NEW HAVEN, CT (WFSB) - New Haven Schools are facing a massive budget deficit for next year.
The schools will come up more than $14.5 million short and are looking at drastic cuts.
New Haven’s superintendent said if nothing changes, they could be looking at layoffs, larger classroom sizes, and even the possibility of closing schools.
Currently, New Haven Public Schools are looking at a more than $23 million hole, which is roughly 10% of their operating budget.
If they get some additional money from the mayor’s budget and the state, that would lower New Haven’s deficit to $14.6 million.
However, both the superintendent and the mayor said there’s no way to close that big of a gap without drastic measures.
“A cut of this magnitude will affect every aspect and programming. It is going to impact all of our students, all of them,” said Dr. Madeline Negron, New Haven Superintendent.
New Haven said it would be looking at laying off nearly 130 positions, many being teachers, in addition to eliminating about 45 vacant job openings.
This would result in larger class sizes for New Haven’s roughly 1900 students.
“I’ve had one teacher missing at least per year and the fact we’re going to have more layoffs because we can’t afford faculty we currently have is really terrifying,” said John Carlos Serana Musser, Senior at Wilbur Cross High School.
Other possible cuts could eliminate library media specialists, coaches for math and literacy, support staff, arts, along with sports.
“[We’re] talking about kids in urban environments that need [us] most and we know to engage them, we need more than just the core academics. We need the arts, we need the sports,” said Dr. Negron.
With these possible changes, there’s a potential of closing schools.
That’s why the schools are asking the state to increase its educational cost sharing funding while also putting a weight onto special education costs.
“It does not have to happen. Not in New Haven, not in Hamden, not in Meriden, not in Hartford, not in Stamford, not in Connecticut,” said Dr. Negron.
New Haven’s mayor said this keeps him up at night.
“What hasn’t gone up in price in the last 10 years? Everything from eggs to utilities to salaries, everything that’s gone up, but the state still thinks it costs the same amount to educate a child,” said Justin Elicker, New Haven Mayor.
Copyright 2025 WFSB. All rights reserved.