Vacancies Down, A Little, At School Year’s Start

Good news: New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) has 22 fewer vacancies than it did this time last year.

Not so good news: The public school district still has nearly 200 staff positions left to fill, with the start of classes just around the corner.

NHPS Supt. Madeline Negrón presented that update to the district’s Board of Education Monday evening during its latest regular meeting held in person at John Martinez School and online via Zoom. Troup school teaching staff and parents were in attendance to raise concerns about the district’s teacher recruitment efforts. 

According to the data presented by Negrón, and pictured at the top of this article, the district had 198 vacancies as of Aug. 14, with 77 of those among classroom teachers. That’s compared to a total of 220 vacancies at the same time last year, including 83 classroom teachers.

NHPS’ school year, meanwhile, starts on Thursday.

Negrón emphasized to the school board that the district has been working aggressively to hire staff, particularly in shortage areas like math, science, and special education. She said teacher vacancies in those subject areas have been the hardest to fill. 

She also said that, over the past year, NHPS has hired a total of 244 school staffers, while losing 195 to resignations and 32 to retirements. 

While the number of vacancies has decreased in most departments, there are two staff vacancies in executive administration compared to zero this time last year. Schools spokesperson Justin Harmon identified those positions as chief of staff, after the recent resignation of Michael Finley, and Board of Education labor and employment attorney, whose application process is handled through the city. 

(The presentation reported three vacancies: According to Harmon, ​“the third position was for an Assistant Director of Early Learning Programs, which was never posted; this position is being eliminated.”)

Click here to view Monday’s full presentation. 

Also during Monday’s meeting, Troup Culture and Climate Specialist Da’Jhon Jett testified alongside others in the Troup school community to emphasize their frustration with three persistent vacancies in the school’s seventh and eighth grade math, science, and English teacher spots. Jett claimed that all three teacher positions have not yet received a single applicant. 

This school year Troup will shift to being a Commissioner’s Network school, which Jett described as ​“priority schools that require focused support and resources to help us meet the needs of our students effectively.” Despite this shift, Jett said, the school has not received the necessary local attention to fill its three core teaching positions. 

“Why aren’t we as a Commissioner’s Network school receiving the necessary attention and resources to attract and hire qualified candidates?” he asked NHPS’ leaders. He said Troup is falling through the cracks for the district. 

He also said the lack of middle school staff will impact the school’s ability to deliver consistent and quality instruction to its students as they transition to high school and are most in need of support and structure. ​“We are at a significant disadvantage without a full team of qualified professionals,” Jett said. 

Katherine Hopkins, who has taught at Troup for 16 years, raised similar concerns. She said she’s witnessed the Edgewood Avenue K‑8 public school go from ​“having everything to having nothing.” She described Troup as invisible to the district. ​“We have done our best with being overlooked and unacknowledged,” Hopkins said. 

She also said she’s witnessed students crying in frustration because they are not learning and only being taught math through a computer, she said. ​“We are not a failing school,” she concluded. ​“We are being failed.” 

Ebony Giliams, a mother of two Troup students, also testified on Monday. She said she’s concerned her eighth grader will not have the core teachers needed at the start of the school year, which is a ​“critical and imperative year.” She asked the school board what actions are being taken to fill Troup’s gap.

Mayor Justin Elicker, who also sits on the school board, asked Negrón Monday if Troup is an outlier in its vacancies. ​“Is three vacancies at one school unusual?” he asked. 

Negrón responded that this is not unusual.

Negrón also responded to Jett’s critique later in the meeting by saying, ​“We do not cherry pick where we funnel applicants.” 

She said the district has ​“done nothing but highlight the urgency of Troup, being that it is a Commissioner’s Network school.” She said she intends to fill Troup’s vacancies and noted that when the district partnered with Teach for America, all of those educators were sent to Troup because of its dire need for middle school staff. She concluded that ultimately applicants get to pick where they are going to work when applying to NHPS.