Amid budget cuts and public scrutiny in Hartford Public Schools, parents and advocates say they worry about adequate resources for multilingual learners and other underserved students. Meanwhile, teacher unions are criticizing district leadership as the district faces funding issues.
"There is just not enough money to resource our district,” said Constanza Segovia, a community activist. “This is a systemic problem that there's just not enough money coming in. And I think even the best, most brilliant manager could not make that work.”
Segovia said the district should receive financial resources based on a student's needs, but that the state-level education funding formula is “highly inequitable."
Meanwhile, most of the earlier layoffs of certified educators have been rescinded, after city officials announced more money is being given to the district. Layoffs were also prevented by leaving vacancies unfilled for employees who retired or left.
Hartford Federation of Teachers President Carol Gale says Superintendent Leslie Torres-Rodriguez should not have sent out so many layoff notices.
“She created chaos, confusion, anxiety, stress, for what?” Gale said. “To be able to tell people after all of this: ‘you’re staying in the same job you thought you were going to lose.’”
Torres-Rodriguez acknowledges a tough budget picture. She noted that the district sought feedback from community members and that they prioritized staff and programming that would directly benefit students.
“Yes, it has been a difficult budget,” she said. “We believe in meeting our students where they are at and that is really hard to do when you are constrained, constrained with resources.”
The district had initially projected a $77 million deficit. The city announced earlier this year it was sending an additional $10.5 million in funding to the school system.
“We’re in the middle of the hiring season, and so we still have vacancies, we have retirements, we have resignations,” Torres-Rodriguez said. “But there are also additions that we made in the budget – for example, 40 additional para-educators because we want to make sure we are providing our students what they need.”
For parents who primarily speak Spanish, communication with the school district remains a significant hurdle, said Segovia, the community advocate. Despite improved written communication, Segovia pointed out a lack of interpreters for certain meetings between parents and school staff.
"There's been a lot of improvement and that's because parents have organized and push back to get language justice in our schools, at least for Spanish speakers. I know that what's still missing is the use of professional interpreters," she said.
Torres-Rodriguez said she remains dedicated to providing fair education and sufficient resources for all students, especially the increasing number of multilingual learners. She says the district plans to increase the number of bilingual resource teachers and other educators who work with multilingual students.
Torres-Rodriguez added that Hartford Public Schools works with the Connecticut RISE program to support high school students and help them achieve post-secondary success. The program has led to a 20% increase in the number of ninth graders passing six or more courses and a significant reduction in chronic absenteeism, she said.
"We want to ensure that our students stay on track through high school and beyond," she said.
In May, the contract of Torres-Rodriguez was not extended an additional year after a Hartford Board of Education vote resulted in a 3-3 tie.
With her contract up in 2025, Torres-Rodriguez said she remains committed to her role and has expressed her willingness to continue serving if given the opportunity.
Connecticut Public’s Matt Dwyer contributed to this report.
