Hartford Public Schools has a plan to bring students back to Hartford; not everyone agrees

Enrollment in Hartford Public Schools continues to decline, but the school district says it now has a plan to recruit students.

“We’ve got real structural issues in our schools,” said Mayor Arunan Arulampalam. “We had the lowest declining enrollment statewide.”

On Tuesday, Hartford’s Board of Education signed a contract with Caissa K12, a firm that helps public schools with enrollment. The superintendent says the school district lost over 1,000 students last year, and this is a move to bring them back.

“We’re going to try to bring back 500 students in real time,” said Hartford Public Schools Superintendent Andraé Townsel.

The one-year contract would pay the first $935 per student it recruits, or no-show students who attend by Oct. 1. The contract is capped at $500,000 and will be funded through the district’s general fund.

Townsel says the goal is to increase enrollment by bringing back the more than 9,000 students who have left the school through the school choice program.

“Door knocks, live phone calls, going to events, putting up kiosk places, text messages, emails, social media,” said Caissa K12 CEO Brian Stephens. “Our main goal is to make a personal connection with the family.”

Townsel says students could benefit from the Hartford Promise scholarship, but many don’t know about the program.

“The Hartford Promise says if you go to a Hartford Public School, live in Hartford, graduated with a 3.0 grade point average, and a 93% attendance rate, you’re guaranteed up to a $100,000 scholarship,” said Townsel.

Arulampalam says he wasn’t consulted and isn’t on board with the school district’s new contract. He said the school district’s $45 million deficit concerns him.

“The school district needs to stop spending all these dollars on consultants and outside entities, and start focusing on our dollars in the classroom,” said Arulampalam.

Townsel says the contract should result in a net gain for the school district.

“The enrollment is where our dollars come from,” he said. “As you lose students, you lose funding. So, the goal is to bring students back to earn that funding back.”

Hartford Public Schools outlines several ways the district will raise revenue from student enrollment, including recruiting non-Hartford residents to enroll in magnet schools and recruiting Hartford residents to return from the school choice program, enroll in a CREC school, or return from a charter school.

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