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Parents, teachers and students urge board not to cut Project Connect and other ninth-grade interventions
Summary
Community members, students and staff urged Newark Unified to preserve Project Connect and similar freshman intervention programs, saying they substantially improved grades and engagement; staff said budget and master-schedule constraints require a redesign and phased alternatives.
Community members, teachers and students urged the Newark Unified School District board of education on Wednesday to preserve Project Connect and other freshman interventions after district staff recommended pausing or redesigning several programs for budget and scheduling reasons.
Project Connect supporters described concrete gains in student performance and school engagement. "Project Connect truly changed my life and I hope more freshmen in the future are able to experience the support that I was," said Briana Rodriguez Gonzalez, a current or former Project Connect participant, during public comment.
Why it matters: Staff framed the discussion as an initial study session, saying Project Connect, Pause, MCA and Poente each contributed to student outcomes but that limited sections in the master schedule and looming budget constraints may make some models unsustainable in their current form.
What supporters told the board: Teachers and program leads presented data and testimony. Trisha Kelly, Project Connect teacher advisor, provided a slide deck and student testimonials and asked the board to reconsider staff recommendations to discontinue the program. Multiple students said the program helped turn failing grades into passing ones and allowed them to rejoin sports and extracurriculars.
What staff said: Principal Mike Murphy and other staff acknowledged the programsand their ties to recent WASC accreditation praisebut told the board they had to weigh program efficacy against staffing and schedule availability. Murphy said the recommendation to pause Project Connect reflected a lack of available class sections in next year's master schedule and fiscal pressures, and he encouraged work on alternate delivery models such as stipended before- or after-school interventions.
Board reaction and next steps: Board members pressed staff for concrete alternatives rather than an immediate termination. Several trustees asked for follow-up data on outcomes, cost per section, and whether Project Connect elements could be embedded in the regular school day or provided via stipends. The board did not adopt a final decision Wednesday and asked staff to return with concrete replacement models, timeline options and estimated costs.
What to watch: The district will return with a plan showing whether Project Connect can be preserved in a modified form (stipends, different release schedules) or whether funding and scheduling shortfalls require program consolidation. The board asked staff to produce measurable success metrics and to clarify the impact of any teacher layoff decisions on program feasibility.
Ending: For now, Project Connect remains under review; supporters said they will press the board for a concrete plan that maintains supports for at-risk ninth graders.
