Flood Closes Adult Ed Building

A flood resulting from a failed HVAC valve and gasket has ended on-site and in-person programming at the city’s Adult & Continuing Education Center in the Hill for the remainder of the calendar year.

New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) Superintendent Madeline Negrón gave that update to the Board of Education Monday evening during the school board’s latest hybrid meeting, which was held in-person at Barack Obama Magnet School and online via Zoom. 

Negrón informed the board that, on Nov. 13, a second-floor HVAC valve and gasket at the Adult Ed headquarters at 540 Ella T. Grasso Blvd. failed and caused major flooding in the building. 

This resulted in the cancellation of classes on the 14th. Classes then resumed online on the 15th. 

Adult Ed serves students ages 17 to 70 who need to earn a high school diploma or improve their English speaking and listening.

This is not the first time Adult Ed has dealt with facilities issues in recent years at the privately-owned office complex on the Boulevard. Some of those building condition problems have included missing and water-damaged ceiling tiles, unusable bathroom sinks and toilets, and leaky roofs that have filled large trashcans with water. 

These issues have continued even as Adult Ed’s student enrollment has increased. 

Approximately 1,200 students are currently enrolled for the fall semester. Because of the flood and building closure, registration has been postponed until January 2024. 

As a result, the center’s leaders partnered with Gateway Community College to host end-of-semester post-testing at the community college on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. For these two days, Adult Ed Principal Michelle Bonora said approximately 200 students were scheduled to take tests at Gateway. Evening student testing has also been postponed. 

The arrangement also allows for Adult Ed to have access to Gateway for three weeks in December to finish out the fall semester.

“New Haven Adult Education proudly serves over 1,600 students per year. Enrollment trends for the fall semester far exceeded expectations and were on pace for over 1,800 students this year,” Bonora said in an email response to the Independent. ​“Over 40% of New Haven Adult Ed students have school aged children in the district. Supporting adults with educational advancement, college readiness, and workforce development directly impacts the lives of New Haven Public School students.”

Negrón said during Monday’s school board meeting that the district’s goal is for repairs to be completed by January so classes can hopefully resume in person on the Boulevard at the start of 2024. 

NHPS rents the 40,000 square-foot space at 540 Ella Grasso Blvd. from SP Ella LLC, which purchased the property in 2020. Once taking ownership the landlord increased the district’s rent by three percent each year through June 30, 2025. Over the next few years the program’s rent will rise from $55,000 a month to $60,100 a month. 

The facility repairs resulting from this latest problem are expected to fall on the landlord, causing no budget impact on the district. 

Negrón added that if repairs are not completed by January the district will consider dispersing Adult Ed programming throughout current district facilities. 

Daily programming at the center includes 30 High School Day Classes, 2 Gateway Community College Courses, 14 GED day and evening courses, 35 ESL day and evening classes, 1 CNA on-site training, and 2 cohorts of digital literacy classes in partnership with New Haven Adult Ed and CFAL. 

Adult Ed’s official GED testing, which usually occurs every Tuesday and Thursday, has also been cancelled until January causing students needing to take the official GED to test at either local testing center in East Haven or Hamden. 

Board of Education member Darnell Goldson asked if the district will be relieved of paying rent at the facility as repairs happen and use of the building is paused. 

“We’re paying this guy’s super high rates for that facility,” Goldson said. ​“I want to make sure that if we’re not there in December we’re not paying the landlord for use of that building in December.” 

Negrón said the rental agreement includes language for savings if the district cannot get back into the facility. 

NHPS Chief Operating Officer (COO) Thomas Lamb added that there are provisions in the lease agreement stating that the landlord is required to give the district ​“equal or better space depending on how long we are without facilities” and a payment reduction in the event that the district cannot get back into the space. 

Currently city attorneys are negotiating with the landlord and insurance adjusters to ​“ensure that the financial obligation to the city is as minimal as possible.” 

Lamb added that ​“we’re trying to get this done as quickly as we can in the most appropriate way possible to make sure that we don’t have to revisit the repairs. We want to make sure that there’s testing in place for any mold, we want to make sure that the space is dried out completely, and all of the reports are in place before we reenter” meaning the job could take longer to complete. 

Board member Matt Wilcox pointed out that last board meeting, the school approved the hiring of the architect firm GWWO Architects to begin designing the 188 – 206 Bassett St. building in Newhallville where Adult Ed plans to move to in the near future.