Dr. Madeline Negrón and Chief Financial Officer Amilcar Hernandez
The following essay was submitted by New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) Supt. Madeline Negrón and by NHPS Chief Financial Officer Amilcar Hernandez.
For too long, the New Haven Public Schools budget has been a story of scarcity. This year, we are working to change the narrative by putting equity and transparency at the very center of our financial planning.
A budget is more than a list of line items; it reflects our priorities. As we look toward the future, the district is moving away from the “way things have always been done” and toward a model of school funding rooted directly in the voices of our community.
This year, our journey began by consulting the people who know our schools best– the students, parents, and teachers. Utilizing the digital engagement tool ThoughtExchange, we listened to over 1,900 constituents as they identified barriers to student achievement. The results were clear. While funding, staffing, and facilities were the top concerns, a common thread united every group: the need for equity.
Our community is no longer asking for equal resources for every building; they are demanding that resources be distributed based on the specific needs of the children inside them.
Guided by the district’s strategic plan, A Path to Excellence, we are turning that feedback into action. For the first time, we are implementing an equity-based formula for the FY27 budget. This formula allocates funding based on a school’s specific enrollment of students with special programming needs and of multilingual learners. According to Chief Financial Officer Amilcar Hernandez, this shift has already resulted in net gains in the thousands of dollars for the majority of our schools. Under this model, principals—working with their School Planning and Management Teams (SPMTs)—will have the autonomy to use these funds for their specific priorities, from classroom supplies to part-time staffing.
However, our vision for equity is constantly colliding with a chronic lack of funding. Historically, New Haven has received far less from the State of Connecticut and the City of New Haven than is required to cover our operating expenses. While the City has consistently increased its allocation, the State’s Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula has failed to keep pace with the reality of inflation.
Because of this gap, we have been forced into painful mitigation strategies. In the past two years, the district has made difficult decisions: to reduce vacant positions and to close or combine three elementary schools. We are currently auditing every contracted service and even weighing the prospect of limiting transportation zones to save on expenditures.
But cost-cutting alone cannot bridge a chasm this wide. As we move into late winter, we will be engaging in focused advocacy at both the local and state levels. We are calling for an inflationary increase in the per-pupil subsidy and a serious reinvestment in services for students with special needs. We are no longer asking for the bare minimum; we are advocating for the excellence our students are promised.
Transparency is the foundation of this effort. The budget will be available online in a clear, line-item format, showing every dollar of income and expense. But we need your voice to make those dollars go further.
Budget season is not just for administrators—it is for you. We invite you to join us in late January for community presentations at six schools across the city, or to participate in your school’s SPMT meetings.
Together, we can ensure that the New Haven Public Schools budget isn’t just a report on what we lack, but a roadmap for what our children can achieve.