Since February 2025, Connecticut’s Department of Education (CSDE) has worked to recover $12 million for Bridgeport Public Schools (BPS), reduce its chronic absence rates by 2.6 percent, and significantly reduce the number of expected summer staff vacancies for 2025, per a yearly status update released last week.
“Over the past year, we have worked with district leadership to stabilize operations and begin rebuilding a stronger foundation for the future,” said Charlene Russell-Tucker, CSDE Commissioner. “This has meant focusing on what matters most to families: ensuring students arrive at school safely, strengthening supports for students with diverse learning needs, and providing the district with tools and training to deliver high-quality instruction.”
CSDE officials first announced their intent to intervene in January 2025 after the district revealed a $38 million budget deficit, repeatedly failed to meet state education metrics, and experienced frequent administrative turnover. In February 2025, CSDE embedded a Technical Assistance Team in BPS to meet with students, staff, and community members, sit in on classes, and help make structural and policy changes.
Last August, Russell-Tucker announced that CSDE’s technical assistance team helped land a “more cost-effective agreement” for BPS school buses, after the city’s school board voted to reduce the district’s service range to shave $4.6 million off its deficit. By retaining this service at a lower cost, BPS avoided cutting bus services to 2,400 students. According to CSDE’s latest update, they have worked with BPS to develop the district’s 2026-2027 budget and reviewed the district’s contracts with various service providers to “ensure efficient and effective use of resources.” CSDE boasted that by increasing special education and staffing efficiencies and pursuing Medicaid and excess cost reimbursements, its assistance team has recovered over $12 million for the district.
In recent years, BPS has received numerous complaints of severe deficiencies in its special education services. To rectify these issues, CSDE instructed district officials to regularly visit and report on all out-of-district providers to ensure quality. Furthermore, CSDE’s assistance team has developed a “blueprint manual” for special education classes, trained administrators and special education teachers on the structure and provision of individualized education plans, and provided the district’s administrators with “multiple days of training” on special education-related matters, per the report.
The report also asserts that CSDE has worked to improve the district’s staffing and instructional support. In the Summer of 2025, BPS officials projected they would be short-staffed by over 100 people, but CSDE reports that “recruitment and hiring strategies” reduced this staff shortage to 41. Under CSDE instruction, educators have received additional training on topics such as English, K-5 literacy, STEM, and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, a framework meant to recognize and support struggling students. CSDE also instructed BPS to restore its in-school suspension to “ensure students have access to school even when serving a suspension.”
On the issue of board governance, CSDE states that it has “outlined clear expectations” for the Bridgeport Board of Education to update its bylaws before beginning their search for a new superintendent. Prior to CSDE’s intervention, the Bridgeport Board of Education burned through six superintendents in nine years. It also provided additional training to the district’s 27 Learner Engagement and Attendance Program (LEAP) home visitors, reducing the district’s chronic absence rate by 2.6% from February 2025 to 2026. CSDE also held listening sessions with students in an effort to improve the quality of school lunches.
“We know there is still work ahead,” said Russell-Tucker. “As we look to the next school year, we believe Bridgeport Public Schools is in a stronger position to move forward, with effective systems, improved stability, and a renewed focus on what matters most—students and the staff who support them.”
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