New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
District predicts $2.7M surplus
NEW HAVEN — In an unprecedented year for education, with a pandemic driving instruction online and students learning from their dens and kitchen tables, New Haven school officials have discovered a new oddity: A projected budget surplus.
Chief Financial Officer Phil Penn has projected a $2.7 million surplus for the district this year — though he warned that number could change significantly with many unknown variables.
“I was candidly surprised when I
rolled the numbers,” Penn said.
One factor Penn said led to the more optimistic fiscal outlook was replacing retiring, experienced teachers with those earlier in their careers.
“We’ve been very diligent about our hiring,” he said. “We think we saved about $1 million by doing that.” Additionally, the teachers union voted for a contract amendment including a one-year pay freeze in exchange for three years of layoff protections and other benefits.
But to reach the overall projection, Penn had to make certain predictions — such as that school buildings reopen to students in January, that the workforce remains the same until the end of the fiscal year and that the district receives half of a $3 million transportation grant for services it currently is not offering.
Penn said the projection of receiving half of the transportation grant is “somewhat arbitrary.”
Max Reiss, a spokesman for Gov. Ned Lamont, said earlier this month there are “no current plans” for the governor to make a legislative exception so the district could receive the transportation grant funding.
Dave Cicarella, president of the New Haven Federation of Teachers, said he recognizes that the projected money “may quickly evaporate” amid so much uncertainty. However, he said that if the board does have some extra money, he believes it should be spent on building maintenance and on supplies so teachers don’t pay out of pocket for learning materials.
Connecticut teachers pay an estimated $397 out-of-pocket on classroom materials on average, and several reported to the Register paying for materials to adapt to an at-home classroom
for the spring — including more comfortable chairs, microphones or mailing heavy materials to students.
Hyclis Williams, president of New Haven’s paraprofessionals union, knew exactly where she would want to see any projected surplus money go.
“I think some of that money should go towards higher wages for paraprofessionals,” she said.
Paraprofessionals in the city argue that they have not seen much improvement in their pay. The recently-ratified contract that runs through 2023 gives an assistant teacher on the final pay step $30,343 for the 10 months of a contract, only
$8,030 more than the $22,313
earned by an entry-level paraprofessional.
In March, at the final school board meeting to occur in person before the COVID-19 pandemic shifted meetings to the online Zoom videoconferencing platform, some paraprofessionals said their wages had not changed substantially in decades.
Board of Education member Darnell Goldson said he views the projected surplus as a problem.
“Any school system can have a surplus when they are not adequately educating their children,” he said. “We should be developing innovative ways to provide more services to our
students, and support for those front-line workers like the teachers.”
Matt Wilcox, chairman of the district’s finance committee, said the projected surplus is “driven by the unique circumstances brought on by COVID-19.”
“Over the next month or two we will have a better picture of how much of this is one-time savings, and what might be available in future years,” he said. “I am sure we will be hearing plans for how it would be best invested in educating New Haven students.”
Wilcox said he also looks forward to hearing recommendations from the pay equity committee that was commissioned after members of the public expressed concern over stagnant paraprofessional wages.
Some local parent leaders contend that surplus money, if there is any, should be spent on vulnerable students.
“I don’t believe the district should be spending any money at this time besides the salary of educators, custodians and food servers,” said Citywide Parent Team President Nijija-Ife Waters. “If there’s a need to spend money the focus should be on special education support and services. This group is being hit the hardest.”
Sarah Miller, a parent organizer with the NHPS Advocates community group that pressures and partners with the board on matters of fiscal accountability, said she does not know whether the surplus is structural, or unrelated to outside influences.
“If so, it should be invested in outreach and support to families struggling with remote learning,” she said.
Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey noted the $2.7 million projection is “just preliminary.”
The school board voted over the summer for several cuts to eliminate a then-projected $5.6 million deficit, including eliminating before- and after-school child care for pre-K students
The school system has not projected a surplus since 2016, when a competitive federal Teacher Incentive Fund grant injected millions into the system for five years.
Since then, the board and district officials have sought annual cuts — such as successfully closing one high school and merging three alternative high schools into one, eliminating two-thirds of the bus stops on short notice to parents before the start of the school year and unsuccessfully attempting to transfer 53 veteran teachers from their schools to fill vacancies elsewhere in the district.