District overview
New Haven Public Schools
How New Haven Public Schools is funded, governed, and what's underway
Who runs New Haven Public Schools, and who sits on the board?
New Haven Public Schools is governed by the New Haven Board of Education, whose membership combines the city's elected Mayor with additional members who serve alongside student representatives. Mayor Justin Elicker sits on the board; at least one other member, Dr. Abie Benitez, was appointed rather than elected, per the district's own board-member page. Officers (President, Vice President, Secretary) are elected by the board itself each year — most recently on January 12, 2026. Six standing committees (Finance & Operations, Citywide School Building & Stewardship, Teaching and Learning, Governance, Food Service Task Force, and a Head Start sub-committee) meet on their own schedules and report back to the full board at nearly every regular meeting. This page's onboarding research could not independently verify the exact elected/appointed split of board seats or confirm the next scheduled board election from an official city or state source, so that detail is left unstated here rather than guessed.
The Mayor sits on the board
Justin Elicker, New Haven's elected mayor, is a Board of Education member per the district's board-member page and opened at least one 2026 meeting.
Officers are elected annually by the board
The board elected its President, Vice President, and Secretary at its January 12, 2026 meeting.
Two student representatives sit on the board
Abdellah Aly and Jonaily Eve Colón serve as student representatives, per the district's board-member page.
Standing committees do most of the detailed work
Finance & Operations, Citywide School Building & Stewardship, Teaching and Learning, Governance, Food Service Task Force, and Head Start sub-committees each meet on their own schedule and report back to the full board.
A board that meets this often, in public, with a detailed published agenda for nearly every purchase order and grant, is not a board that is hiding its routine business — the gaps in this page are gaps in what could be automatically collected, not in what the district publishes.
Where the district stands
From the Urban Institute Education Data API (NCES CCD directory), not a document collected for this district; shown as context.
From the same NCES directory record as enrollment; context only.
The BoardDocs export used for this page only exposes meetings through February 11, 2026, even though the board continued meeting into 2026; roughly the most recent six months of meetings are a known gap.
Major projects
Hillhouse and Wilbur Cross High School roof replacements
Grant applications submitted, education specifications approvedThe board is seeking a combined $16.4 million in state capital-reallocation grants (with local match) to replace the roofs at James Hillhouse High School and Wilbur Cross High School, its two largest comprehensive high schools.
- Board adopts resolutions authorizing the grant applications
- Board approves the education specifications needed for the applications
Funding
State Department of Administrative Services capital reallocation grants plus district capital projects funds
Districtwide 10-year facilities master plan
In progressPerkins Eastman Architects was engaged to prepare a comprehensive facilities master plan covering building improvements across the district for the next decade.
- Board approves the Perkins Eastman Architects agreement
Funding
2025-2026 Capital Projects budget ($99,000)
AI classroom-tool pilots (School AI and MagicSchool AI)
Active pilotTwo AI classroom-assistant tools are being piloted in select schools and districtwide through the end of the 2025-26 school year, following a January 2026 board presentation on integrating AI into instruction.
- Board hears presentation on integrating AI in New Haven Public Schools
- Board approves both AI pilot purchase orders
Funding
No cost (School AI pilot) and Title IV funds (MagicSchool AI pilot, $5,000)
This page was built from New Haven Public Schools' own BoardDocs public agenda export (go.boarddocs.com/ct/nhps/Board.nsf/XML-ActiveMeetings), a plain, publicly reachable XML feed listing every published committee meeting, agenda category, and item title. The district's primary BoardDocs meeting pages and individual agenda/minutes/attachment documents are not reachable by an ordinary automated fetch (they return an HTTP 403 from BoardDocs' hosting), so this page relies on the one feed URL that is reachable, plus a small number of Connecticut State Department of Education special-education resource PDFs linked from the district's own site.
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