In a narrow 5 - 4 vote, a divided Bridgeport Board of Education approved deep budget cuts Monday night to help close a $30 million shortfall, despite emotional appeals from staff to protect jobs and programs. The plan includes eliminating 20 teaching positions, all district librarians, bus transportation for 2,400 students, kindergarten paraprofessionals, and the FAME performing arts program. These cuts are expected to save roughly $19.2 million, with an additional $8.9 million hoped for from city and state funding - leaving a projected $2 million gap.
District officials say the crisis stems from the end of federal COVID relief, increased administrative hires, and insufficient state funding. Interim Superintendent Royce Avery called the situation dire, urging the community to understand the pressure on schools. CFO Nestor Nkwo initially proposed even steeper reductions but said some were scaled back to ensure classrooms could still be staffed.
Maritza Estremera Jimenez is on the Board. “When I came up to be part of the board, this is not what I wanted to do. I wanted to help improve education for kids, help them increase the amount of resources they have, and I'm helping do the exact opposite. And I'm not happy about it. I'm actually quite upset about it because I really take it for public schools as part of my village. I always say, you know, it takes a village to raise these kids.” she said on monday night.
“Bridgeport Public Schools is part of my village, raising my children. They're learning how to read, their shapes, their colors. They're very young children. They love being in school. And I love that because that shows the care and the importance that the staff has with their children, with my children. And I just want to say that this underscores what we've been chatting about.”
“So let's talk to our state representatives, senators. Let's sound the alarm. This is not okay. We're stripping almost everything out of our district tonight. If it passes and then we're going to have to do it again. There's not going to be anything to take away next year in school year ‘27.”
“So I just want to say I don't love what we're doing tonight. And I feel terrible about it. But I do understand the fiscal responsibility as a board member that we have that we have to balance this budget,” she concluded.
Opponents on the board argued the crisis could’ve been avoided if a previous proposal to close several aging schools had been accepted last year - a plan dropped after community opposition. Board Chair Jennifer Perez and others who voted for the cuts said the board was legally required to balance the budget and had no viable alternatives.
Teachers and community members voiced deep frustration, warning that the cuts will make it even harder to provide quality education, especially compared to better-funded districts nearby.
