ARPA Update: Vo-Tech School Still In The Works

A future vocational training hub for New Haven Public Schools students could offer tracks in building, manufacturing, technology, health, and transportation — per the city’s latest plan for millions of dollars of one-time federal aid that were allocated for various trade education initiatives two years ago.

The city is exploring those five industries as the focus for a future Career Connected Learning Hub at New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) — one goal for a $7.2 million investment of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding in vocational and technical education programs.

The unprecedented flood of over $110 million ARPA funding allotted to the city during the Covid-19 pandemic has to be legally obligated by the end of 2024 and fully spent by the end of 2026.

The city has pledged to spend about 6 percent of its ARPA funding on developing vocational and technical education programs, with an eye on providing alternatives to college.

The allocation initially amounted to $8 million when Mayor Justin Elicker first proposed that spending plan in January 2022, and when the Board of Alders approved it in August 2022. The mayor and Board of Alders subsequently agreed to reduce this vo-tech funding to about $7.2 million this year in order to balance the budget and fund police, fire, and summer youth employment initiatives.

According to the alder-approved order from two years ago, that original $8 million allocation was to be used ​“to launch a comprehensive Vo-Tech Initiative with the goal of creating vocational and technical school together with a training and entrepreneurial pipeline that guides New Haven residents through the process of attaining living wage careers in growing industries.”

So, in the intervening two years, how much of those vo-tech ARPA funds have been spent, and on what?

According to city spokesperson Lenny Speiller, the city has spent about $1.1 million and committed an additional $1.7 million of that funding so far, leaving $4.4 million left.

“Some of our graduates will want to go to college, some will want to go to a vocational or trade school, and some will want to enter the workforce immediately. We want to provide our students with the ability to pursue all those options and to be able to explore different career interests and opportunities,” wrote Mayor Justin Elicker in a statement. ​“This is among most important work we’re doing in our city, and it’s been incredibly powerful to see that spark light up in our students when they find something they love to learn about and do.”

About $2.4 million of that funding has been distributed in two rounds of job training grants to local organizations, including MATCH, ConnCAT, the Connecticut Violence Intervention Program, LEAP, Youth Entrepreneurs, and others. A third round of grants is slated to be distributed this year, Speiller wrote, with an undetermined amount of total funding.

Meanwhile, the city is still determining whether the ​“Career Connected Learning Hub” will take the form of a standalone school, a half-day program like Educational Center for the Arts (ECA), or something else.

It’s slated to offer classrooms and ​“simulated workspaces,” connections to actual work opportunities, career guidance, and a ​“community collaboration space to encourage partnerships and innovation.”

Speiller wrote that the city is currently anticipating five potential tracks (though, he stressed, these options may change as planning goes on): Architecture and Construction; Healthcare; Manufacturing; IT; and Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics.

These programs will focus on serving students seeking an alternative to college, though ​“not exclusively” those students, according to Speiller. He added that the city is also exploring an adult technical education program in the evenings.

When asked about a potential timeline for the learning hub to open, Speiller responded, ​“the Career Connected Learning Hub is still in the early planning stages.”

In the meantime, the career training programs offered at New Haven Public Schools have expanded to 18 ​“pathways” and certification programs in the upcoming school year — including a new ​“BioCity” biotech cohort funded by a separate pool of state ARPA funds.