Superintendents were informed Friday that they’ll be getting a fraction of the state funding they requested to help with the additional costs of fully opening schools during COVID.
New Haven – the state’s largest district – will get $5.4 million, about one-third of what the district told the state it needed to hire additional staff and buy cleaning supplies to deal with the pandemic. Likewise, Bridgeport is getting $3.7 million of the $12.5 million it asked for.
Hartford is set to get the most – $11.9 million – and Westport the least: $0.
Statewide, $130.8 million will soon be doled out by the State Department of Education – far short of the $420 million districts told the state recently they will need to open safely. Some of the gap may be covered with any leftover from the $100 million in federal funds districts received last school year to help switch to remote instruction when schools abruptly shut down.
How much each district received was pro-rated based on enrollment and the amount requested and some reimbursements were only available for districts where at least 40% of the students come from low-income families.
The state’s 10 lowest-performing “Opportunity Districts” will receive $44 million – 34% of the funding awarded, despite being responsible for educating just 20% of Connecticut’s public school students.