Nora Grace Flood Photo
Hamden’s current alternative education configuration will stay the same next year, now that the Board of Education has decided against a plan to outsource its services.
That news comes after the BOE held an informational meeting last week to compare the costs and implications of keeping an in-district alternative education program — the Hamden Collaborative Learning Center (HCLC) — part of Hamden Public Schools or outsourcing that work to Area Cooperative Educational Services (ACES). ACES, a nonprofit, had proposed a new program to support students who struggle with mainstream schooling.
The town has a tentative agreement to sell Wintergreen School, the building which currently houses special and alternative education classes, to ACES. So keeping HCLC running could pose new financial pressures given that the district would likely have to reallocate money for rent to keep the program housed.
Read more about the various complications bordering the decision in depth in this previous article.
The town’s public schools administration had expressed a desire to expand alternative education services to support more students through richer programming than HCLC is currently able to offer. They argued that said that doing so would be more feasible by outsourcing to an organization like ACES, especially given that the BOE was flat-funded by the town’s Legislative Council this year, prompting new budgetary concerns.
The idea was that the BOE would vote this week to choose whether to stick with HCLC, shift to ACES, or pursue a collaboration between the two. But that was before an emotional outpouring from students, families and teachers who described HCLC as a key community in town that has changed lives. Schools Superintendent Jody Goeler informed the Independent that the board then decided in a conversation following the meeting to ensure that HCLC is able to maintain its services next year.
“The board really wanted to better understand our current model and hear ACES’ proposal for broadening those programs and other experiences for students,” Goeler said of the meeting. “The board in its own conversation at that meeting talked about the desire for me to continue to work with ACES to see if there are ways we can work cooperatively with ACES to help support and broaden the program we already have.”
“The board was clear that they appreciated the current program and the teachers and the leadership we’re currently providing students,” he said.
“It’s very clear that not only does the HCLC community not want to move to ACES, but that the BOE was not supportive of this change,” BOE President Melissa Kaplan confirmed. “Therefore there is nothing to vote on, since we all feel strongly that our alternative school should remain within the Hamden school district. Simply put, no change means there is nothing to vote on.”
Goeler said the schools administration will still seek to find ways to supplement HCLC’s programming, which is available only to 10th through 12th graders.
That could mean having ACES launch an alternative middle school program pilot, Goeler said. In the past, the town has implemented various alternative education services to support middle schoolers — but all programs have died out due to scarce resourcing and staffing, Goeler said.
“We’ve had to make decisions concerning all of our programs based on budget reductions and level funding,” he said. “HCLC is so far the richest alternative education program we’ve been able to provide.”
The board will continue engaging in discussions around how to open up alternative education to all middle schoolers and high schoolers, improve staffing and resources in said programs, and find a permanent location for the town’s alternative ed schools, according to Kaplan and Goeler.
Meanwhile, the town has worked out a deal with ACES that if the sale of Wintergreen goes through, the town may rent out space in the building to continue supporting HCLC.
Goeler said a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the building itself would go towards the lease agreement in order to avoid further taxing the board’s budget.
The fates of multiple Hamden schools currently depend on that final negotiation of the Wintergreen school sale.
An original plan put forward by the district known as “3R” sought to institute sliding scale pre‑K for all Hamden families, racially balance the segregated school system, and consolidate the costs of school facilities by closing two of the town’s most diverse neighborhood schools. That plan would have in turn kicked an ACES magnet school out of Wintergreen and used that space as well as an expanded middle school to accommodate all students.
That plan was so controversial that years after introducing 3R, the town worked to strike a tentative deal to sell Wintergreen to ACES, with the intention to use the $16 million they’d get in return to keep all of the town’s community elementaries open.
Goeler said he hopes the proceeds from the sale go towards not only strengthening alternative education, but renovating Shepherd Glen Elementary, one of the schools previously slated for closure partly because it is in need of significant infrastructure repairs.
“Basically, the board’s decision reflects our desire to keep these schools in our community — but we also understand the need to invest in capital infrastructure, particularly at Shepard Glen,” Goeler stated.
“Ultimately,” he noted, just like flat-funding the BOE, choosing how the money from the potential Wintergreen sale is used “is a town decision.”
Congratulations to Hamden Collaborative Learning Center (HCLC) for winning the support to independently continue to exist. Thank you to the board for listening to the students, parents and teachers on the need to preserve this alternative program.