Superintendent Steven Adamowski this week presented the Hartford Public Schools' 2011-12 proposed operating budget to the Board of Education, calling for a decrease of $4.5 million, or 1.1 percent, and the net reduction of about 59 positions.  We are pleased that there will be no net teacher layoffs contemplated and congratulate the District for the hard work of putting together a budget that, while it contains less spending, minimizes the impacts to the classroom.  This is a great outcome. 

Under the proposal, the City of Hartford would not need to increase its 2010-11 contribution of $93.7 million for the schools.  As introduced, the $396 million total budget also assumes flat funding from the state, matching last year's $188 million amount.

Contractually-driven salary increases are projected to be $4.6 million, but these would be largely offset by the planned layoff of some 59 non-teaching staff, reducing the total salary increase to $1.8 million.  Looking at the positions to be eliminated, 20 would come from the central administration, and 27 of the 39 net school-level reductions would be in paraprofessionals. 

At the individual school level, 30 of the 39 school-level staff additions and reductions are directly attributable to the phase-out of Weaver Senior High School, which graduates its final class this year, District Chief Financial Officer Paula Altieri noted.

Student transportation is to be reduced by $1.6 million, in part due to a planned reduction of the number of children with disabilities placed out of the district or out of state.  Instead, the District plans to increase within-district special education services, consistent with a recommendation reported on April 5 by its Budget Task Force.  Several - but not all - of the recommendations from the task force have been incorporated at various levels of the budget.

Among the assumptions underlying the budget is that total enrollment, including suburban students attending Hartford-host magnet schools (but not counting some 1,100 adult education students), is projected to rise by 4 percent, to 25,974 students in 2011-12.  With Hartford's youth population declining, we will be interested to hear more about the assumptions behind this projected growth.

Dr. Adamowski, noting that this District budget is the third to be developed during and since the 2008 recession, said it in some ways has been the easiest, in large part because of an $11 million infusion of federal Teacher Jobs Funds that "saves the day" this year.  Those stimulus monies are not, however, anticipated next year.  Indeed, the lack of those funds, plus next year's inflation- and contractually-driven increases, leaves a significant budget shortfall looming for the 2012-13 school year.

We agree with the superintendent that it will be important for City leaders to build a long-range plan for education funding, because the District's structural budget problems are not going away; in fact they could get worse in the coming years.  We believe an additional Budget Task Force for 2012 and beyond should be assembled as soon as September to provide thinking around the long-term options and efficiencies that will be needed very soon.  This is also consistent with a recommendation by the Budget Task Force.

Here are the next stages of the budget process:

·        April 19 - 6 p.m. public hearing at Capital Preparatory Magnet School, 1304 Main Street. 

·        April 25 - Board of Education Finance Committee meeting.

·        April 26 - open Tuesday date if further Board deliberations are needed.

·        May 3 - Board's scheduled vote on the budget.

·        May 10 - presentation of the budget to City Council, which is to approve a local appropriation to the Hartford schools by May 31.

We encourage everyone to attend the April 19 public hearing at Capital Prep. 

A New Org Chart, Plus Some Budget Questions 

The School District's proposed operating budget for 2011-12 is impressive - and it will take even more diligence to inform the public about its many components.

Some of the many interesting points of information related to the budget are contained in revised organizational charts presented by Superintendent Designate Christina Kishimoto this week.  Dr. Kishimoto will be leaving her position as Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education and Dr. James Thompson has left the counterpart position of Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education to head the Bloomfield schools.  The new plan is to consolidate these two positions into one Assistant Superintendent for all schools.  As part of the central office reduction, certain other positions within the senior leadership have been combined or eliminated.  Here is the highest-level proposed organizational chart presented at the meeting: 

The budget proposed certainly appears strong and - as we noted - should generally be viewed as a positive, given the current economic challenges.  That said, we would like to note some questions that should be considered over the next week to provide greater understanding of the impacts from the proposed budget in the following areas:

Individual School Staffing

Considering the numbers of position movements in each school: 

> Given a net no-change in teaching positions, how will teachers be placed throughout the District as a result of the closing of Weaver Senior Academy?  

> How will support for English Language Learners or special education students increase or decrease in schools throughout the district?

> Which schools will be impacted by the proposed reductions of 27 paraprofessional positions, and what is the strategy to compensate schools for this loss?

Transportation

Given the indicated reductions in transportation expenses:  

> Will families be subject to the same transportation rules of the past two years and will most schools continue to provide transportation only within zones?

Central Office Reductions

> How will the decreases in central office staff affect the support individual schools receive and what is the projected impact on student achievement?

> How will communications efforts and objectives be enhanced?

Family Engagement

> Will the allocations of Title I money be any different than they were in the past?

> Which schools will employ Family Resource Aides or School & Family Support Coordinators?

> What other investments in Family Engagement is being made by the District?

Of course, there are many more aspects of the proposed School District budget that should be reviewed.  You can do additional homework by reviewing the full document, now online at www.hartfordschools.org.

Case Study: Elementary School is Not Too Soon to Think About College

UConn student mentors: celebrating college success - and bringing early college exposure to Wish Elementary School

For Principal Lorraine White and her Fred E. Wish Elementary School parents, the most effective assistance comes when exposure to college is in the mix early; both at school and at home and well before high school, because self-discipline and serious effort are so important early on.

Parenting is a lifelong duty.  It is about providing constant encouragement and imposing appropriate discipline at the right times and in the right ways.   

At the K-8 Wish School, the subject of college is raised in a number of practical ways:

·        middle school staff makes sure that choice applications to high school get in on time;

·        a college student mentoring program includes UConn students who serve as role models, in the recognition that, as Principal White says, "Young people listen to young people";

·        weekly visits are arranged, for 4th and 5th graders, to Phoenix Insurance Company, for a taste of the business world;

·        arrangements are made for a number of other college visits by young people before 9th grade;

·        teachers emphasize that high school and college get progressively more challenging ... and so all must be prepared and self-motivated; and

·        parents and teachers working together are consistent in conveying high expectations to children.

Case in Point #1: Armando Caez has a simple wish that is familiar to parents: He wants his children to surpass their parents' accomplishments.  "I always say, do better than me; make me happy."  His 8th grade daughter Chasetty is advised by her mom to aspire to work hard, finish school, and never have regrets or put herself in the position of "thinking, 'what if?.'"  She wants to run her own business someday.

Case in Point #2: Ever since his children were babies, Ramon Colon has been telling them that he wants a lawyer or doctor in the family.  He works weekdays and weekends, assisted by his daughter Christine, the first one up every morning to start the day and always an A and B student.  Her dad says he never has to push her to do her homework; "Christine does it all on her own."  She has been thinking about college since 5^th grade - three years ago.

Achieve Hartford!'s Theory of Reform includes emphasis on a culture of high expectations in schools and the community.  One ingredient for success is the determination of the 8^th Grade Wish School parents and students, who at age 14 already are thinking about college and career readiness - and working hard in that direction.  We all might heed the advice of Wish School mother Cynthia Acevedo: "Just go for it.  Don't let anybody tell you that you can't."

WFSB-Channel 3 "Cool Schools" Program, 5 to 7 a.m., Friday, April 15, 2011: Feature on Pathways to Technology Magnet School.

"Closing CT's Achievement Gap for Children and Youth with Disabilities: Accessing Effective Educational Programs and Related Services," 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, April 16, 2011 at Bulkeley High School, 300 Wethersfield Avenue, sponsored by the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund and presented by the City of Hartford Commission on Disability Issues.

Hartford Public Schools' New Teacher Workshops, 4-6 p.m., Monday, April 18, 2011 and 4-6 p.m., Monday, May 16, 2011, at Bulkeley High School Library, 300 Wethersfield Avenue.

Hartford Board of Education Public Hearing on the 2011-12 Recommended Budget, 6 p.m., Tuesday, April 19, at Capital Preparatory Magnet School, 1304 Main Street.

2011 District-wide Academic Competition, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thursday, May 12, 2011, Hartford Public Library, 500 Main Street.