Hartford educators are speaking out after the city halted long-planned construction and renovation projects at six public schools, voicing urgent concerns about deteriorating building conditions that they say are directly affecting students’ health, safety, and daily learning experiences.
The city had been preparing to undertake major improvements at S.A.N.D. Elementary School, María C. Colón Sánchez Elementary School, McDonough Middle School, Parkville Community School, and Moylan School. But this fall, Mayor Arunan Arulampalam’s administration implemented a pause on construction, saying the city must ensure funds are used strategically and tied to a comprehensive long-term facilities plan.
At Monday night’s city council meeting, educators delivered emotional testimony outlining the severe challenges inside their aging school buildings. Many emphasized that the conditions are not merely inconvenient—they are hindering learning and, in some cases, creating unsafe environments.
“We have a stairwell that constantly has water leaking any time it rains to the point the custodial staff put buckets to catch water,” said one educator at the Moylan School.
Another educator, Shellye Davis, a paraeducator and representative of the Hartford Federation of Paraeducators, criticized the decision to delay improvements, saying the impacts on students are immediate and harmful. “Pausing looks like the 7-year-old sitting in math class, sitting in a winter coat and hat because the heating system doesn't work. Getting it right doesn't mean stopping. You can't pause a child's health, you can't pause a leaky roof, and mold does not wait for a fiscal report,” she said.
Teachers say persistent issues such as leaking windows and roofs, malfunctioning HVAC systems, and mold have escalated to the point that they disrupt learning and diminish safety for staff and students. Several testified that the problems have existed for years, but are now worsening at a pace that requires urgent intervention.
The pushback has also come from Hartford’s Federation of Teachers, which warned that the longer construction remains paused, the greater the risk of losing state reimbursement funds. The city has already invested $3.5 million into planning and preparatory work for three of the six schools.
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Mayor Arulampalam defended the pause, saying it is necessary to avoid piecemeal spending in a school system suffering from declining enrollment. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that none of the six schools enroll more than 400 students. The mayor said spreading limited resources across underutilized buildings is inefficient and unsustainable.
“There is a timeline for the end of the school year, but we've talked with the state. The state understands exactly why we’re hitting pause on this construction and agrees with this, frankly, on coming up with a better solution for allocation of resources in our schools,” said Arulampalam.
He added that if the city uses state dollars to improve these six buildings, they must remain schools for the next two decades under state guidelines. Without a long-term facilities strategy, he argued, the city risks investing heavily in buildings that may later be repurposed, consolidated, or closed.
“If we use state dollars on these six schools, they have to continue to be schools for the next 20 years. I’m upset that the conditions aren't up to par, and I’m upset that we're failing our students from an educational standpoint. We are not giving too many of our students the education they deserve. The status quo has not worked,” he said.
Arulampalam says the city is now working with state officials, educators, families, and other stakeholders to develop a five-year plan to guide major decisions about school facilities, capacity, and investments. However, he did not provide a timeline for when construction might resume.
For now, parents, teachers, and union leaders say they fear another winter and spring will pass with no improvements—and with students continuing to learn in buildings plagued by leaks, mold, and malfunctioning heating systems.
Originally reported by Melissa Cooney in NBConnecticut.
