State Offers 700-Seat Magnet Compromise

New Haven will be able to add 700 more spots for city residents next year at its magnet schools thanks to a deal with the state.

Under the deal, the state agreed to let New Haven fill every spot in its inter-district magnets, and the city will withdraw a request to charge tuition to suburban towns.

After Darnell Goldson, the school board president, announced that deal, the other Board of Ed members made it official at its Monday night meeting at Celentano School by voting unanimously to withdraw its tuition appeal.

“We’re going to continue to exercise our rights under the state statutes, but we’re going to negotiate with our neighbors to figure out how we can do this in a way that benefits all of our neighbors and cases less pain,” Goldson said.

Inter-district magnet schools receive additional state funding — $7,085 per suburban student and $3,000 per city student — in an attempt to recruit enough students to racially desegregate across town lines.

But recently in New Haven, there’s been an ongoing debate about whether that extra money is still worth it. As suburban districts keep their share of the Educational Cost Sharing grant, New Haven has been fined for not being racially diverse enough. And as suburban students fill up more than half the open seats at some schools, New Haven parents say they can’t get in.

Earlier this summer, New Haven’s Board of Education asked to make substantial changes to the way its inter-district magnet schools work. They asked to admit the minimum number of suburban students and charge tuition to suburban districts. The State Department of Education denied both of those requests.

After pursuing an appeal, the district was able to work out a bargain with the state that came with more seats for city kids and more money for the district.

The state said it would allow New Haven to use every dollar reserved in the state budget for New Haven’s magnet schools to admit more city students.

According to the state’s calculations, that will mean up to 703 additional desks, along with $2.15 million extra funding. In total, that will mean city schools can expect to receive $37.1 million in magnet funds next year.

To do that, the state suggested adding approximately 50 students at each inter-district magnet school, with a few less at New Haven Academy (36 students), West Rock (20 students), and High School in the Community (1 student).

Overall, throughout the magnet program, that will mean the portion of desks for city students will increase from 66.2 percent to 69.0 percent.

Most importantly, the state said that it will hold the district harmless for failure to comply with state law that at least a quarter of students in each magnet school be white, Asian-American, Native or a mix of those race. They added that they will work with the district to develop ​“racial compliance plans” to ensure it meets those goals.

Tamiko Jackson-McArthur, the Board of Education’s secretary and Governance Committee chair, took a lead on expanding access to the inter-district magnet program. She pushed the district’s leadership to make more seats available to city residents, even when it looked like that might mean a cut in state support.

“I started asking why are we limiting access to our schools for New Haven’s very own families?” Jackson-McArthur said. ​“The school choice office kept advising us not to follow up on this. They were more worried about the racial isolation numbers than they were about access of New Haven families to coveted seats in our schools.” Along with Goldson and Harp, ​“I felt like our city families were being betrayed,” she added.

Jackson-McArthur called the latest deal ​“a huge win” that provides more access to some of the city’s top-scoring public schools. ​“In the end, the state heard our concerns and acted in the best interest of our New Haven families, as well as the surrounding municipalities participating in our magnet programs,” she said.

Goldson said that this buys the city — and its neighboring suburbs — another year to lobby for a comprehensive state funding formula before it needs to take another look at pursuing tuition charges.

He said that he believes the state is still underfunding New Haven’s magnet program by at least $3 million, and he pointed out that more than half the city’s property is non-taxable.

Goldson said it also gives the legislators another chance to look at how it can support efforts to racially desegregate, while the district takes another look at the weights it assigns in its own school lottery.

“Our job is to protect our school system and get our students as many resources as we can,” Goldson said. ​“We’re going to keep this tuition on the table while we’re trying to negotiate this.

“This is not the end,” he added. ​“We’re going to continue making the argument that the state needs to step up. We’re going to recruit our neighbors to help us make that argument, so we don’t have to fight with them.”

Board members said that they want to hear an update about those negotiations with state lawmakers within the next three months.

Previous stories on New Haven’s inter-district magnet schools:

• Suburbs Profit Off New Haven’s Magnets
• Magnet School Tuition Back On The Table
• Magnet Lottery Rigged For Suburbanites
• Suburban ​“Pushback” Feared On Magnets
• Goldson Targets Magnet Hustle
• Magnets Seek $2,250 Tuition From Suburbs
• Schools To Appeal State Magnet Ruling
• Hamden Opposes Magnet Tuition Quest
• 2 Segregated Schools, 2 Reactions