New Haven schools present draft FY26 budget; board warned of deficit as federal ESSER funds wind down

Superintendent Dr. José Negron and Chief Financial Officer Linda Hannans told the New Haven Board of Education on March 3 that the district faces a projected budget shortfall next fiscal year as federal ARP ESSER grant funding winds down and entitlement grants decline.

Negron opened the presentation by framing the budget as a draft and said the district is seeking a transparent, equity‑centered process. He said the district serves about 19,000 students across 41 school facilities, with 78 languages spoken and more than three‑quarters of students qualifying for free or reduced‑price meals. “Equitable funding is essential,” he said, and asked the board to treat the numbers as the start of a public conversation.

CFO Linda Hannans outlined the fiscal trends that drive the gap between ongoing expenditures and projected revenue. She said the district had relied heavily on pandemic‑era federal funds (ARP ESSER) to support many programs and that those funds are expiring. Hannans described a current‑year shortfall the district has run into and presented two scenarios for next year’s request:

- A draft request that would require an 8.14% increase in district funding to close projected gaps (Hannans described a difference of about $16.9 million associated with that scenario). - A second scenario that includes filling currently budgeted vacancies would raise the increase to about 11.15% (Hannans named a difference of roughly $23.2 million in that variant).

Hannans warned that grant revenue has declined sharply from the pandemic years and that the district’s ability to sustain programmatic gains made with ESSER funding will depend on new state or local revenue. She called attention to long‑running structural needs: the district’s analysis shows it remains well below national benchmarks for counselors, social workers and other certified support staff, producing an estimated gap that district staff have previously calculated in the tens of millions of dollars to meet national caseload standards.

Board members pressed for clarity about which budget items were fixed costs and which were discretionary. Dr. Ian Joiner called the presentation “one of the most comprehensive reports of this nature I’ve seen,” and framed the problem as structural and statewide: “The problem is in the funding structure that exists for public education,” he said, urging unified advocacy at the state level. Board member Mr. Wilcox said the presentation was the “best yet” at explaining disparities in per‑pupil funding across New Haven County and the effects those differences have on staffing and outcomes.

Hannans reviewed mitigation steps under consideration: freezing non‑personnel general fund spending, reviewing hiring requests, tightening overtime and custodial costs for after‑hours programs, consolidating bus routes where feasible, and examining interdistrict enrollment strategies. She said some grants allow indirect cost recovery but that the district’s indirect cost rate fell during the recent grant years, limiting available overhead.

No final vote on the budget occurred; the presentation was a draft designed to solicit board questions and public input. Hannans said the district plans a community budget forum and anticipated presenting a final proposal to the board on March 24 for subsequent hearings with the Board of Alders and adoption timelines.

Votes taken during the meeting on separate agenda items included routine approvals (minutes, personnel report) and procurement motions; those items passed on roll‑call votes. The meeting closed with the board adjourning after the finance presentation; Hannans and Negron said the district will return with a refined proposal and recommended mitigation steps.