During a Board of Alders Education Committee meeting on Tuesday night, aldermen raised concerns that New Haven’s city inspectors are not applying the same enforcement standards to public schools as they do to residential buildings. The discussion, attended by dozens of students, teachers, parents and community advocates, highlighted mold, rodents, broken HVAC systems and other hazards across New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) facilities.
Statutory limits shape the response
Chief Administrative Officer Justin McCarthy explained that city departments must operate within their statutory authority. While recent “rolling walkthroughs” of schools focused on security and emergency‑management procedures, inspectors are not empowered to issue red‑tags or immediate violation notices for building‑maintenance problems. “It was not the intent to go looking for building maintenance issues,” McCarthy said, though officials will alert school staff to concerns they discover.
Different rules for homes and schools
Alder Honda Smith noted that under the city’s housing code, landlords have seven to 24 hours to correct urgent health hazards such as heating outages or broken smoke detectors. She asked, “How much time are we going to give the Board of Education to fix their problems?” McCarthy replied that the city does act on urgent matters, citing fire‑marshal‑ordered fire watches when alarm systems fail. However, most school‑building issues result in a report and a future re‑inspection rather than an immediate fix.
Fragmented oversight
City Sanitarian Brian Wnek pointed out that each department’s authority is limited. The Health Department only oversees cafeterias and pools, not the rest of a school building, while fire marshals and building officials enforce a narrow set of regulations. Wnek said the current regulatory framework does not address many of the severe concerns raised by students and teachers, such as excessively hot classrooms caused by broken HVAC units. He noted that OSHA provides a lower temperature limit for workplaces but no upper limit, and Connecticut law mirrors that gap.
No mold standards in code
Wnek also highlighted that there are no city‑wide mold standards, even for residential properties, and the city lacks testing protocols that fall under existing codes. “We work with what we have,” he said, underscoring the need for clearer guidance.
Alders demand accountability and transparency
Fair Haven Alder Sarah Miller asked why city‑owned buildings like City Hall do not face the same complaints, prompting the question, “What does it look like for our school system to update school buildings properly?” McCarthy described the school system’s portfolio as “40‑plus buildings” and acknowledged that while the Board of Education works hard, staffing and resources are limited.
Miller called for a public dashboard of school work orders with live status updates, noting that the Livable City Initiative recently created a similar tool for housing‑code complaints. When she asked whether any schools were in “completely unacceptable condition,” McCarthy agreed, saying, “There are significant issues with our schools that need to be addressed as soon as feasible.”
Community frustration
Alder Angel Hubbard expressed personal concern, saying her children could not breathe in Hillhouse School due to indoor air quality. She lamented the lack of clear answers from officials. Fair Haven Heights Alder Mildred Melendez asked directly, “Is it money? Staff? Materials? Do we need the proper person running it?” McCarthy reiterated that the Board of Education operates as its own system, and the city engineer cannot take on school projects because they fall outside his purview.
Moving toward in‑house facilities management
Later in the meeting, NHPS Superintendent Madeline Negrón announced the district’s transition to an in‑house facilities management team, ending reliance on an outside contractor. When asked what the district needs most, Negrón answered succinctly: “Money. Resources. Materials.”
What’s next?
The aldermen’s push for clearer authority, faster repairs, and a transparent work‑order dashboard reflects a broader community desire for safe, well‑maintained schools. As New Haven works to blend city resources with the Board of Education’s efforts, parents and students hope the heightened collaboration will translate into tangible improvements for the district’s aging facilities.
Original reporting: New Haven Independent — read the source article.
