New Haven Public Schools will soon commission an analysis of conditions in buildings across the district in order to build a master plan for maintenance. This next step, as school administrators told alders on Wednesday night, will help New Haven take a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to school maintenance.
Concerns Over Previous Report
Fair Haven Alder Sarah Miller expressed concerns that the district had already conducted a similar study in 2024. She was referring to an over 500-page report on the status of school buildings that the district enlisted from local architecture firm Svigals + Partners as well as S/L/A/M Collaborative (SLAM). At the time, that report was referred to as a master plan.
Miller sits on the Board of Alders Education Committee, which invited school leaders to a workshop at City Hall on Wednesday night devoted to transportation and facilities maintenance at New Haven Public Schools (NHPS). There, committee alders pressed Supt. Madeline Negrón and Chief of School Operations Paul Whyte on the cost and pace of producing a long-term, district-wide facilities plan.
Need for Further Study
According to Negrón, the initial report doesn’t have the level of mechanical detail that would enable the school district to assess costs and create action plans on each item. That level of detail is necessary in order to establish priorities with specificity and understand costs in order to bond, she said.
NHPS Transportation Director Sequella Coleman added context based on her experience as the former principal of multiple schools transitioning or starting up in new school buildings. If you look at architectural plans, there are layers on top of layers, she said, and the initial report didn’t excavate every layer. Each school needs specific action items, she said, such as: They need five bolts here. They need $500 of roofing material.
Parental Concerns
At the end of the meeting, Miller returned to the topic. You have the most difficult jobs in the city, she told the administrators. I hear you. At the same time, we have kids go to school with water falling on their heads… That kid doesn’t get a chance to do that class over again.
In one middle school science class at Fair Haven School, Miller said, there’s a bucket on the table. And that’s their one chance to do seventh grade… Children can’t wait.
Negrón said that she agrees with Miller. The district hears directly from families and staff about building conditions that concern her, she said, stressing that the district is working on enhancing short-term maintenance while working toward a master plan.
Original reporting: New Haven Independent — read the source article.
