Yes We Can … Consolidate Schools?

Midway through the school year, a school that New Haven hasn’t built yet might have to accept students from a school that New Haven can’t afford to keep open.

That’s because, as the Board of Ed’s projected $30.7 million budget shortfall makes another round of school closures look increasingly likely next year, Barack H. Obama Magnet University School might offer a fix.

The district had hoped to gradually fill up the building over several years, but the leftover space might allow two schools to consolidate — or even permanently colocate — in the new digs. That is, if the state will sign off on the unconventional plan.

Either way, Board of Education President Darnell Goldson said, the school administration needs to come up with a plan fast before the school board can decide what to do.

Superintendent Carol Birks floated that idea for consolidating schools, rather than closing them, at Monday evening’s Finance & Operations Committee meeting at the district’s Meadow Street headquarters.

Officials made a point Monday night of not identifying any schools to close or consolidate. But at past meetings, officials have identified two nearby schools that are well below capacity: West Rock STREAM Academy Inter-district Magnet and Brennan-Rogers Communication & Media Magnet.

After the mayor’s $750,000 increase in school spending, which barely makes up for the state’s $250,000 decrease in discretionary funds, the school district is now facing its worst-case budget scenario. Birks previously warned that would include the elimination of 172 certified teaching positions, the termination of a lease and the closure of a school building.

The Barack H. Obama Magnet University School might ease the process of decommissioning one of the district’s other buildings. The $45 million building at 69 Farnham Ave. on Southern Connecticut State University’s campus is replacing Strong 21st Century Communications Magnet School’s deteriorating, century-old building at 69 Grand Ave. in Fair Haven.

When it opens, it will have room for about 490 students. That means it can fit at about 220 extra students, on top of the 270 who’ll be moving over from the Strong School’s current location at 130 Orchard St.

But there’s a sticking point: The building isn’t scheduled to be ready until midway through the school year, which could present issues for how the state tracks enrollment.

Robert Lynn of Gilbane Construction said Obama School was supposed to be ready by late summer, but the state held up the project for four to six months. (Lynn also told the finance committee on Monday that the delay would cost $154,000, because workers hadn’t planned on pouring concrete for the slab foundation in the freezing winter months.) That puts the firm on schedule to finish up in January 2020.

As at Engineering & Science University Magnet School’s February ribbon-cutting, teachers could pack up for a move over a winter break.

But Birks said she doesn’t think that the state would allow a mid-year consolidation, so they’d need to figure out a way to remain distinct.

“We can’t say, ​‘Okay, we’re going to have 500 students now enrolled at Strong School,’” she said. ​“We can’t do that.” But Birks said the state might allow the schools to share an address, as she knows that some schools in Hartford do.

In other words, said board member Tamiko Jackson-McArthur, they might be able to co-locate. ​“They can keep their identity, but if you put them together that might be the problem,” she said.

Goldson asked Birks to get an answer as soon as possible, especially because she’d also told the committee that she needs to notify the state of any planned closures or consolidations by the month’s end to not endanger funding.

He said the committee should have been talking about the decision months ago, before the school-choice lottery even opened.

“We need to have specifics of which schools are on the block, based on the nature of the building, the number of kids and the location where the school is. Give us some recommendations,” Goldson said. ​“We know that Strong has the capacity to take in almost twice what it has now, and some other schools are very small. We just have to bite the bullet.”