School leaders tell Finance Committee Plan C is last resort to close $6M gap; April 20 decision set on which building will close

Superintendent Richie and Board President Maynard Adams told the New London Finance Committee that the district faces a roughly $6 million budget gap and has adopted a “Plan C” that would close a school, consolidate three magnet pathways into two, and place remaining New London students into magnet pathways unless state and local funding materialize.

"There is no place left to go to close a $6 million budget gap," President Maynard Adams said, summarizing the board’s calculus and the risk that programs the district calls essential could be dismantled if the state does not approve the district’s magnet restructuring and provide additional funding. He told the committee the board voted the previous night to adopt Plan C as a necessary step.

Superintendent Richie, describing programmatic gains funded by one-time COVID and competitive grants, said the district has used roughly $10 million in competitive funding in recent years to hire instructional coaches, attendance outreach staff and in-school wellness counselors. "That money is now gone and we are desperately trying to hold on to many of these positions because we've seen the value of this work," she said, arguing that some investments — previously paid from temporary grants — are critical to sustaining student progress.

The presentation laid out three budget scenarios the board considered: a 3.98% general-fund request (the main Plan C ask), a reduced 1.68% ask if the city provides $800,000, and a more constrained outcome if the city offers only $300,000 or if the state withholds magnet approval. Director Rob Funk walked committee members through the district’s roll-up and inflation analysis and said that closing a building could yield about $3 million in immediate savings (including eliminating roughly 19 certified and about 11.5 non-certified full-time equivalents, bus and utility savings), while state magnetization of remaining students could produce about $2.1 million in annual revenue if the magnet office approves the restructuring.

Funk cautioned the plan is heavily dependent on several state approvals and the governor’s budget. The presenters said the magnet office, the school construction and grants office, the academic office and the commissioner must all align — and that the district is pressing Hartford to expedite decisions. "The governor's budget is critical," a board representative said, urging the council to join advocacy efforts with the district’s legislative delegation.

Council members asked practical questions about timing, personnel and classroom impacts. Richie said the district plans to phase magnetization and maintain lotteries and parent choice for pathways; target class sizes for consolidated elementary pathways would be about 22–24 students and middle-school targets about 21–22. She said the board is working with unions to rely on retirements and vacancies where possible to reduce involuntary layoffs.

The board also set a specific schedule for implementation steps: although the board adopted Plan C at its meeting the night before, the district will not announce which facility will close until a special board meeting on April 20; members said that date allows time to gather requested facility data, offer walkthroughs to board members and meet statutory notification deadlines for affected staff.

Next steps: city and school officials said they will continue joint advocacy with the legislative delegation in Hartford and review options for covering near-term gaps; the council’s budget process will proceed with the understanding that additional supplemental requests or changes may be necessary if state approval is delayed or denied. The Finance Committee held the presentation and did not vote to appropriate funds at this meeting.