I first walked into Hartford’s Parkville Community School as a child.
Years later, after earning my degree in Educational Studies from Trinity College and completing my master of social work degree at the University of Connecticut, I made the intentional decision to return — not just to Hartford Public Schools, but specifically to Parkville, the same school community that helped shape me growing up.
Today, I serve as a Behavior Technician at Parkville Community School, working directly with students who rely on consistency, structure, and trusted relationships to succeed academically, socially, and emotionally.
For many students, those relationships are not secondary to learning. They are the foundation that makes learning possible.
I am also the only Latino male staff member in a building that serves a predominantly Latino student population. That representation matters more than many people realize. Students notice who understands their experiences, who knows their families, who reflects their community, and who consistently shows up for them year after year.
That continuity matters, which is why Hartford’s current budget crisis raises concerns that go far beyond staffing charts or financial spreadsheets.
Due to ongoing financial pressures, I am facing likely reassignment away from Parkville this fall. While I may remain employed within Hartford Public Schools, the larger issue is what happens when schools lose adults who are deeply rooted in the communities they serve.
When trusted staff members are displaced, students lose familiarity and stability. Relationships built over years are interrupted. School culture becomes harder to sustain. Progress that depends on trust and consistency is forced to restart.
These losses are difficult to quantify on paper, but they are deeply felt inside classrooms and school communities.
At the same time, districts like Hartford continue managing rising special education costs, transportation expenses, and out-of-district placement obligations while being asked to stretch already limited resources further each year.
Schools are increasingly being forced into a cycle of constant adjustment rather than long-term stability.
The reality is that urban schools do not just need staffing. They need continuity. They need experienced educators, support staff, and intervention personnel who know the students, understand the community, and are committed to staying.
I am a product of Hartford Public Schools. I returned to serve in Hartford because I believed in the importance of reinvesting in the same communities that invested in me.
That should be something our systems make easier to sustain — not harder.
Students deserve stable relationships. Families deserve consistent support systems. Schools deserve funding structures that allow them to retain community-rooted staff and maintain the environments students depend on.
Public education is not only about buildings, programs, or test scores. It is also about people — the relationships students build with trusted adults over time. When financial instability disrupts those relationships, students feel the impact long before it ever appears in a budget report.
Hartford students deserve more than short-term survival budgeting. They deserve long-term investment in the people and relationships that help schools truly function.
Carlos Velazquez lives in West Hartford.
