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Hartford Public Schools facing daunting projected $77.7 million deficit for next year

This means changes or cuts to services and programs could be on the horizon.

HARTFORD, Conn. — Leaders with Hartford Public Schools say they could have tough decisions to make pretty soon. The district is facing a projected deficit next school year of nearly 78 million dollars as federal COVID relief funding runs out. That means changes or cuts to services and programs could be on the horizon.

Families said that investment in education is important as the district figures out what to prioritize in the budget, especially in a post-COVID world

“Because the children lost, they lost an important piece of their education puzzle so if the funding is cut, then more loss,” said Tesha Harris whose nephew goes to Hartford High School. 

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The district is currently projecting it will have about $426 million to spend next school year. Comparing that, the district said keeping services at a similar level as this current school year would cost about $504 million. The difference is $77.7 million.

"We also know that there are some other funding streams that we're not just sure how much is going to come this way. We know that 77 is going to go down,” said Superintendent of Hartford Public Schools Dr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez.

In discussing drivers of the budget shortfall, Hartford Public Schools Deputy Superintendent of Administration, Strategy, and Performance Accountability Paul Foster said while costs have gone up, revenue has not.

Data from the district shows its budget has essentially remained flat over the past few years. However, it’s been boosted recently by ESSER federal COVID relief funding. 

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“We were able to add lots of positions to schools to support our young people. We were also able to add things like additional extracurricular programs, extended learning programs,” said Foster.

Now, that funding is expiring. Add to that another big contributing factor to the deficit: inflation.

“Now is deciding well, how do we pull back on something that is really serving our young people well,” said Torres-Rodriguez.

The budget projection does not include some savings assumptions.

"For example, we can assume some percentage of positions will remain vacant into next year,” said Torres-Rodriguez. “With extra funding that we have been able to staff our schools, we know we have been over our standard staffing allocation so we will be able to realize some savings by returning to those standard allocations.”

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Torres-Rodriguez said the goal is to have the budget finalized by April. The district continues to welcome input from parents and families.

Angelo Bavaro is an anchor and reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at abavaro@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook and X.

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