Hartford parents are demanding state action, citing increased class sizes and lack of support for special needs students months after the district made budget and staff cuts.
The action came months after the school district passed a $429 million budget.
It is much less than the original $466 million it originally requested, citing loss of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, or ESSER, grant funding.
Parents held a rally over the weekend in Hartford, criticizing the cuts for what they say are increased class sizes and less support for students with special needs.
Constanza Segovia, a parent and organizer with the Hartford Deportation Defense, said the loss of funding hurts students of color, and called for increased funding.
“We reject half-baked solutions that only serve a handful of kids like charter schools and private school voucher schemes," Segovia said. “Our kids deserve an excellent public education that is properly funded and culturally responsive. Nothing else will do."
School district officials said the state gave $5 million to save certified teacher positions this year. Julia Skrobak, the assistant director of communications for the district, said that money is a one-time allocation.
Other staffers within the schools weren’t so lucky.
“We now have 33 non-certified staff that are laid off and remain on the recall list," Skrobak said. “The rest of the 60 were recalled for vacancies that recently opened up due to retirements or resignations.”
Most of the affected staffers were custodians, or support staff such as student engagement specialists and behavior technicians.
Hartford isn’t alone, school districts in New Haven and Bridgeport also have budget woes due to the end of ESSER grants, which were enacted during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funds essentially became a lifeline for those districts which suffer from perpetual underfunding since schools are funded through taxes, and many residents in those cities are low income.
Rosalina Rojano, a member of Make the Road, a community advocacy organization, and a parent of a Hartford Public High School student, says the end of the grants will have knock down effects.
“By cutting funding for schools we are creating more needs, more crime, more unemployment, more frustrations, and we don't want that for our community,” Rojano said.
