Hearing Youth Voices — Jennings Closure Response

Hearing Youth Voices

Jennings Closure Response

04/22/2026

Summary:

The New London Board of Education recently voted to close Jennings School in response to an ongoing budgetary crisis in both New London Public Schools as well as other districts around the state. Due to a multitude of factors, New London schools are facing a gap of $7 million between the funding available and what is needed to maintain and expand sufficient staffing and supports in our schools. New London is not the only district facing such a grim reality, for example, Hartford Public Schools is currently facing a $52 million deficit. 

For the past few years, the New London Board of Education has cut dozens of positions and shut down buildings during the summer in order to make ends meet. On a larger scale, Hartford has eliminated hundreds of positions over the past three budget seasons. So, what is contributing to this extreme underfunding of schools around the state?

Reaction:

Hearing Youth Voices has been directly involved in the New London Board of Education budget process as well as the Connecticut State Legislative funding structure each year since the Covid shutdown. Throughout this time, we have experienced wins, especially the retention of wellness interventionist positions in our schools as a result of our 2024 Wellness Campaign, despite continued disparities between what our students need and what is funded at a local and state level. 

In terms of sheer dollar amounts, the largest barrier to proper funding exists at the state level. Most significantly, the state of Connecticut has not updated the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula since 2013. Over 13 years of inflation plus increased needs (bilingual learning, special education, rising homeless student population,, etc) has been completely unaccounted for and thus, unaddressed. Dollars stretch thinner each year as a result. Beyond ECS funding, New London Public Schools is losing out on over $2 million in magnet funding due to racial quotas set by the state requiring districts to have a certain percentage of white and Asian students. Currently, around 670 New London students are not magnetized due to these quotas. Hartford and New Haven have both successfully sued to remove these quotas, as these quotas further diminish opportunities for Black and Latinx students. There is precedent for our district to receive a similar exception, providing the potential to magnetize the remaining 670 students and receive full magnet funding. 

The remaining underfunding is a result of local politics. Our elected officials on both the City Council and the Board of Education as well as the Mayor attempt to balance line items based on what they deem as priorities. The City of New London (City Council, Finance Board, and Mayor) are responsible for funding New London Public Schools, the public library, public safety (police & fire departments), public works, recreation, and more. Some cities and towns allocate upwards of 70% of their municipal budget to their local schools. Meanwhile, New London contributes closer to 45% on average each year. Simply put, the Board of Education does not receive enough money from the city and the state. Furthermore, how the Board of Education decides to spend the funding it receives is a critical component which has contributed to the closure of Jennings. 

Compared locally, New London spent the 2nd most per student on School-Based Admin in our area in 2023 and spent $2.3 million more than Norwich on School-Based Admin and Central Office despite lower enrollment in New London. Compared to other urban districts, New London spent the 2nd most per student on School-Based Admin, only trailing Hartford and ranked 5th in Central Office Spending. At a time when New London had the highest rate of student homelessness in the state (12.5%) and 98% of students at Bennie Dover and 96.1% of students at NLHS were identified as high needs, money flowed to high salary positions which didn’t have the responsibility of supporting the kids who needed it the most. 

Due to an ongoing perfect storm of a lack of money at the Board of Education’s disposal as well as questionable spending habits, Jennings will be closed which will impact students, families, and school staff in a variety of ways. For example, selecting a middle school and a high school can be a tough decision and with the movement of 5th and 8th graders, families are forced to send their children to a school they ultimately may have not selected a year later for middle/high school. Larger classroom sizes can impact staff, especially if positions will be cut along with the closure of an entire school.

Demands:

Firstly, we demand the people of New London examine the current budget proposal and recent approved city budgets. Does the money align with your priorities?

Secondly, we demand the Board of Education create a five-year sustainability plan for the district. 

We demand the mayor and city council create a city budget reflective of the priorities of ALL of their constituents, not just a minority living beyond the hospital. 

We demand Governor Ned Lamont address the fiscal cliffs faced by all of the urban school districts across the state. Each district is owed a great sum of money. Our students deserve to thrive. The current funding structure gravely contributes to opportunity and achievement gaps within the second most economically unequal state in the country. 

Next Steps:

Join the People’s Budget Coalition to become involved in the local budget process each year. The next People’s Budget orientation will be Thursday, April 30th at 5:30pm at Hearing Youth Voices (30 Broad St, New London).

Join Connecticut For All (CTFA) to become involved in working class power geared towards achieving tax justice in order to properly fund all facets of our lives in a state with billions of dollars of unspent money. These initiatives could keep schools open. 

Join Hearing Youth Voices (HYV) to connect the local and statewide fights each legislative session. On Friday, May 1st, HYV and CTFA will be hosting May Day actions. We encourage folks to make a statement by staying home from school or work. At HYV (30 Broad St, New London) we will be hosting workshops and programming throughout the day for young people and adults. We will also have a bus to the New Haven May Day Rally.