Board-approved $3M state-aid assignment, ThoughtExchange rollout outlined in budget update
Summary
The New Haven School District—s Finance & Operations Committee on Nov. 3 heard an update on budget mitigation that included an announcement that the Board of Elders approved a $3,000,000 assignment of state aid to the city—s general fund balance for educational purposes, funds staff said will be available to the Board of Education only at the end of the fiscal year if needed.
The New Haven School District—s Finance & Operations Committee on Nov. 3 heard an update on budget mitigation that included an announcement that the Board of Elders approved a $3,000,000 assignment of state aid to the city—s general fund balance for educational purposes, funds staff said will be available to the Board of Education only at the end of the fiscal year if needed.
"I failed to announce or to actually, you know, the Board of Elders had did in fact approved, the $3,000,000 in additional state aid, to the general fund balance for educational purposes," Finance staff member Mister Hernandez said, adding that the money will remain on the city side and will only be released to schools at year-end if necessary.
Hernandez said the district remains about $3.78 million short after right-sizing measures and that the $3 million is intended to reduce that shortfall; the remaining roughly $780,000 is expected to come from internal cost-saving measures already underway, including a newly implemented contract-vetting committee. Hernandez said the district will continue monitoring projections as monthly financials are presented.
The committee heard a detailed explanation of the district—s contractual-services object code and what it covers. Hernandez listed major categories included in that line item: custodial services (including prior emergency SJ Services work and the facilities contractor ABM), condo association fees for district properties, speech and language and audiology contractors, behavioral support and psychiatric services, and nurse contracts with providers such as Yale and Fairhaven Community Health. He said some line-item examples the district has in system as purchase orders already total roughly $3.5 million and that the overall contractual-services category is a large portion of the budget.
Hernandez also described plans to expand public engagement during the budget-preparation process. Staff proposed using ThoughtExchange, the district—s digital engagement tool, to solicit and rank input from parents, staff and community members; Hernandez described features including respondent ratings, an AI summary tool for staff review, and automatic translation for responses in other languages. He said the district will combine large digital outreach with in-person visits to established community groups, "going where they are," and that the superintendent will join staff for some community sessions.
Board members asked to review draft ThoughtExchange questions before the district publishes them and urged the district to involve state delegation members and other elected leaders in outreach. Hernandez said he would work directly with the superintendent on question drafts and would share them with the committee for input. Committee members were invited to send suggested questions to Mister Hernandez.
The committee did not take formal action on the mitigation plan or the ThoughtExchange proposal at the meeting; staff said more detail and timeline items will be presented in subsequent meetings as the district develops the budget calendar and completes personnel-cost alignment.
Why it matters: The $3 million state-aid assignment reduces the immediate fiscal shortfall but, according to staff, is subject to a year-end release condition and does not constitute unrestricted cash for use during the year. The ThoughtExchange plan signals an effort by district staff to expand outreach and translate public feedback into the budget process.
