Emily Hays
New Haven’s magnet schools are down 202 students in the wake of the decision to start the school year with remote-only learning. And a $3 million state grant is in jeopardy.
Magnet school enrollment was up prior to the Board of Education’s August vote to start the school year with 10 weeks of remote school, according to the district’s magnet school program coordinator, Michele Bonanno.
Last week, the district extended remote school indefinitely due to an uptick in Covid-19 cases.
“We track week by week. After that [August] decision was made, we saw a big drop off,” Bonanno said.
The district has been busily filling empty seats from the magnet school waitlist. Preliminary October enrollment data show the district still down a total of 235 magnet students compared to last year, with 202 of the empty seats abandoned after the board’s August vote.
Most of the students who have left the district are suburban kids. Suburban enrollment is down 193 students, while New Haven enrollment is down by 42. The total number of magnet school students this year is 7,581.
The Office of School Choice and Enrollment has found that many of the departing students have chosen to return to home districts with in-person classes available. Hamden, for example, offered students the chance to be in school buildings four days a week. Other students have chosen to enroll in local Catholic schools with similar in-person plans.
$3 Million At Risk
Zoom
BOE Member Matt Wilcox: Grant loss feels like punishment.
The drop in enrollment likely means $700,000 less in magnet-related income for the district, Bonanno told the Board of Ed’s Finance and Operations Committee on Monday.
District Chief Financial Officer Phil Penn had more bad news for the committee: The state has told the district that its $3 million transportation grant is on hold because the district is not busing students. Their hands are tied by a state statute, Penn relayed.
At the same time, New Haven is on the hook for 85 percent of usual busing costs even if school buses are idle, thanks to an executive order from Gov. Ned Lamont.
When the district was still planning to restart in-person classes on Nov. 9, Penn had a plan to work around the statute problem.
“My hope had been that the kids are back. We can document the costs [before their return] and we still have a net impact. Not knowing when students will be back, we don’t have that leg to stand on,” Penn said.
The district has been working with lobbyists to make sure the Covid-19 pandemic does not harm New Haven Public Schools longterm. Bonanno relayed that state representatives could pass a workaround in the spring, for example, to prevent the drop in enrollment from impacting next year’s budget.
While administrators clarified that the state was not trying to punish New Haven with the transportation grant, both Board of Ed members present said that it felt like punishment.
Larry Conaway said the board might have to think about legal options to try to get the grant back.
“They can confirm that we’re in the same opinion that our hands are tied. Maybe our legal representative would have a different opinion,” said board member Matthew Wilcox.
Conaway highlighted the reasonableness of the position the board settled on. In August, the state told New Haven that the city could chose its own reopening plan but that the state was worried about the impact of remote school on vulnerable students.
“There are two philosophies. One is that we should take advantage [of low Covid-19 case numbers to bring students into schools] and one is focused on saving lives. I don’t think we should be punished for a difference in philosophies,” Conaway said.
Parents do have the right to send their children where they want--- isn't that Magnet Schools...of choice? Or do liberals want to take that right away now , too?
Bodies of little students held for ransom, in exchange for govt money--- ain't it grand to be in the city of NH??!?!?