The expiration of federal pandemic-relief funds will affect a wide range of Connecticut school districts, resulting in hundreds of lost staff positions and cuts to programs serving tens of thousands of students, a new survey of state superintendents shows.
Seventy percent of survey respondents said the loss of federal money would affect students at least "a moderate amount," while only three said it wouldn't affect them at all. Tutoring and summer learning programs are the areas most likely to suffer, the survey shows, followed by student mental health services.
The survey, administered by the School and State Finance Project and the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, was sent to every superintendent in the state, generating responses from 60 districts of varying size, wealth and demographic profiles.
Since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Connecticut school systems have spent more than $1 billion from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund and other federal relief programs. With that money set to expire this fall and state lawmakers replacing some but not all of it, local officials have long dreaded the impending holes in their budgets.
"Now we're actually seeing what it means from a student standpoint and a program standpoint and a staff standpoint," said Michael Morton, deputy executive director of the School and State Finance Project. "You're seeing the actual impact of the cuts and what is going to be lost and how it's going to impact students."
According to the new survey, cuts in the 60 responding districts will affect more than 60,000 students and result in an estimated 257 positions being cut, eliminated or left open. Paraprofessional and mental health professionals are the positions most likely to be affected, respondents said.