A joint finance committee workshop in New Haven on the school district’s budget on the evening of the meeting centered on repeated calls from alder members, teachers and parents for a public, up‑to‑date line‑item budget and greater transparency in contract and special‑fund spending. The committee heard a presentation from the group that requested the workshop and a detailed response from the New Haven Public Schools leadership team, then closed public testimony and recommended the agenda item be read and filed.

The workshop began with alder members saying the district has a recurring structural shortfall and that the absence of an accessible line‑item budget makes it difficult to identify where money is spent and how to mitigate deficits. "We heard concerns about learning and staffing, large classroom sizes, special education needs that far exceed staff capacity," one requesting alder said during the presentation, and the requesters proposed two remedies: publication of a baseline line‑item budget and creation of a Budget Transparency Working Group including board members, educators, families and taxpayers.

Superintendent Dr. Negron and Chief for School Operations Paul White presented the district’s view and emphasized a stated commitment to transparency and stakeholder engagement. Dr. Negron said the district started this year with broader public outreach and called the budget work part of a larger “path to excellence” aimed at aligning resources and priorities.

CFO Hernandez told the committee the district ended fiscal year 2025 with a $4.9 million deficit after mitigation work that reduced an initially projected $11.8 million gap. Hernandez framed the shortfall as primarily "a revenue problem, not an expense problem," noting that special funds (grant dollars) and timing affect when revenue appears on monthly reports. He said monthly line‑item actuals have been published for recent months in finance committee reports but acknowledged that assembling a comprehensive printed budget book for the current fiscal year would be time‑consuming because predecessor spreadsheets and backup documentation require reconstruction. He promised a budget book for the coming fiscal year.

Hernandez described internal control changes the district has begun to implement, including a weekly contract‑vetting committee he said will review and consolidate vendor agreements to pursue savings (he cited an early target of about $1.5 million). He also called out transportation and contractual services as major cost drivers and noted a recent contract with First Student obligates the district to pay the full fuel cost (minus taxes), a term the CFO said warrants further scrutiny.

Aldermen questioned the district’s ability to close a potential multi‑million‑dollar gap without new revenue. Several members urged a state advocacy effort; Hernandez and the superintendent said securing more state education funding is a top priority while the district pursues mitigation through rightsizing, contract review and shifting special funds where allowable. The superintendent described an equity‑based allocation draft that, she said, increases general‑fund support for 94% of schools compared to last year and explained the district will convene community conversations to inform mitigation scenarios.

During public comment, teachers, union leaders and parents pressed the committee to require the district to publish an itemized budget. Speakers from the New Haven Federation of Teachers alleged long‑term withholding of some pharmacy rebate revenue and urged the city and district to disclose rebate amounts and how rebate income has been used. "Secrecy means inequity goes unchecked," teacher Jessica Light said. Union representatives also asked for a permanent seat at the table for the district’s budget working group and pushed for affordable health care and salary changes in ongoing contract talks.

After hearing public testimony, the committee voted to recommend the item be read and filed. The transcript records the motion and a second and then voices in favor; no roll‑call tally was recorded in the meeting transcript. The meeting concluded with a motion to adjourn.

What happens next: committee members and school officials said they will pursue the technical work needed to publish more detailed budget documents and hold the community conversations the superintendent outlined. Alders said they expect to follow up and will seek documentation about how special‑fund revenues and rebates were recorded and used. The committee’s recommendation to "read and file" the workshop means the item will be placed in committee records with the expectation of further follow‑up and reporting to the finance committee and the public.