Elijah Hurewitz-Ravitch, Contributing Photographer

Wednesday’s Board of Alders Education Committee meeting did little to inspire confidence among alders that perennial issues and vacancies in maintenance and security would soon be resolved. The committee meeting added to a deluge of complaints levied against the New Haven public school system in recent weeks. 

In two workshops, New Haven Public Schools officials gave brief presentations and answered questions from the alders. Central to each of the issues raised in the workshops was a basic economic dilemma: how to allocate scarce resources. 

When Ashley Stockton, a Truman School teacher and Wilbur Cross parent, began working at the New Haven public school system in 2006, she was struck by the state of school facilities. More galling to her, though, has been the continued complacency and lack of improvement over the past 18 years. 

“These schools look really nice from the outside. And they’re literally falling apart on the inside,” Stockton said. “It’s like the Emperor’s New Clothes.”

The first workshop, which began with a presentation from NHPS Superintendent Madeline Negrón and Interim Chief Operating Officer Michael Carter, was focused on the maintenance of facilities — which, in some schools, are in dismal condition.

Earlier this month, Mayor Justin Elicker proposed that $5.5 million of the city’s remaining federal pandemic-era funds be directed to the schools’ capital budget. School officials said that the funds will be at least partially directed to remedying “significant issues” in heating and cooling systems and utility repair. 

Alder Frank L. Redente Jr. described “ghost” toilets and sinks that run water continuously for up to a week and broken lights at Fair Haven School, where he serves as a youth development coordinator. Carter explained that the mayor’s proposed funds will also go towards issues like these. The Board of Alders has not yet approved the proposal. 

“What would help us, in addition to having the dollars, is having additional people,” Carter added. “We only have three carpenters and two plumbers, and we need two or three times as much, so we can stay ahead of the curve as opposed to running behind it.” 

Carter said that the New Haven public school system is still waiting on municipal funding to fill those trade positions. 

The district began this year with a $2.3 million budget deficit; the New Haven Federation of Teachers, along with Elicker, recently called for increased federal and state funding to alleviate maintenance and staffing issues. State representatives instead placed the blame on decades of fiscal mismanagement. 

Like the NHPS facilities workforce, the Office of Security also suffers from budget-related vacancies. In the second workshop, Negrón said in the opening presentation that in 2010, NHPS employed 100 security officers. Now, because of efforts to reduce the district’s budget, that number is 56. 

Negrón, along with Assistant Superintendent Paul Whyte ’93 — who, given administrative vacancies, has stepped in to support Negrón in overseeing the security department — explained the daily “puzzle” of shuffling security officers between the district’s 44 schools.

This scarcity means that sometimes, schools like Fair Haven are left with only one security officer — and, at certain times of day, none at all. Redente explained that because his school’s security officer does not arrive until 8 a.m., he has to step up to the plate. Teachers, he explained, do not feel comfortable with the “homeless folks” and substance users who loiter outside the building. 

“All I can tell you,” Negrón responded, “is I’m not going to be able to create a body out of thin air.”

Alder Amy Marx LAW ’00 asked about the existing protocols for active shooter emergencies. Chief Thaddeus Reddish, the director of security, declined to explain specific staff practices, citing student safety. 

“We are state of the art when it comes to school security,” Reddish said. “We’ve upgraded our training. And trust me, it works. It works. So we are prepared to do the best we can.” 

Still, Alder Sarah Miller ’03 noted that security practices are inherently limited by facilities issues. Key components of active shooter protocol — turning off lights, lowering blinds, locking doors — are simply impossible if those implements are broken. 

Stockton said that at Truman, for instance, most of the blinds do not work.

Miller told the News that she was left unsatisfied with the meeting.

“We heard a lot of things that are being worked on, and we didn’t really hear a path to getting to a situation where basic, basic issues across the district are addressed,” Miller said. “We have a little more information about specific instances, but the so-called improvements that we’ve seen are really inadequate; they’re poorly done.”

The list of work orders — repairs needed in HVAC, carpentry, electrical writing and plumbing, among other areas — is long, Negrón said. And issues often go unaddressed. Therefore, they’re working together with experts like these HVAC, plumbing and solar services in Stockton, CA for residential plumbing repair.

Redente handed out packets of photos of water damage and missing ceiling tiles at Fair Haven, much of which, he told the News, dates back to 2018. Like Miller, he was unconvinced by what he heard at the meeting. 

“I’m looking for more,” Redente said. “We will do a fact-finding mission of our own, and call these parties back to the table again.”

The Education Committee convenes monthly at 6 p.m.