About That $30M Deficit …

At the first convening of a task force studying the upcoming fiscal year’s education budget, Jamell Cotto, a former school board member, asked a $10 million question: ​“Have we settled on an actual deficit number?”

Assistant Superintendent Keisha Redd-Hannans said that it would take nearly $218 million to continue all existing operations ​“without us doing anything, no mitigation efforts at all.”

That would mean that, at the moment, the school system is still nearly $30 million short — if, she added, the district were run entirely ​“on general funds.”

What? So, the projected shortfall doesn’t include the millions of dollars in state grants that New Haven receives every year?

“Was that the ask?” Ed Joyner, a current board member, chimed in. ​“I thought the ask was how much it would cost to run the district.”

Nope, the school administration hadn’t included any revenue it wasn’t completely certain it’s going to get in its requested budget, said Redd-Hannans, who’s been leading the budget process while a 16-month search for a chief financial officer is ongoing.

With the fiscal year set to begin in two weeks, Redd-Hannans said, there is currently no guaranteed source of money to pay for close to $11 million in grant-funded positions, like instructional coaches, school social workers, special education teachers and parent liaisons. She said the district is still applying for those special funds from the state.

The majority of that money will eventually come through the Alliance Grant, a portion of the state’s base funding formula that low-performing districts have to set aside for ​“bold and innovative reforms” approved by the education commissioner. Those can include programs like wraparound student services, minority teacher recruiting, enhanced bilingual classes or extended school days.

Superintendent Carol Birks had already factored the eventual receipt of $11 million in grant money into her budget mitigation plan. Redd-Hannans said that it’s not in the budget itself because the district can’t bet on getting any of that money just yet, which is why it’s part of the mitigation plan.

Joyner said he didn’t think that was a good way to budget. ​“It goes back to the general principle of knowing all of your revenue — all of it, not just general fund — and all your expenditures, and using that to try to determine how you protect teaching and learning in the classroom,” he said. ​“I understood the ask from the board was how much it would cost to run the district. That’s very different than how much it would cost to run the district on general funds.”

That back-and-forth took place on Monday afternoon at the district’s Meadow Street headquarters, during the first meeting of a newly formed Budget Mitigation Committee, which has already started to provide a clearer picture of the district’s finances.

After recent protests and walk-outs, the 15-member task force was impanelled last week (two and a half months after its creation) to find alternatives to the involuntary transfer of 53 teachers. The board told them to look for ​“permanent and structural” cost-cutting measures that minimize ​“harm to student achievement growth.”

The committee, which will reconvene on Thursday to discuss specific proposals, is expected to present its final recommendations to the Board of Education in a week.

While no decisions have been made yet, the revelation of how the shortfall was calculated — excluding the Alliance Grant and other special funds — made the committee’s work a tad easier.

Assuming the education commissioner will eventually releases the million Alliance Grant that state lawmakers have already allocated for New Haven, it means the district will have a shorter way to reach the $188 million budget that alders recently approved.

Now trending closer to $20 million, about the same size as last year’s shortfall, the projected deficit will still be a massive hole to fill, leaving the district with only slightly less dire finances.

Last year, a similarly sized deficit necessitated closing three schools, cutting 130 teaching positions (with 36 receiving lay-off notices) and dismissing hundreds of part-timers. Even those cuts weren’t enough to get the district out of the red, as an outstanding $6 million bill will likely roll back onto the city’s books at the end of the month.

Superintendent Birks had previously said that, in the upcoming year, the district will need to reassign 56 teachers and 19 aides; review contracts to end unnecessary services, renegotiate flat-funded renewals and combine services with city government; and lengthen the space between school bus stops — all just to get halfway to closing the deficit.

On top of that, in the worst-case scenario of no additional state funding, Birks said the district might have to close a school, cut up to 116 additional teaching positions and reduce part-time personnel.

The Budget Mitigation Committee is now trying to figure out if that’s the best way to balance the budget, as they look over where the money’s going next year.

For the first time this year, after months of requests, the district released a draft of the site-based budget to the committee. The 229-page document shows the cost of running every building and every department.

It shows the wide range in per pupil instructional funding, from $6,130 at Ross Woodward to $14,508 at West Rock, based on next year’s projected enrollment.

It shows the wide range in salaries for every school employee, from $22,313 each for 240 assistant teachers to $239,700 for the superintendent.

And it shows the costs of running Central Office, including $1.9 million in salaries, mileage reimbursements, supplies and equipment, ​“professional meetings” and ​“student activities,” among other expenses, for the superintendent and her top deputies.

Jill Kelly, an ESUMS parent who’s co-chairing the committee with Cotto, proposed a seven-part test to prioritize their review of the expenses. It would start by asking whether the cost is legally required; then whether it’s critical to safety, education, physical health, social-emotional well-being or staff work; whether it saves on future expenses, and so on.

The committee will return to that guiding framework and individual budget questions when it picks up on Thursday at noon, for a conversation that one committee member said would be like ​“shedding blood.”

“There are no good answers,” Cotto said. ​“We will look for the least bad.”

The Budget Mitigation Committee is accepting suggestions from school staff and community members for potential savings, especially in particular schools or departments. Those can be sent by email to nhps.deficit.review@gmail.com. The co-chairs noted that any correspondence with the committee is subject to disclosure under the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act.