Contributed Photo
A mural painted in Hillhouse's cafeteria last school year.
Hillhouse didn’t have to give back any unspent money to the state after all — and was able to roll over more than $190,000 in last year’s school-improvement funds to the current school year.
That’s the latest with a $323,547 School Improvement Grant (SIG) that Hillhouse received from the state Department of Education for the 2022 – 2023 school year.
For a recent story about Hillhouse High School teachers and parents speaking out about overburdened staff and inadequate support for students at the city’s second largest public school, New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) spokesperson Justin Harmon told the Independent that Hillhouse had to give back to the state between $50,000 and $70,000 in unspent SIG funds from last school year.
In a followup comment to the Independent, Harmon corrected himself and said that the school did not actually have to give back any money to the state. Instead, it was able to carry over all $191,965 in unspent SIG funds to the current 2023 – 24 school year.
Harmon said that his initial comment about money that had been returned to the state “was based on previous practice by CSDE [Connecticut State Department of Education].”
The unspent 2022 – 23 funds were able to be kept by the school for 2023 – 24 year “due to post-pandemic circumstances,” Harmon said, which allowed for all the money not spent to be given back to schools in carryover funding.
A state Department of Education spokesperson confirmed that, indeed, Hillhouse has not had to give any of the 2022 – 23 SIG money back to the state. “The Opportunity District ESSA SIG grant for James Hillhouse High School is for $323,574,” that spokesperson said in an email comment. “The award period is from 7/1/2022 – 9/30/2024. Since the grant period has not yet ended, there have been no funds returned to the state since there is still time to use these funds to support the strategies identified in the grant application.”
According to the state website, SIGs are grants that the state Department of Education issues to a municipal educational district like NHPS “that demonstrates the greatest need for the funds and the strongest commitment to use the funds to provide adequate resources in order to substantially raise the achievement of students in their lowest-performing schools.”
What was and is this money to be spent on?
According to the state’s 2022 – 2023 SIG plan documents, Hillhouse planned to use last year’s $323,547 grant on a variety of initiatives designed to boost student attendance at school, including by hiring more staff, providing students with special Hillhouse shirts through attendance raffles, and creating a new school mural.
Last year the school did paint a mural in its cafeteria which was meant to encourage students to understand the mottos “G.O.T.,” meaning “graduating on time,” and “S.M.A.R.T.,” meaning “sensible, mature, articulate, respectful, team-players.”
The 2022 – 23 SIG plan documentation also states that the grant funds would be used “to maintain superior supervision in the hallways where 67% of fighting takes place and students roam and cut classes regularly, 2 part-time deans are needed to be hired to protect the tone and culture of the hallways. Students are constantly discovering new ways to cut classes and more personnel is needed to cover a building of Hillhouse size. Additionally, Hillhouse has no female dean; both female deans will be hired part-time.”
When asked for this article what Hillhouse and the district are doing to make sure current SIG funds do not go unspent, Harmon said, “Accountability measures are in place to ensure spending is happening.”
State Sends $170K More This School Year
Also at the Dec. 11 Board of Education meeting, the school board approved a second $170,798 SIG allocation for Hillhouse for the current school year.
Click here to read more about the special fund proposal for the 2023 – 24 SIG allocation.
This new SIG grant will fund improving instruction supports to increase student engagement, restorative practices, and student attendance.
The school plans to hire two part-time deans to try to reduce chronic absenteeism. The two new part-time positions will task the deans with getting students to class and reduce the number of students skipping classes.
Harmon told the Independent that the two dean positions have been filled and are in the final stages of the hiring process as of Dec. 15.
When asked what the work will look like for these two new positions at Hillhouse, Harmon said “our deans are used to support students and the school in ensuring safety and to not only build relationships with students but with families as well.”
The grant funds will also be used to purchase an online subscription with Newsela, a literacy-focused product meant to better engage learners. Funding will also be used to bring more professional development to Hillhouse educators through LEARN with a focus on training for more effective instructional and engagement strategies helping educators to better leverage their 80-minute blocks. The training will also include trauma-informed instruction strategies. Leadership training for Hillhouse administrators is also included in the grant spending plan.
Lastly, the school plans to use funding to increase its Hillhouse pride initiatives, specifically for attendance and improving the school climate.
Instead of feel good t shirts and murals, how about laptops for every student, roof repairs, gym repairs and equipment, HVAC repairs, bathroom repairs, school nurses. school therapists and counselors, and other things that really make a measurable impact to mental health, educational resources and materials, educational school trips, a first responder certification course for first aid skills and an introduction to first responder careers. a swimming lessons requirement for every student with open swim times at the pool and a lifeguard water rescue skills course certification, a civil service and skilled trades and vocational certification courses to match jobs in fields that are currently hurting for employees, and intro to early childhood education and parenting skills course with an on site daycare center, and extra curricular supplies for sports, the arts, a student run school newspaper, a student created yearbook, a school civics and civil rights club, a chess club, a robotics club, a woodworking, construction trades, engineering and mechanics courses with certifications and apprentiships with area employers, an intro to health careers course with certifications and volunteer hours at area nursing homes and health centers and hospitals, and other things that would help students explore career options and get experiences in their fields of interest.
Teachers and paras should submit a list to the school principal and whoever is in charge of the purse strings and that money should go towards things that will truly make a difference in students educational experience and learning and skills learned.