Zachary Suri, Contributing Photographer

As the crowd of police officers shuffled out of the Board of Alders chamber on Monday night after the passage of a historic police contract, the Board turned to a proposal to redirect $8.5 million in city surplus and leftover pandemic-era funds to New Haven Public Schools. 

Three alders expressed skepticism of the proposal that Mayor Justin Elicker first announced early last month, but the Board ultimately approved the measure unanimously. 

“When I came here today, I was not in support of this item, but I am going to support this now,” Ward 27 Alder and Democratic Majority Leader Richard Furlow said. “Our students need help. Our students need help, but I’m going to say to the Board of Education, ‘Pull it together.’” 

The mayor’s proposal will redirect two pots of money to the schools. Five and a half million dollars in unspent federal America Rescue Plan Act funds will be transferred to the district’s capital budget, helping to address the district’s acute deferred maintenance crisis. Three million dollars in surplus tax revenue from the 2023-24 fiscal year will be transferred to the NHPS general fund to close the district’s budget deficit and avoid teacher layoffs. 

Unsatisfied with the NHPS fiscal affairs, Furlow called for the district to close schools if necessary and implement the “right-sizing” of staff and teachers necessary for financial stability. 

Ward 10 Alder Anna Festa, who sits on the Finance Committee, also “reluctantly” supported the measure. She expressed frustration that New Haven taxpayers are regularly asked to fill budget gaps at NHPS and urged the state and federal governments to address funding shortages in urban districts. 

“We can’t keep doing this to the residents of this city when there are so many asks from the residents as well,” she said.

The $5.5 million in ARPA funds originally set aside as a “buffer” in the city’s budget should instead be set aside for road infrastructure projects in the city, Festa said. She also questioned why the Board of Education was not able to support NHPS’ needs with the federal funds they received during the pandemic.

Ward 13 Alder Rosa Santana echoed Furlow and Festa’s frustrations with the proposal. 

Speaking to the News after the meeting, Furlow stressed the lack of clarity on the district’s plans for the funds. The $3 million is supposed to support the district’s contractual obligations to its teachers, but it will serve mainly as a cushion in the NHPS budget, he said. Festa shared these concerns, calling the district’s explanation for how the $3 million “buffer” in the budget would be spent “vague.” 

Furlow objected to the district’s request for funds outside of the standard budget process. The extra funds for NHPS amount to a “creative accounting” measure, setting aside extra funds in case the district cannot balance its budget at the end of the year, he told the News.

“We want to be supportive, but at the same time, we don’t want to just throw money in the air,” Furlow said. 

Furlow also questioned why NHPS was requesting funding for maintenance issues only after facilities had deteriorated significantly.

“You don’t wake up one morning and find mold in the walls,” he said. “Get it together.” 

Furlow called on NHPS to present the Board of Alders with line items rather than requests for pools of money. The Democratic majority leader also expressed little confidence in NHPS management. He instead expressed “confidence” that alders will be difficult to persuade when asked for another large budget transfer if funds aren’t spent “wisely.”

Elicker, who is a member of the Board of Education, defended his proposal and NHPS’ fiscal approach.

“Dr. Negron and her team worked very hard to reduce the budget gap by trying to find efficiencies and eliminating some programming, and they were able to reduce the gap to around $3 million without layoffs,” he told the News. “Given that the city had a surplus as we closed our fiscal year 23-24 budget, I felt it was important to invest in New Haven public schools.”

Elicker dismissed the alders’ concerns about a lack of clarity on how funds would be spent, characterizing the process as “fully transparent.” He highlighted the work of the Board of Education Finance and Operations Committee, which must review every expenditure publicly. 

The mayor also underscored the importance of increased state support for NHPS, so higher education costs do not fall solely on the city. NHPS is doing the best it can with what it has, Elicker said. 

“There’s some people that promote myths about New Haven public schools not using funding efficiently. We spend less per pupil than the state average. We spend less of our overall budget on administrators than the statewide average. We have incredible capital fund needs,” he said. “I think oftentimes people, when they’re not digging into the budget, they make claims that are not accurate.”

Elicker blamed the deferred maintenance crisis on a lack of state funds and municipal investment in preventative maintenance.

Asked after the meeting whether he supported the mayor’s approach, Alder Furlow promptly answered “No.” 

“When we give a budget, you’re expected to stay within that budget,” he said. “We don’t put money to the side just in case you can’t meet the budget. That negates the purpose of having a budget.” 

The next Board of Alders meeting is on Dec. 2, 2024.

Correction, 10/20: This article has been updated to reflect that Elicker is a member, not chair, of the Board of Education.