School funding challenges demand some common sense

Opinion

Wendy Metcalfe VP Content & Editor in Chief

John Breunig Editorial Page Editor

CTPOST.COM • TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2024 • PAGE A11

FORUM

School funding challenges demand some common sense

By Patrice McCarthy “These are the times that try men’s souls,” Thomas Paine wrote in December 1776. And while the Revolutionary War author was rallying his readers to the cause of freedom, his words resonate today, as Connecticut cities and towns of every size wrestle with budget shortages as public school systems finalize financial plans for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The challenges of budget balancing are faced at all levels of government, but they are felt most intensely at the local level. This is where superintendents, administrators, teachers, staff and Boards of Education are collaborating to deliver on Connecticut’s constitutional mandate to provide a free and appropriate education for all of Connecticut’s children on some of the tightest budgets.

As the organization representing the largest group of elected officials in the state — the 1,400 volunteer members of Connecticut’s local and regional public boards of education — the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education can confirm that while many souls are being tried, there are still signs of hope and promise.

In the recently closed 2024 session of the Connecticut General Assembly, lawmakers from both parties and Gov. Ned Lamont followed through on the promise they made to Connecticut’s public schools in their twoyear budget passed in 2023.

By maintaining their commitment to public schools through an accelerated phase-in of the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) Formula, they protected the Donna Grethen/TNS/2016 TNS state’s primary funding grant for local education. Thankfully, they resisted the temptation to change plans mid-stream, and local communities will be able to receive the ECS funding they had been planning on.

We are very pleased that the governor and legislators maintained the uniform and streamlined way to fund schools of choice such as magnet schools, agricultural science and technology centers, Open Choice and charter schools — basing it on a per-student state subsidy linked to the ECS foundation and student need.

Lawmakers also modernized educator certification programs to enhance the quality and diversity of the educator workforce, while removing barriers to certification that prevented candidates from entering the teaching profession.

The legislature also trimmed back some of the mandates that drive up the cost burden on public school districts. Annual professional development requirements were eased to every five years, maintaining high standards and allowing professional development time to focus on local student needs. Recognizing that many schools are faced with a lack of qualified professionals to inspect building heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, the deadline for inspections was extended to 2030, maintaining safety standards and lessening budget constraints.

As thankful as we are for these accomplishments, we cannot ignore the unfinished work that faces all public school districts. Teacher, paraeducator and other staff positions are being eliminated because combined local, state and federal resources are inadequate to meet the needs of all students. In some municipalities education budget increases have been minimal, despite rising costs.

Special education costs continue to rise. The Special Education Excess Cost Reimbursement Grant helps alleviate these costs, but it is capped, creating holes in the funding safety net for districts. Without full reimbursement, districts of every size are forced to make difficult decisions to maintain a balanced budget.

Beyond these systemic pressures, this year marks the end of the COVID dollars that many school districts received to cover the costs of additional staff and services needed to address the increased needs that the pandemic brought on public schools. To be sure, this funding was temporary, but many of the measures that were put in place to address disconnected students and learning loss are still vital to student success.

This is not the first time Connecticut’s public school systems have faced daunting challenges, and it won’t be the last. Through it all, and despite the trying times that bring Thomas Paine to mind, the 1,400 volunteer members of Connecticut’s school boards are doing their best to apply Paine’s common sense to deliver on the promise of education with our state and local partners.

Patrice McCarthy is the executive director and General Counsel of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education.

HAVE YOUR SAY

A grocery store where prices are set by income SUSAN CAMPBELL C OM M E N TA RY

On a recent afternoon, Nicole (Nic) Mankus was on a ladder stocking shelves with an eye out for new customers. She Ubers to this Hartford job from Middletown and her cashier/associate shifts among the shiny produce and ready-to-eat meals at The Grocery On Broad Street are often the best part of her week.

This is not a regular job because this is not a regular grocery store. Customers’ bills are based on their income. The store is a training ground, and the latest innovation from nonprofit Forge City Works in Hartford’s Frog Hollow neighborhood, a former manufacturing powerhouse where today, the median household income — $17,333 — is a quarter of the state median household income of $65,521, according to the Partnership for Strong Communities, another nonprofit in the neighborhood.

If ever there was a neighborhood in need of a new approach to food, it’s Frog Hollow, which is considered a food swamp.

That differs from a food desert, where residents’ access to affordable, healthy food is restricted, or doesn’t exist. In a food swamp, there’s plenty of food available, but not nearly enough of it is healthy. Drive through any impoverished neighborhood and count the fast-food outlets. Or walk into a bodega and see if you can find a fresh apple.

You’re more like to find something like Hot Pockets with a high sodium content, says Mayra Rivera, The Grocery’s general manager. Those are all over the shelves of neighborhood stores.

So the store has price tags that are color-coded for sodium content. Part of the store’s purpose is to educate the public about eating healthy, and the plan is to have nutritionists in the store to explain how to prepare a healthy meal.

So far, nearly 250 peo-

Susan Campbell/Contributed photo

Nicole Mankus, cashier/associate at The Grocery On Broad Street in Hartford.

ple have signed up to be members. Store officials are planning for far more, as word gets out.

Funded in part by the Melville Charitable Trust, and partnering with Connecticut Foodshare (with some pandemic funds, and a $250,000 federal grant through U.S. Rep. John Larson, who was at the store’s grand opening), The Grocery offers shoppers a 3%, 25% or 50% discount off their bill, depending on individual or household income.

Though restaurants have popped up that allow diners to pay what they want for their meals, this grocery store may be the first of its kind.

Years ago, when he was overseeing the community food pantry at Manchester’s MACC, Ben Dubow, now executive director of Fire by Forge, another program of Forge City, began dreaming of different ways to provide fresh food for people living on the financial edge.

Forge City’s motto is “Food is the tool we use to empower,” and that’s through job training and other programs around the capital city. Starting with the 2003 purchase of a stately brick neighborhood building known as the Lyceum, the organization expanded to housing, community gardens, a farmer’s market, an afterschool program that morphed into a youth kitchen classroom, and — most recently — a grocery store.

Unlike a big store such

as Costco, Dubow’s idea included no annual membership fee, and healthy food specific to the neighborhood. In a heavily Hispanic neighborhood, that means something like Goya products and ingredients for sofrito.

And — this is key — people are not asked to bring in reams of paper to prove their income. People fill out a one-page form, and are issued a laminated card that identifies them as members.

The simplicity of the process is on purpose.

“Why create a system for the 2% of people who will take advantage of it?”

Dubow said. “A few people will take advantage of it, anyway. Why not have a system that offers people some dignity?”

Not only is Frog Hollow the perfect place for this, but this may the perfect time. Though the cost of groceries has fallen lately, prices are still nowhere near what they were before the pandemic. In 2022, the USDA said the cost of groceries rose 11.4% — the biggest increase since the inflation of ’79.

And then prices rose again by 5% the following year, says the USDA. In addition, earlier this month, officials at Stop & Shop, with stores in roughly 75 Connecticut towns, announced they will soon close “underperforming” stores. Will that include a nearby Stop & Shop on New Park frequented by Frog Hollow residents? That’s anybody’s guess.

The current business model of such grocery behemoths, said Dubow, is a 30,000-60,000-square foot operation that requires massive room for parking and roads big enough to allow tractortrailers to make deliveries.

Urban settings don’t have that kind of space, so residents rely on smaller stores such as bodegas or operations such as the store on Broad.

Back on the ladder, Mankus is explaining pricing and how surprised new customers are when they learn the model.

“This job makes me wake up in the morning,” Mankus said.

Rivera said that though Hartford may be the only place with such an enterprise, the business model can be replicated.

Planning and organizing details have been meticulously recorded, said Dubow, and they’re anxious to share. Imagine: A Grocery On Broad or Main or River Street, scattered throughout the state. Interested? Dubow can be reached at ben@forgecityworks.org

Susan Campbell is the author of “Frog Hollow: Stories from an American Neighborhood,” “TempestTossed: The Spirit of Isabella Beecher Hooker” and “Dating Jesus: A Story of Fundamentalism, Feminism and the American Girl.” She is Distinguished Lecturer at the University of New Haven, where she teaches journalism.

Letters should be limited to 300 words. The Connecticut Post reserves the right to edit letters for space and clarity. E-mail: edit@ctpost.com

Opinion

Wendy Metcalfe VP Content & Editor in Chief

John Breunig Editorial Page Editor

GREENWICHTIME.COM • TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2024 • PAGE A9

FORUM

School funding challenges demand some common sense

By Patrice McCarthy “These are the times that try men’s souls,” Thomas Paine wrote in December 1776. And while the Revolutionary War author was rallying his readers to the cause of freedom, his words resonate today, as Connecticut cities and towns of every size wrestle with budget shortages as public school systems finalize financial plans for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The challenges of budget balancing are faced at all levels of government, but they are felt most intensely at the local level. This is where superintendents, administrators, teachers, staff and Boards of Education are collaborating to deliver on Connecticut’s constitutional mandate to provide a free and appropriate education for all of Connecticut’s children on some of the tightest budgets.

As the organization representing the largest group of elected officials in the state — the 1,400 volunteer members of Connecticut’s local and regional public boards of education — the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education can confirm that while many souls are being tried, there are still signs of hope and promise.

In the recently closed 2024 session of the Connecticut General Assembly, lawmakers from both parties and Gov. Ned Lamont followed through on the promise they made to Connecticut’s public schools in their twoyear budget passed in 2023.

By maintaining their commitment to public schools through an accelerated phase-in of the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) Formula, they protected the Donna Grethen/TNS/2016 TNS state’s primary funding grant for local education. Thankfully, they resisted the temptation to change plans mid-stream, and local communities will be able to receive the ECS funding they had been planning on.

We are very pleased that the governor and legislators maintained the uniform and streamlined way to fund schools of choice such as magnet schools, agricultural science and technology centers, Open Choice and charter schools — basing it on a per-student state subsidy linked to the ECS foundation and student need.

Lawmakers also modernized educator certification programs to enhance the quality and diversity of the educator workforce, while removing barriers to certification that prevented candidates from entering the teaching profession.

The legislature also trimmed back some of the mandates that drive up the cost burden on public school districts. Annual professional development requirements were eased to every five years, maintaining high standards and allowing professional development time to focus on local student needs. Recognizing that many schools are faced with a lack of qualified professionals to inspect building heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, the deadline for inspections was extended to 2030, maintaining safety standards and lessening budget constraints.

As thankful as we are for these accomplishments, we cannot ignore the unfinished work that faces all public school districts. Teacher, paraeducator and other staff positions are being eliminated because combined local, state and federal resources are inadequate to meet the needs of all students. In some municipalities education budget increases have been minimal, despite rising costs.

Special education costs continue to rise. The Special Education Excess Cost Reimbursement Grant helps alleviate these costs, but it is capped, creating holes in the funding safety net for districts. Without full reimbursement, districts of every size are forced to make difficult decisions to maintain a balanced budget.

Beyond these systemic pressures, this year marks the end of the COVID dollars that many school districts received to cover the costs of additional staff and services needed to address the increased needs that the pandemic brought on public schools. To be sure, this funding was temporary, but many of the measures that were put in place to address disconnected students and learning loss are still vital to student success.

This is not the first time Connecticut’s public school systems have faced daunting challenges, and it won’t be the last. Through it all, and despite the trying times that bring Thomas Paine to mind, the 1,400 volunteer members of Connecticut’s school boards are doing their best to apply Paine’s common sense to deliver on the promise of education with our state and local partners.

Patrice McCarthy is the executive director and General Counsel of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education.

HAVE YOUR SAY

A grocery store where prices are set by income SUSAN CAMPBELL C OM M E N TA RY

On a recent afternoon, Nicole (Nic) Mankus was on a ladder stocking shelves with an eye out for new customers. She Ubers to this Hartford job from Middletown and her cashier/associate shifts among the shiny produce and ready-to-eat meals at The Grocery On Broad Street are often the best part of her week.

This is not a regular job because this is not a regular grocery store. Customers’ bills are based on their income. The store is a training ground, and the latest innovation from nonprofit Forge City Works in Hartford’s Frog Hollow neighborhood, a former manufacturing powerhouse where today, the median household income — $17,333 — is a quarter of the state median household income of $65,521, according to the Partnership for Strong Communities, another nonprofit in the neighborhood.

If ever there was a neighborhood in need of a new approach to food, it’s Frog Hollow, which is considered a food swamp.

That differs from a food desert, where residents’ access to affordable, healthy food is restricted, or doesn’t exist. In a food swamp, there’s plenty of food available, but not nearly enough of it is healthy. Drive through any impoverished neighborhood and count the fast-food outlets. Or walk into a bodega and see if you can find a fresh apple.

You’re more like to find something like Hot Pockets with a high sodium content, says Mayra Rivera, The Grocery’s general manager. Those are all over the shelves of neighborhood stores.

So the store has price tags that are color-coded for sodium content. Part of the store’s purpose is to educate the public about eating healthy, and the plan is to have nutritionists in the store to explain how to prepare a healthy meal.

So far, nearly 250 peo-

Susan Campbell/Contributed photo

Nicole Mankus, cashier/associate at The Grocery On Broad Street in Hartford.

ple have signed up to be members. Store officials are planning for far more, as word gets out.

Funded in part by the Melville Charitable Trust, and partnering with Connecticut Foodshare (with some pandemic funds, and a $250,000 federal grant through U.S. Rep. John Larson, who was at the store’s grand opening), The Grocery offers shoppers a 3%, 25% or 50% discount off their bill, depending on individual or household income.

Though restaurants have popped up that allow diners to pay what they want for their meals, this grocery store may be the first of its kind.

Years ago, when he was overseeing the community food pantry at Manchester’s MACC, Ben Dubow, now executive director of Fire by Forge, another program of Forge City, began dreaming of different ways to provide fresh food for people living on the financial edge.

Forge City’s motto is “Food is the tool we use to empower,” and that’s through job training and other programs around the capital city. Starting with the 2003 purchase of a stately brick neighborhood building known as the Lyceum, the organization expanded to housing, community gardens, a farmer’s market, an afterschool program that morphed into a youth kitchen classroom, and — most recently — a grocery store.

Unlike a big store such

as Costco, Dubow’s idea included no annual membership fee, and healthy food specific to the neighborhood. In a heavily Hispanic neighborhood, that means something like Goya products and ingredients for sofrito.

And — this is key — people are not asked to bring in reams of paper to prove their income. People fill out a one-page form, and are issued a laminated card that identifies them as members.

The simplicity of the process is on purpose.

“Why create a system for the 2% of people who will take advantage of it?”

Dubow said. “A few people will take advantage of it, anyway. Why not have a system that offers people some dignity?”

Not only is Frog Hollow the perfect place for this, but this may the perfect time. Though the cost of groceries has fallen lately, prices are still nowhere near what they were before the pandemic. In 2022, the USDA said the cost of groceries rose 11.4% — the biggest increase since the inflation of ’79.

And then prices rose again by 5% the following year, says the USDA. In addition, earlier this month, officials at Stop & Shop, with stores in roughly 75 Connecticut towns, announced they will soon close “underperforming” stores. Will that include a nearby Stop & Shop on New Park frequented by Frog Hollow residents? That’s anybody’s guess.

The current business model of such grocery behemoths, said Dubow, is a 30,000-60,000-square foot operation that requires massive room for parking and roads big enough to allow tractortrailers to make deliveries.

Urban settings don’t have that kind of space, so residents rely on smaller stores such as bodegas or operations such as the store on Broad.

Back on the ladder, Mankus is explaining pricing and how surprised new customers are when they learn the model.

“This job makes me wake up in the morning,” Mankus said.

Rivera said that though Hartford may be the only place with such an enterprise, the business model can be replicated.

Planning and organizing details have been meticulously recorded, said Dubow, and they’re anxious to share. Imagine: A Grocery On Broad or Main or River Street, scattered throughout the state. Interested? Dubow can be reached at ben@forgecityworks.org

Susan Campbell is the author of “Frog Hollow: Stories from an American Neighborhood,” “TempestTossed: The Spirit of Isabella Beecher Hooker” and “Dating Jesus: A Story of Fundamentalism, Feminism and the American Girl.” She is Distinguished Lecturer at the University of New Haven, where she teaches journalism.

Letters should be limited to 300 words. Greenwich Time reserves the right to edit letters for space and clarity.

E-mail: editorials@scni.com

THE MIDDLETOWN PRESS

Opinion

Wendy Metcalfe VP Content & Editor in Chief

John Breunig Editorial Page Editor

MIDDLETOWNPRESS.COM • TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2024 • PAGE A9

FORUM

School funding challenges demand some common sense

By Patrice McCarthy “These are the times that try men’s souls,” Thomas Paine wrote in December 1776. And while the Revolutionary War author was rallying his readers to the cause of freedom, his words resonate today, as Connecticut cities and towns of every size wrestle with budget shortages as public school systems finalize financial plans for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The challenges of budget balancing are faced at all levels of government, but they are felt most intensely at the local level. This is where superintendents, administrators, teachers, staff and Boards of Education are collaborating to deliver on Connecticut’s constitutional mandate to provide a free and appropriate education for all of Connecticut’s children on some of the tightest budgets.

As the organization representing the largest group of elected officials in the state — the 1,400 volunteer members of Connecticut’s local and regional public boards of education — the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education can confirm that while many souls are being tried, there are still signs of hope and promise.

In the recently closed 2024 session of the Connecticut General Assembly, lawmakers from both parties and Gov. Ned Lamont followed through on the promise they made to Connecticut’s public schools in their twoyear budget passed in 2023.

By maintaining their commitment to public schools through an accelerated phase-in of the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) Formula, they protected the Donna Grethen/TNS/2016 TNS state’s primary funding grant for local education. Thankfully, they resisted the temptation to change plans mid-stream, and local communities will be able to receive the ECS funding they had been planning on.

We are very pleased that the governor and legislators maintained the uniform and streamlined way to fund schools of choice such as magnet schools, agricultural science and technology centers, Open Choice and charter schools — basing it on a per-student state subsidy linked to the ECS foundation and student need.

Lawmakers also modernized educator certification programs to enhance the quality and diversity of the educator workforce, while removing barriers to certification that prevented candidates from entering the teaching profession.

The legislature also trimmed back some of the mandates that drive up the cost burden on public school districts. Annual professional development requirements were eased to every five years, maintaining high standards and allowing professional development time to focus on local student needs. Recognizing that many schools are faced with a lack of qualified professionals to inspect building heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, the deadline for inspections was extended to 2030, maintaining safety standards and lessening budget constraints.

As thankful as we are for these accomplishments, we cannot ignore the unfinished work that faces all public school districts. Teacher, paraeducator and other staff positions are being eliminated because combined local, state and federal resources are inadequate to meet the needs of all students. In some municipalities education budget increases have been minimal, despite rising costs.

Special education costs continue to rise. The Special Education Excess Cost Reimbursement Grant helps alleviate these costs, but it is capped, creating holes in the funding safety net for districts. Without full reimbursement, districts of every size are forced to make difficult decisions to maintain a balanced budget.

Beyond these systemic pressures, this year marks the end of the COVID dollars that many school districts received to cover the costs of additional staff and services needed to address the increased needs that the pandemic brought on public schools. To be sure, this funding was temporary, but many of the measures that were put in place to address disconnected students and learning loss are still vital to student success.

This is not the first time Connecticut’s public school systems have faced daunting challenges, and it won’t be the last. Through it all, and despite the trying times that bring Thomas Paine to mind, the 1,400 volunteer members of Connecticut’s school boards are doing their best to apply Paine’s common sense to deliver on the promise of education with our state and local partners.

Patrice McCarthy is the executive director and General Counsel of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education.

HAVE YOUR SAY

A grocery store where prices are set by income SUSAN CAMPBELL C OM M E N TA RY

On a recent afternoon, Nicole (Nic) Mankus was on a ladder stocking shelves with an eye out for new customers. She Ubers to this Hartford job from Middletown and her cashier/associate shifts among the shiny produce and ready-to-eat meals at The Grocery On Broad Street are often the best part of her week.

This is not a regular job because this is not a regular grocery store. Customers’ bills are based on their income. The store is a training ground, and the latest innovation from nonprofit Forge City Works in Hartford’s Frog Hollow neighborhood, a former manufacturing powerhouse where today, the median household income — $17,333 — is a quarter of the state median household income of $65,521, according to the Partnership for Strong Communities, another nonprofit in the neighborhood.

If ever there was a neighborhood in need of a new approach to food, it’s Frog Hollow, which is considered a food swamp.

That differs from a food desert, where residents’ access to affordable, healthy food is restricted, or doesn’t exist. In a food swamp, there’s plenty of food available, but not nearly enough of it is healthy. Drive through any impoverished neighborhood and count the fast-food outlets. Or walk into a bodega and see if you can find a fresh apple.

You’re more like to find something like Hot Pockets with a high sodium content, says Mayra Rivera, The Grocery’s general manager. Those are all over the shelves of neighborhood stores.

So the store has price tags that are color-coded for sodium content. Part of the store’s purpose is to educate the public about eating healthy, and the plan is to have nutritionists in the store to explain how to prepare a healthy meal.

So far, nearly 250 peo-

Susan Campbell/Contributed photo

Nicole Mankus, cashier/associate at The Grocery On Broad Street in Hartford.

ple have signed up to be members. Store officials are planning for far more, as word gets out.

Funded in part by the Melville Charitable Trust, and partnering with Connecticut Foodshare (with some pandemic funds, and a $250,000 federal grant through U.S. Rep. John Larson, who was at the store’s grand opening), The Grocery offers shoppers a 3%, 25% or 50% discount off their bill, depending on individual or household income.

Though restaurants have popped up that allow diners to pay what they want for their meals, this grocery store may be the first of its kind.

Years ago, when he was overseeing the community food pantry at Manchester’s MACC, Ben Dubow, now executive director of Fire by Forge, another program of Forge City, began dreaming of different ways to provide fresh food for people living on the financial edge.

Forge City’s motto is “Food is the tool we use to empower,” and that’s through job training and other programs around the capital city. Starting with the 2003 purchase of a stately brick neighborhood building known as the Lyceum, the organization expanded to housing, community gardens, a farmer’s market, an afterschool program that morphed into a youth kitchen classroom, and — most recently — a grocery store.

Unlike a big store such

as Costco, Dubow’s idea included no annual membership fee, and healthy food specific to the neighborhood. In a heavily Hispanic neighborhood, that means something like Goya products and ingredients for sofrito.

And — this is key — people are not asked to bring in reams of paper to prove their income. People fill out a one-page form, and are issued a laminated card that identifies them as members.

The simplicity of the process is on purpose.

“Why create a system for the 2% of people who will take advantage of it?”

Dubow said. “A few people will take advantage of it, anyway. Why not have a system that offers people some dignity?”

Not only is Frog Hollow the perfect place for this, but this may the perfect time. Though the cost of groceries has fallen lately, prices are still nowhere near what they were before the pandemic. In 2022, the USDA said the cost of groceries rose 11.4% — the biggest increase since the inflation of ’79.

And then prices rose again by 5% the following year, says the USDA. In addition, earlier this month, officials at Stop & Shop, with stores in roughly 75 Connecticut towns, announced they will soon close “underperforming” stores. Will that include a nearby Stop & Shop on New Park frequented by Frog Hollow residents? That’s anybody’s guess.

The current business model of such grocery behemoths, said Dubow, is a 30,000-60,000-square foot operation that requires massive room for parking and roads big enough to allow tractortrailers to make deliveries.

Urban settings don’t have that kind of space, so residents rely on smaller stores such as bodegas or operations such as the store on Broad.

Back on the ladder, Mankus is explaining pricing and how surprised new customers are when they learn the model.

“This job makes me wake up in the morning,” Mankus said.

Rivera said that though Hartford may be the only place with such an enterprise, the business model can be replicated.

Planning and organizing details have been meticulously recorded, said Dubow, and they’re anxious to share. Imagine: A Grocery On Broad or Main or River Street, scattered throughout the state. Interested? Dubow can be reached at ben@forgecityworks.org

Susan Campbell is the author of “Frog Hollow: Stories from an American Neighborhood,” “TempestTossed: The Spirit of Isabella Beecher Hooker” and “Dating Jesus: A Story of Fundamentalism, Feminism and the American Girl.” She is Distinguished Lecturer at the University of New Haven, where she teaches journalism.

Letters limited to 300 words, must be typed, signed with full name and town and emailed to letters@middletownpress.com.

The Middletown Press reserves the right to edit letters for space and clarity.

Opinion

Wendy Metcalfe VP Content & Editor in Chief

John Breunig Editorial Page Editor

NHREGISTER.COM • TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2024 • PAGE A11

FORUM

School funding challenges demand some common sense

By Patrice McCarthy “These are the times that try men’s souls,” Thomas Paine wrote in December 1776. And while the Revolutionary War author was rallying his readers to the cause of freedom, his words resonate today, as Connecticut cities and towns of every size wrestle with budget shortages as public school systems finalize financial plans for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The challenges of budget balancing are faced at all levels of government, but they are felt most intensely at the local level. This is where superintendents, administrators, teachers, staff and Boards of Education are collaborating to deliver on Connecticut’s constitutional mandate to provide a free and appropriate education for all of Connecticut’s children on some of the tightest budgets.

As the organization representing the largest group of elected officials in the state — the 1,400 volunteer members of Connecticut’s local and regional public boards of education — the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education can confirm that while many souls are being tried, there are still signs of hope and promise.

In the recently closed 2024 session of the Connecticut General Assembly, lawmakers from both parties and Gov. Ned Lamont followed through on the promise they made to Connecticut’s public schools in their twoyear budget passed in 2023.

By maintaining their commitment to public schools through an accelerated phase-in of the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) Formula, they protected the Donna Grethen/TNS/2016 TNS state’s primary funding grant for local education. Thankfully, they resisted the temptation to change plans mid-stream, and local communities will be able to receive the ECS funding they had been planning on.

We are very pleased that the governor and legislators maintained the uniform and streamlined way to fund schools of choice such as magnet schools, agricultural science and technology centers, Open Choice and charter schools — basing it on a per-student state subsidy linked to the ECS foundation and student need.

Lawmakers also modernized educator certification programs to enhance the quality and diversity of the educator workforce, while removing barriers to certification that prevented candidates from entering the teaching profession.

The legislature also trimmed back some of the mandates that drive up the cost burden on public school districts. Annual professional development requirements were eased to every five years, maintaining high standards and allowing professional development time to focus on local student needs. Recognizing that many schools are faced with a lack of qualified professionals to inspect building heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, the deadline for inspections was extended to 2030, maintaining safety standards and lessening budget constraints.

As thankful as we are for these accomplishments, we cannot ignore the unfinished work that faces all public school districts. Teacher, paraeducator and other staff positions are being eliminated because combined local, state and federal resources are inadequate to meet the needs of all students. In some municipalities education budget increases have been minimal, despite rising costs.

Special education costs continue to rise. The Special Education Excess Cost Reimbursement Grant helps alleviate these costs, but it is capped, creating holes in the funding safety net for districts. Without full reimbursement, districts of every size are forced to make difficult decisions to maintain a balanced budget.

Beyond these systemic pressures, this year marks the end of the COVID dollars that many school districts received to cover the costs of additional staff and services needed to address the increased needs that the pandemic brought on public schools. To be sure, this funding was temporary, but many of the measures that were put in place to address disconnected students and learning loss are still vital to student success.

This is not the first time Connecticut’s public school systems have faced daunting challenges, and it won’t be the last. Through it all, and despite the trying times that bring Thomas Paine to mind, the 1,400 volunteer members of Connecticut’s school boards are doing their best to apply Paine’s common sense to deliver on the promise of education with our state and local partners.

Patrice McCarthy is the executive director and General Counsel of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education.

HAVE YOUR SAY

A grocery store where prices are set by income SUSAN CAMPBELL COM M E N TA RY

On a recent afternoon, Nicole (Nic) Mankus was on a ladder stocking shelves with an eye out for new customers. She Ubers to this Hartford job from Middletown and her cashier/associate shifts among the shiny produce and ready-to-eat meals at The Grocery On Broad Street are often the best part of her week.

This is not a regular job because this is not a regular grocery store. Customers’ bills are based on their income. The store is a training ground, and the latest innovation from nonprofit Forge City Works in Hartford’s Frog Hollow neighborhood, a former manufacturing powerhouse where today, the median household income — $17,333 — is a quarter of the state median household income of $65,521, according to the Partnership for Strong Communities, another nonprofit in the neighborhood.

If ever there was a neighborhood in need of a new approach to food, it’s Frog Hollow, which is considered a food swamp.

That differs from a food desert, where residents’ access to affordable, healthy food is restricted, or doesn’t exist. In a food swamp, there’s plenty of food available, but not nearly enough of it is healthy. Drive through any impoverished neighborhood and count the fast-food outlets. Or walk into a bodega and see if you can find a fresh apple.

You’re more like to find something like Hot Pockets with a high sodium content, says Mayra Rivera, The Grocery’s general manager. Those are all over the shelves of neighborhood stores.

So the store has price tags that are color-coded for sodium content. Part of the store’s purpose is to educate the public about eating healthy, and the plan is to have nutritionists in the store to explain how to prepare a healthy meal.

So far, nearly 250 peo-

Susan Campbell/Contributed photo

Nicole Mankus, cashier/associate at The Grocery On Broad Street in Hartford.

ple have signed up to be members. Store officials are planning for far more, as word gets out.

Funded in part by the Melville Charitable Trust, and partnering with Connecticut Foodshare (with some pandemic funds, and a $250,000 federal grant through U.S. Rep. John Larson, who was at the store’s grand opening), The Grocery offers shoppers a 3%, 25% or 50% discount off their bill, depending on individual or household income.

Though restaurants have popped up that allow diners to pay what they want for their meals, this grocery store may be the first of its kind.

Years ago, when he was overseeing the community food pantry at Manchester’s MACC, Ben Dubow, now executive director of Fire by Forge, another program of Forge City, began dreaming of different ways to provide fresh food for people living on the financial edge.

Forge City’s motto is “Food is the tool we use to empower,” and that’s through job training and other programs around the capital city. Starting with the 2003 purchase of a stately brick neighborhood building known as the Lyceum, the organization expanded to housing, community gardens, a farmer’s market, an afterschool program that morphed into a youth kitchen classroom, and — most recently — a grocery store.

Unlike a big store such

as Costco, Dubow’s idea included no annual membership fee, and healthy food specific to the neighborhood. In a heavily Hispanic neighborhood, that means something like Goya products and ingredients for sofrito.

And — this is key — people are not asked to bring in reams of paper to prove their income. People fill out a one-page form, and are issued a laminated card that identifies them as members.

The simplicity of the process is on purpose.

“Why create a system for the 2% of people who will take advantage of it?”

Dubow said. “A few people will take advantage of it, anyway. Why not have a system that offers people some dignity?”

Not only is Frog Hollow the perfect place for this, but this may the perfect time. Though the cost of groceries has fallen lately, prices are still nowhere near what they were before the pandemic. In 2022, the USDA said the cost of groceries rose 11.4% — the biggest increase since the inflation of ’79.

And then prices rose again by 5% the following year, says the USDA. In addition, earlier this month, officials at Stop & Shop, with stores in roughly 75 Connecticut towns, announced they will soon close “underperforming” stores. Will that include a nearby Stop & Shop on New Park frequented by Frog Hollow residents? That’s anybody’s guess.

The current business model of such grocery behemoths, said Dubow, is a 30,000-60,000-square foot operation that requires massive room for parking and roads big enough to allow tractortrailers to make deliveries.

Urban settings don’t have that kind of space, so residents rely on smaller stores such as bodegas or operations such as the store on Broad.

Back on the ladder, Mankus is explaining pricing and how surprised new customers are when they learn the model.

“This job makes me wake up in the morning,” Mankus said.

Rivera said that though Hartford may be the only place with such an enterprise, the business model can be replicated.

Planning and organizing details have been meticulously recorded, said Dubow, and they’re anxious to share. Imagine: A Grocery On Broad or Main or River Street, scattered throughout the state. Interested? Dubow can be reached at ben@forgecityworks.org

Susan Campbell is the author of “Frog Hollow: Stories from an American Neighborhood,” “TempestTossed: The Spirit of Isabella Beecher Hooker” and “Dating Jesus: A Story of Fundamentalism, Feminism and the American Girl.” She is Distinguished Lecturer at the University of New Haven, where she teaches journalism.

Letters: 300-word limit, signed and phone number included. We reserve right to edit for space and clarity. Email to letters@nhregister.com.

Opinion

Wendy Metcalfe VP Content & Editor in Chief

John Breunig Editorial Page Editor

NEWSTIMES.COM • TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2024 • PAGE A9

FORUM

School funding challenges demand some common sense

By Patrice McCarthy “These are the times that try men’s souls,” Thomas Paine wrote in December 1776. And while the Revolutionary War author was rallying his readers to the cause of freedom, his words resonate today, as Connecticut cities and towns of every size wrestle with budget shortages as public school systems finalize financial plans for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The challenges of budget balancing are faced at all levels of government, but they are felt most intensely at the local level. This is where superintendents, administrators, teachers, staff and Boards of Education are collaborating to deliver on Connecticut’s constitutional mandate to provide a free and appropriate education for all of Connecticut’s children on some of the tightest budgets.

As the organization representing the largest group of elected officials in the state — the 1,400 volunteer members of Connecticut’s local and regional public boards of education — the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education can confirm that while many souls are being tried, there are still signs of hope and promise.

In the recently closed 2024 session of the Connecticut General Assembly, lawmakers from both parties and Gov. Ned Lamont followed through on the promise they made to Connecticut’s public schools in their twoyear budget passed in 2023.

By maintaining their commitment to public schools through an accelerated phase-in of the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) Formula, they protected the Donna Grethen/TNS/2016 TNS state’s primary funding grant for local education. Thankfully, they resisted the temptation to change plans mid-stream, and local communities will be able to receive the ECS funding they had been planning on.

We are very pleased that the governor and legislators maintained the uniform and streamlined way to fund schools of choice such as magnet schools, agricultural science and technology centers, Open Choice and charter schools — basing it on a per-student state subsidy linked to the ECS foundation and student need.

Lawmakers also modernized educator certification programs to enhance the quality and diversity of the educator workforce, while removing barriers to certification that prevented candidates from entering the teaching profession.

The legislature also trimmed back some of the mandates that drive up the cost burden on public school districts. Annual professional development requirements were eased to every five years, maintaining high standards and allowing professional development time to focus on local student needs. Recognizing that many schools are faced with a lack of qualified professionals to inspect building heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, the deadline for inspections was extended to 2030, maintaining safety standards and lessening budget constraints.

As thankful as we are for these accomplishments, we cannot ignore the unfinished work that faces all public school districts. Teacher, paraeducator and other staff positions are being eliminated because combined local, state and federal resources are inadequate to meet the needs of all students. In some municipalities education budget increases have been minimal, despite rising costs.

Special education costs continue to rise. The Special Education Excess Cost Reimbursement Grant helps alleviate these costs, but it is capped, creating holes in the funding safety net for districts. Without full reimbursement, districts of every size are forced to make difficult decisions to maintain a balanced budget.

Beyond these systemic pressures, this year marks the end of the COVID dollars that many school districts received to cover the costs of additional staff and services needed to address the increased needs that the pandemic brought on public schools. To be sure, this funding was temporary, but many of the measures that were put in place to address disconnected students and learning loss are still vital to student success.

This is not the first time Connecticut’s public school systems have faced daunting challenges, and it won’t be the last. Through it all, and despite the trying times that bring Thomas Paine to mind, the 1,400 volunteer members of Connecticut’s school boards are doing their best to apply Paine’s common sense to deliver on the promise of education with our state and local partners.

Patrice McCarthy is the executive director and General Counsel of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education.

HAVE YOUR SAY

A grocery store where prices are set by income SUSAN CAMPBELL C OM M E N TA RY

On a recent afternoon, Nicole (Nic) Mankus was on a ladder stocking shelves with an eye out for new customers. She Ubers to this Hartford job from Middletown and her cashier/associate shifts among the shiny produce and ready-to-eat meals at The Grocery On Broad Street are often the best part of her week.

This is not a regular job because this is not a regular grocery store. Customers’ bills are based on their income. The store is a training ground, and the latest innovation from nonprofit Forge City Works in Hartford’s Frog Hollow neighborhood, a former manufacturing powerhouse where today, the median household income — $17,333 — is a quarter of the state median household income of $65,521, according to the Partnership for Strong Communities, another nonprofit in the neighborhood.

If ever there was a neighborhood in need of a new approach to food, it’s Frog Hollow, which is considered a food swamp.

That differs from a food desert, where residents’ access to affordable, healthy food is restricted, or doesn’t exist. In a food swamp, there’s plenty of food available, but not nearly enough of it is healthy. Drive through any impoverished neighborhood and count the fast-food outlets. Or walk into a bodega and see if you can find a fresh apple.

You’re more like to find something like Hot Pockets with a high sodium content, says Mayra Rivera, The Grocery’s general manager. Those are all over the shelves of neighborhood stores.

So the store has price tags that are color-coded for sodium content. Part of the store’s purpose is to educate the public about eating healthy, and the plan is to have nutritionists in the store to explain how to prepare a healthy meal.

So far, nearly 250 peo-

Susan Campbell/Contributed photo

Nicole Mankus, cashier/associate at The Grocery On Broad Street in Hartford.

ple have signed up to be members. Store officials are planning for far more, as word gets out.

Funded in part by the Melville Charitable Trust, and partnering with Connecticut Foodshare (with some pandemic funds, and a $250,000 federal grant through U.S. Rep. John Larson, who was at the store’s grand opening), The Grocery offers shoppers a 3%, 25% or 50% discount off their bill, depending on individual or household income.

Though restaurants have popped up that allow diners to pay what they want for their meals, this grocery store may be the first of its kind.

Years ago, when he was overseeing the community food pantry at Manchester’s MACC, Ben Dubow, now executive director of Fire by Forge, another program of Forge City, began dreaming of different ways to provide fresh food for people living on the financial edge.

Forge City’s motto is “Food is the tool we use to empower,” and that’s through job training and other programs around the capital city. Starting with the 2003 purchase of a stately brick neighborhood building known as the Lyceum, the organization expanded to housing, community gardens, a farmer’s market, an afterschool program that morphed into a youth kitchen classroom, and — most recently — a grocery store.

Unlike a big store such

as Costco, Dubow’s idea included no annual membership fee, and healthy food specific to the neighborhood. In a heavily Hispanic neighborhood, that means something like Goya products and ingredients for sofrito.

And — this is key — people are not asked to bring in reams of paper to prove their income. People fill out a one-page form, and are issued a laminated card that identifies them as members.

The simplicity of the process is on purpose.

“Why create a system for the 2% of people who will take advantage of it?”

Dubow said. “A few people will take advantage of it, anyway. Why not have a system that offers people some dignity?”

Not only is Frog Hollow the perfect place for this, but this may the perfect time. Though the cost of groceries has fallen lately, prices are still nowhere near what they were before the pandemic. In 2022, the USDA said the cost of groceries rose 11.4% — the biggest increase since the inflation of ’79.

And then prices rose again by 5% the following year, says the USDA. In addition, earlier this month, officials at Stop & Shop, with stores in roughly 75 Connecticut towns, announced they will soon close “underperforming” stores. Will that include a nearby Stop & Shop on New Park frequented by Frog Hollow residents? That’s anybody’s guess.

The current business model of such grocery behemoths, said Dubow, is a 30,000-60,000-square foot operation that requires massive room for parking and roads big enough to allow tractortrailers to make deliveries.

Urban settings don’t have that kind of space, so residents rely on smaller stores such as bodegas or operations such as the store on Broad.

Back on the ladder, Mankus is explaining pricing and how surprised new customers are when they learn the model.

“This job makes me wake up in the morning,” Mankus said.

Rivera said that though Hartford may be the only place with such an enterprise, the business model can be replicated.

Planning and organizing details have been meticulously recorded, said Dubow, and they’re anxious to share. Imagine: A Grocery On Broad or Main or River Street, scattered throughout the state. Interested? Dubow can be reached at ben@forgecityworks.org

Susan Campbell is the author of “Frog Hollow: Stories from an American Neighborhood,” “TempestTossed: The Spirit of Isabella Beecher Hooker” and “Dating Jesus: A Story of Fundamentalism, Feminism and the American Girl.” She is Distinguished Lecturer at the University of New Haven, where she teaches journalism.

Send a Letter to the Editor, up to 300 words, or a Where I Stand, up to 700 words, to letters@newstimes.com. Include your full name, address and phone number.

Opinion

Wendy Metcalfe VP Content & Editor in Chief

John Breunig Editorial Page Editor

STAMFORDADVOCATE.COM • TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2024 • PAGE A9

FORUM

School funding challenges demand some common sense

By Patrice McCarthy “These are the times that try men’s souls,” Thomas Paine wrote in December 1776. And while the Revolutionary War author was rallying his readers to the cause of freedom, his words resonate today, as Connecticut cities and towns of every size wrestle with budget shortages as public school systems finalize financial plans for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The challenges of budget balancing are faced at all levels of government, but they are felt most intensely at the local level. This is where superintendents, administrators, teachers, staff and Boards of Education are collaborating to deliver on Connecticut’s constitutional mandate to provide a free and appropriate education for all of Connecticut’s children on some of the tightest budgets.

As the organization representing the largest group of elected officials in the state — the 1,400 volunteer members of Connecticut’s local and regional public boards of education — the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education can confirm that while many souls are being tried, there are still signs of hope and promise.

In the recently closed 2024 session of the Connecticut General Assembly, lawmakers from both parties and Gov. Ned Lamont followed through on the promise they made to Connecticut’s public schools in their twoyear budget passed in 2023.

By maintaining their commitment to public schools through an accelerated phase-in of the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) Formula, they protected the Donna Grethen/TNS/2016 TNS state’s primary funding grant for local education. Thankfully, they resisted the temptation to change plans mid-stream, and local communities will be able to receive the ECS funding they had been planning on.

We are very pleased that the governor and legislators maintained the uniform and streamlined way to fund schools of choice such as magnet schools, agricultural science and technology centers, Open Choice and charter schools — basing it on a per-student state subsidy linked to the ECS foundation and student need.

Lawmakers also modernized educator certification programs to enhance the quality and diversity of the educator workforce, while removing barriers to certification that prevented candidates from entering the teaching profession.

The legislature also trimmed back some of the mandates that drive up the cost burden on public school districts. Annual professional development requirements were eased to every five years, maintaining high standards and allowing professional development time to focus on local student needs. Recognizing that many schools are faced with a lack of qualified professionals to inspect building heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, the deadline for inspections was extended to 2030, maintaining safety standards and lessening budget constraints.

As thankful as we are for these accomplishments, we cannot ignore the unfinished work that faces all public school districts. Teacher, paraeducator and other staff positions are being eliminated because combined local, state and federal resources are inadequate to meet the needs of all students. In some municipalities education budget increases have been minimal, despite rising costs.

Special education costs continue to rise. The Special Education Excess Cost Reimbursement Grant helps alleviate these costs, but it is capped, creating holes in the funding safety net for districts. Without full reimbursement, districts of every size are forced to make difficult decisions to maintain a balanced budget.

Beyond these systemic pressures, this year marks the end of the COVID dollars that many school districts received to cover the costs of additional staff and services needed to address the increased needs that the pandemic brought on public schools. To be sure, this funding was temporary, but many of the measures that were put in place to address disconnected students and learning loss are still vital to student success.

This is not the first time Connecticut’s public school systems have faced daunting challenges, and it won’t be the last. Through it all, and despite the trying times that bring Thomas Paine to mind, the 1,400 volunteer members of Connecticut’s school boards are doing their best to apply Paine’s common sense to deliver on the promise of education with our state and local partners.

Patrice McCarthy is the executive director and General Counsel of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education.

HAVE YOUR SAY

A grocery store where prices are set by income SUSAN CAMPBELL C OM M E N TA RY

On a recent afternoon, Nicole (Nic) Mankus was on a ladder stocking shelves with an eye out for new customers. She Ubers to this Hartford job from Middletown and her cashier/associate shifts among the shiny produce and ready-to-eat meals at The Grocery On Broad Street are often the best part of her week.

This is not a regular job because this is not a regular grocery store. Customers’ bills are based on their income. The store is a training ground, and the latest innovation from nonprofit Forge City Works in Hartford’s Frog Hollow neighborhood, a former manufacturing powerhouse where today, the median household income — $17,333 — is a quarter of the state median household income of $65,521, according to the Partnership for Strong Communities, another nonprofit in the neighborhood.

If ever there was a neighborhood in need of a new approach to food, it’s Frog Hollow, which is considered a food swamp.

That differs from a food desert, where residents’ access to affordable, healthy food is restricted, or doesn’t exist. In a food swamp, there’s plenty of food available, but not nearly enough of it is healthy. Drive through any impoverished neighborhood and count the fast-food outlets. Or walk into a bodega and see if you can find a fresh apple.

You’re more like to find something like Hot Pockets with a high sodium content, says Mayra Rivera, The Grocery’s general manager. Those are all over the shelves of neighborhood stores.

So the store has price tags that are color-coded for sodium content. Part of the store’s purpose is to educate the public about eating healthy, and the plan is to have nutritionists in the store to explain how to prepare a healthy meal.

So far, nearly 250 peo-

Susan Campbell/Contributed photo

Nicole Mankus, cashier/associate at The Grocery On Broad Street in Hartford.

ple have signed up to be members. Store officials are planning for far more, as word gets out.

Funded in part by the Melville Charitable Trust, and partnering with Connecticut Foodshare (with some pandemic funds, and a $250,000 federal grant through U.S. Rep. John Larson, who was at the store’s grand opening), The Grocery offers shoppers a 3%, 25% or 50% discount off their bill, depending on individual or household income.

Though restaurants have popped up that allow diners to pay what they want for their meals, this grocery store may be the first of its kind.

Years ago, when he was overseeing the community food pantry at Manchester’s MACC, Ben Dubow, now executive director of Fire by Forge, another program of Forge City, began dreaming of different ways to provide fresh food for people living on the financial edge.

Forge City’s motto is “Food is the tool we use to empower,” and that’s through job training and other programs around the capital city. Starting with the 2003 purchase of a stately brick neighborhood building known as the Lyceum, the organization expanded to housing, community gardens, a farmer’s market, an afterschool program that morphed into a youth kitchen classroom, and — most recently — a grocery store.

Unlike a big store such

as Costco, Dubow’s idea included no annual membership fee, and healthy food specific to the neighborhood. In a heavily Hispanic neighborhood, that means something like Goya products and ingredients for sofrito.

And — this is key — people are not asked to bring in reams of paper to prove their income. People fill out a one-page form, and are issued a laminated card that identifies them as members.

The simplicity of the process is on purpose.

“Why create a system for the 2% of people who will take advantage of it?”

Dubow said. “A few people will take advantage of it, anyway. Why not have a system that offers people some dignity?”

Not only is Frog Hollow the perfect place for this, but this may the perfect time. Though the cost of groceries has fallen lately, prices are still nowhere near what they were before the pandemic. In 2022, the USDA said the cost of groceries rose 11.4% — the biggest increase since the inflation of ’79.

And then prices rose again by 5% the following year, says the USDA. In addition, earlier this month, officials at Stop & Shop, with stores in roughly 75 Connecticut towns, announced they will soon close “underperforming” stores. Will that include a nearby Stop & Shop on New Park frequented by Frog Hollow residents? That’s anybody’s guess.

The current business model of such grocery behemoths, said Dubow, is a 30,000-60,000-square foot operation that requires massive room for parking and roads big enough to allow tractortrailers to make deliveries.

Urban settings don’t have that kind of space, so residents rely on smaller stores such as bodegas or operations such as the store on Broad.

Back on the ladder, Mankus is explaining pricing and how surprised new customers are when they learn the model.

“This job makes me wake up in the morning,” Mankus said.

Rivera said that though Hartford may be the only place with such an enterprise, the business model can be replicated.

Planning and organizing details have been meticulously recorded, said Dubow, and they’re anxious to share. Imagine: A Grocery On Broad or Main or River Street, scattered throughout the state. Interested? Dubow can be reached at ben@forgecityworks.org

Susan Campbell is the author of “Frog Hollow: Stories from an American Neighborhood,” “TempestTossed: The Spirit of Isabella Beecher Hooker” and “Dating Jesus: A Story of Fundamentalism, Feminism and the American Girl.” She is Distinguished Lecturer at the University of New Haven, where she teaches journalism.

Letters should be limited to 300 words. The Stamford Advocate reserves the right to edit letters for space and clarity. E-mail: editorials@scni.com

Opinion

Wendy Metcalfe VP Content & Editor in Chief

John Breunig Editorial Page Editor

THEHOUR.COM • TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2024 • PAGE A9

FORUM

School funding challenges demand some common sense

By Patrice McCarthy “These are the times that try men’s souls,” Thomas Paine wrote in December 1776. And while the Revolutionary War author was rallying his readers to the cause of freedom, his words resonate today, as Connecticut cities and towns of every size wrestle with budget shortages as public school systems finalize financial plans for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The challenges of budget balancing are faced at all levels of government, but they are felt most intensely at the local level. This is where superintendents, administrators, teachers, staff and Boards of Education are collaborating to deliver on Connecticut’s constitutional mandate to provide a free and appropriate education for all of Connecticut’s children on some of the tightest budgets.

As the organization representing the largest group of elected officials in the state — the 1,400 volunteer members of Connecticut’s local and regional public boards of education — the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education can confirm that while many souls are being tried, there are still signs of hope and promise.

In the recently closed 2024 session of the Connecticut General Assembly, lawmakers from both parties and Gov. Ned Lamont followed through on the promise they made to Connecticut’s public schools in their twoyear budget passed in 2023.

By maintaining their commitment to public schools through an accelerated phase-in of the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) Formula, they protected the Donna Grethen/TNS/2016 TNS state’s primary funding grant for local education. Thankfully, they resisted the temptation to change plans mid-stream, and local communities will be able to receive the ECS funding they had been planning on.

We are very pleased that the governor and legislators maintained the uniform and streamlined way to fund schools of choice such as magnet schools, agricultural science and technology centers, Open Choice and charter schools — basing it on a per-student state subsidy linked to the ECS foundation and student need.

Lawmakers also modernized educator certification programs to enhance the quality and diversity of the educator workforce, while removing barriers to certification that prevented candidates from entering the teaching profession.

The legislature also trimmed back some of the mandates that drive up the cost burden on public school districts. Annual professional development requirements were eased to every five years, maintaining high standards and allowing professional development time to focus on local student needs. Recognizing that many schools are faced with a lack of qualified professionals to inspect building heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, the deadline for inspections was extended to 2030, maintaining safety standards and lessening budget constraints.

As thankful as we are for these accomplishments, we cannot ignore the unfinished work that faces all public school districts. Teacher, paraeducator and other staff positions are being eliminated because combined local, state and federal resources are inadequate to meet the needs of all students. In some municipalities education budget increases have been minimal, despite rising costs.

Special education costs continue to rise. The Special Education Excess Cost Reimbursement Grant helps alleviate these costs, but it is capped, creating holes in the funding safety net for districts. Without full reimbursement, districts of every size are forced to make difficult decisions to maintain a balanced budget.

Beyond these systemic pressures, this year marks the end of the COVID dollars that many school districts received to cover the costs of additional staff and services needed to address the increased needs that the pandemic brought on public schools. To be sure, this funding was temporary, but many of the measures that were put in place to address disconnected students and learning loss are still vital to student success.

This is not the first time Connecticut’s public school systems have faced daunting challenges, and it won’t be the last. Through it all, and despite the trying times that bring Thomas Paine to mind, the 1,400 volunteer members of Connecticut’s school boards are doing their best to apply Paine’s common sense to deliver on the promise of education with our state and local partners.

Patrice McCarthy is the executive director and General Counsel of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education.

HAVE YOUR SAY

A grocery store where prices are set by income SUSAN CAMPBELL C OM M E N TA RY

On a recent afternoon, Nicole (Nic) Mankus was on a ladder stocking shelves with an eye out for new customers. She Ubers to this Hartford job from Middletown and her cashier/associate shifts among the shiny produce and ready-to-eat meals at The Grocery On Broad Street are often the best part of her week.

This is not a regular job because this is not a regular grocery store. Customers’ bills are based on their income. The store is a training ground, and the latest innovation from nonprofit Forge City Works in Hartford’s Frog Hollow neighborhood, a former manufacturing powerhouse where today, the median household income — $17,333 — is a quarter of the state median household income of $65,521, according to the Partnership for Strong Communities, another nonprofit in the neighborhood.

If ever there was a neighborhood in need of a new approach to food, it’s Frog Hollow, which is considered a food swamp.

That differs from a food desert, where residents’ access to affordable, healthy food is restricted, or doesn’t exist. In a food swamp, there’s plenty of food available, but not nearly enough of it is healthy. Drive through any impoverished neighborhood and count the fast-food outlets. Or walk into a bodega and see if you can find a fresh apple.

You’re more like to find something like Hot Pockets with a high sodium content, says Mayra Rivera, The Grocery’s general manager. Those are all over the shelves of neighborhood stores.

So the store has price tags that are color-coded for sodium content. Part of the store’s purpose is to educate the public about eating healthy, and the plan is to have nutritionists in the store to explain how to prepare a healthy meal.

So far, nearly 250 peo-

Susan Campbell/Contributed photo

Nicole Mankus, cashier/associate at The Grocery On Broad Street in Hartford.

ple have signed up to be members. Store officials are planning for far more, as word gets out.

Funded in part by the Melville Charitable Trust, and partnering with Connecticut Foodshare (with some pandemic funds, and a $250,000 federal grant through U.S. Rep. John Larson, who was at the store’s grand opening), The Grocery offers shoppers a 3%, 25% or 50% discount off their bill, depending on individual or household income.

Though restaurants have popped up that allow diners to pay what they want for their meals, this grocery store may be the first of its kind.

Years ago, when he was overseeing the community food pantry at Manchester’s MACC, Ben Dubow, now executive director of Fire by Forge, another program of Forge City, began dreaming of different ways to provide fresh food for people living on the financial edge.

Forge City’s motto is “Food is the tool we use to empower,” and that’s through job training and other programs around the capital city. Starting with the 2003 purchase of a stately brick neighborhood building known as the Lyceum, the organization expanded to housing, community gardens, a farmer’s market, an afterschool program that morphed into a youth kitchen classroom, and — most recently — a grocery store.

Unlike a big store such

as Costco, Dubow’s idea included no annual membership fee, and healthy food specific to the neighborhood. In a heavily Hispanic neighborhood, that means something like Goya products and ingredients for sofrito.

And — this is key — people are not asked to bring in reams of paper to prove their income. People fill out a one-page form, and are issued a laminated card that identifies them as members.

The simplicity of the process is on purpose.

“Why create a system for the 2% of people who will take advantage of it?”

Dubow said. “A few people will take advantage of it, anyway. Why not have a system that offers people some dignity?”

Not only is Frog Hollow the perfect place for this, but this may the perfect time. Though the cost of groceries has fallen lately, prices are still nowhere near what they were before the pandemic. In 2022, the USDA said the cost of groceries rose 11.4% — the biggest increase since the inflation of ’79.

And then prices rose again by 5% the following year, says the USDA. In addition, earlier this month, officials at Stop & Shop, with stores in roughly 75 Connecticut towns, announced they will soon close “underperforming” stores. Will that include a nearby Stop & Shop on New Park frequented by Frog Hollow residents? That’s anybody’s guess.

Letters: 300-word maximum, or Where I Stand, up to 700 words, to letters@thehour.com.

The current business model of such grocery behemoths, said Dubow, is a 30,000-60,000-square foot operation that requires massive room for parking and roads big enough to allow tractortrailers to make deliveries.

Urban settings don’t have that kind of space, so residents rely on smaller stores such as bodegas or operations such as the store on Broad.

Back on the ladder, Mankus is explaining pricing and how surprised new customers are when they learn the model.

“This job makes me wake up in the morning,” Mankus said.

Rivera said that though Hartford may be the only place with such an enterprise, the business model can be replicated.

Planning and organizing details have been meticulously recorded, said Dubow, and they’re anxious to share. Imagine: A Grocery On Broad or Main or River Street, scattered throughout the state. Interested? Dubow can be reached at ben@forgecityworks.org

Susan Campbell is the author of “Frog Hollow: Stories from an American Neighborhood,” “TempestTossed: The Spirit of Isabella Beecher Hooker” and “Dating Jesus: A Story of Fundamentalism, Feminism and the American Girl.” She is Distinguished Lecturer at the University of New Haven, where she teaches journalism.

TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2024 17

JOURNAL INQUIRER | CTINSIDER.COM/JOURNALINQUIRER

COMMENTARY FORUM

School funding challenges demand common sense

By Patrice McCarthy “These are the times that try men’s souls,” Thomas Paine wrote in December 1776. And while the Revolutionary War author was rallying his readers to the cause of freedom, his words resonate today, as Connecticut cities and towns of every size wrestle with budget shortages as public school systems finalize financial plans for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The challenges of budget balancing are faced at all levels of government, but they are felt most intensely at the local level. This is where superintendents, administrators, teachers, staff and Boards of Education are collaborating to deliver on Connecticut’s constitutional mandate to provide a free and appropriate education for all of Connecticut’s children on some of the tightest budgets.

As the organization representing the largest group of elected officials in the state — the 1,400 volunteer members of Connecticut’s local and regional public boards of education — the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education can confirm that while many souls are being tried, there are still signs of hope and promise.

In the recently closed 2024 session of the Connecticut General Assembly, lawmakers from both parties and Gov. Ned Lamont followed through on the promise they made to Connecticut’s public schools in their two-year budget passed in 2023. By maintaining their commitment to public schools through an accelerated phase-in of the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) Formula, they protected the state’s primary funding grant for local education. Thankfully, they resisted the temptation to change plans mid-stream, and local communities will be able to receive the ECS funding they had been planning on.

We are very pleased that the governor and legislators maintained the uniform and streamlined way to fund schools of choice such as magnet schools, agricultural science and technology centers, Open Choice and charter schools — basing it on a per-student state subsidy linked to the ECS foundation and student need.

Lawmakers also modernized educa-

Donna Grethen/TNS/2016 TNS

tor certification programs to enhance the quality and diversity of the educator workforce, while removing barriers to certification that prevented candidates from entering the teaching profession.

The legislature also trimmed back some of the mandates that drive up the cost burden on public school districts.

Annual professional development requirements were eased to every five years, maintaining high standards and allowing professional development time to focus on local student needs.

Recognizing that many schools are faced with a lack of qualified professionals to inspect building heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, the deadline for inspections was

extended to 2030, maintaining safety standards and lessening budget constraints.

As thankful as we are for these ac-

complishments, we cannot ignore the unfinished work that faces all public school districts. Teacher, paraeducator and other staff positions are being eliminated because combined local, state and federal resources are inadequate to meet the needs of all students. In some municipalities education budget increases have been minimal, despite rising costs.

Special education costs continue to rise. The Special Education Excess Cost Reimbursement Grant helps alleviate these costs, but it is capped, creating holes in the funding safety net for districts. Without full reimbursement, districts of every size are forced to make difficult decisions to maintain a balanced budget.

Beyond these systemic pressures, this year marks the end of the COVID dollars that many school districts received to cover the costs of additional staff and services needed to address the increased needs that the pandemic brought on public schools. To be sure, this funding was temporary, but many of the measures that were put in place to address disconnected students and learning loss are still vital to student success.

This is not the first time Connecticut’s public school systems have faced daunting challenges, and it won’t be the last.

Through it all, and despite the trying times that bring Thomas Paine to mind, the 1,400 volunteer members of Connecticut’s school boards are doing their best to apply Paine’s common sense to deliver on the promise of education with our state and local partners.

Patrice McCarthy is the executive director and General Counsel of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education.

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