Additional funding heading for Connecticut school districts, including $30M for Hartford
A multi-million-dollar boost is promised to towns and cities across the state after Democrats and Governor Ned Lamont reached an agreement Tuesday.
The state’s budget includes an additional $170 million in school funding and $100 million in municipal aid out of the state’s Affordability Fund.
“I have heard directly from mayors, first selectmen, superintendents, students, and taxpayers across Connecticut who are feeling the squeeze of rising costs,” Lamont said. “This $270 million is a direct response to the strains being placed on town, school district, and family budgets. By closing funding gaps for our schools and municipalities, we can help communities avoid raising property taxes while keeping classrooms running and local services strong.”
Speaker of the House Matt Ritter said Hartford is getting a significant amount.
“Hartford will be getting $30 million in additional state aid from these two pots of money,” he said. “That is a substantial increase from what we thought we could get.”
Hartford school leaders are looking to close a $22 million deficit for this school year and get an additional $60 million for next year. Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said he is grateful for the state’s help but said the news is bittersweet.
“It is a big step in the right direction, but we learned, a couple of months ago, our deficit is a lot larger than we had expected,” he said.
Students and teachers spoke to that large deficit at the city’s final budget hearing Tuesday night. They said the city should allocate more money to education. The mayor’s proposed budget does not include that as of now.
The mayor said the work on the city’s side is not done, with a month left until a budget needs to be adopted.
“The state, we’re so thankful, is coming through in partnership to build a real, lasting solution for Hartford public schools, and that will certainly involve skin in the game on the part of the city,” he said. “We are going to find ways in which we can contribute, and not raising taxes is not out of the question in some moderate amount and in a way that our residents can afford.”
Cities like Hartford, Bridgeport, and Hamden that have big school budget deficits can use this state aid to help in that area, but for towns in better shape, lawmakers said the money can be used to lower the mill rate.
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