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New Haven schools project $2.4 million year-end deficit; district outlines possible $1.4 million improvement
Summary
Interim finance staff told the Board of Education—s finance committee that preliminary, unaudited results through June 30 show a $2.4 million deficit that could fall to about $1.4 million depending on pending city and state credits and outstanding invoices.
Mister Hernandez, the district—s finance presenter, told the finance and operations committee on Aug. 18 that the preliminary, unaudited general-fund results through June 30 show a shortfall of $2,398,000 and that figure could fall if several revenue and credit items are confirmed. "This is a preliminary report," Hernandez said as he opened the presentation.
The report presented a systemwide preliminary total of $306.8 million in expenditures across general and special funds, with $210.6 million recorded in the general fund and $96.2 million in special funds. Hernandez said the accounting system initially showed an $8.0 million deficit before staff recognized several near-term credits that will reduce the projected shortfall.
Why it matters: the finance committee and school leadership framed the numbers as unaudited and still subject to change. Hernandez told the committee the district expects to recognize about $1.5 million in municipal aid from the state and $3.0 million in a city contribution that the city approved in late 2024. He also cited roughly $1.2 million in special-education tuition recoveries owed to the district as items that would reduce the deficit.
Hernandez walked the committee through four additional expense items that are already recorded but are likely to be returned to the district as credits (utility charges, utility PO reductions, a Tesla-related utility adjustment and a $29,000 audio invoice). If those credits all post, the projected year-end deficit would drop from $2.4 million to about $1.4 million, he said.
The presentation described other costs that remained unsettled: a set of special-education invoices, contractual services, and some transportation charges that staff continue to reconcile. Hernandez said the district has in some cases moved amounts to balance-sheet accounts so that payments can be made in the new fiscal year without distorting next year—s operating budget.
Hernandez also reviewed actions taken during the year that helped narrow the gap, including stronger hiring controls, greater indirect-cost recognition on interdistrict revenue, consolidation of some school-level contracts, reduced part-time staffing focused on student-facing roles, lower unemployment costs, and city-negotiated utility adjustments.
The district will present final, certified year-end results after state reporting is complete; Hernandez said staff plan to return to the committee on the second finance-and-operations meeting in September with a final figure and a budget-mitigation update. "On the second F and O in September we are going to provide a final year-end results," he said.
Committee response: President Yarbrough and other members thanked staff for the update and for showing how policy and operational choices reduced the projected deficit compared with earlier estimates.
Ending: Hernandez stressed the preliminary nature of the numbers and the plan to provide a certified final report in September after state and city accounting actions are completed.
