Dr. Negron presents $252.6 million FY27 operating budget for New Haven School District
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Summary
Superintendent Dr. Negron and CFO Emil Car Hernandez presented a FY27 operating budget request of $252.6 million, citing rising special-education costs, significant reliance on grant-funded staff (899 FTEs), and transportation and contractual salary increases; an adjusted ask of $232.1M assumes leveraging roughly $20M in special funds.
Dr. Negron, superintendent of the New Haven School District, asked the board to support a $252.6 million operating budget request for fiscal year 2027, saying the proposal “is not merely a request for funding. It is a formal testament to the resilience of our students and the efficacy of our strategic investments.”
Emil Car Hernandez, the district’s chief financial officer, outlined the budget’s key drivers: personnel costs and contractual salary increases, growing special-education enrollment and complexity, multilingual learner needs, and rising transportation and facility expenses. Hernandez said personnel is the largest cost and emphasized the need to maintain full-time staff to preserve instructional quality and student supports.
Hernandez provided several data points he said justified the ask: special-education services account for roughly $72 million — about 33% of the district’s general fund — while students with disabilities make up about 18% of enrollment. He described a recent acceleration in special-education enrollment (year-to-year additions of 24, 34, 57 and then 101 students) and estimated specialized placement costs can range from $80,000 to $250,000 per student depending on services and IEP mandates. Hernandez also reported $6.3 million in outplacement tuition over the last five years and 278 resident students currently placed out of district.
On grants, Hernandez said the district relies heavily on special funds for staffing: about 899 FTEs (roughly 34% of district FTEs) are supported by grants and special funds, including 236 FTEs tied to alliance and priority funding. Because many grants are not guaranteed, he warned of sustainability risks if grant revenue declines and said his long-term objective is to shift core staffing back onto the general fund so grants can expand programming rather than cover recurring positions.
Transportation was another major focus. Hernandez noted multi-year spending in the mid-$30 millions (and projections approaching $39–40M) despite a ~$32M transportation line item in the budget, attributing the variance to increased IEP-driven transportation needs (he cited 64 vans at about $93,000 each, additional contracted providers and special-education route requirements) and inflationary pressures. He called for efficiency reviews and pointed to the Wexler program and an April 6 transportation briefing as potential avenues for savings.
Hernandez also described a school-based allocation pilot to target equity: an initial per-student add of approximately $24 for multilingual learners and $34 for students with disabilities, funded with $200,000 to start. He reminded the board that staffing guidelines adopted in 2022–23 remain unmet and estimated an additional $26.8 million would be required to reach those guideline levels.
After presenting the $252.6 million status-quo request Hernandez said the district could responsibly leverage about $20 million in special funds to reduce the net general-fund ask to $232.1 million, a figure he said would cover contractual salary increases, prior-year deficits and the district’s baseline operating costs. Hernandez framed the larger ask as a path to preserve staffing and free grant funds for program improvements.
The presentation concluded with Hernandez urging board members and stakeholders to engage with state and local partners on funding inequities and to support the FY27 request; he then opened the floor for board questions.
(Quotes and data above are taken from the district’s presentation. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was cited as the federal grant used to support many special-education positions and services.)
