Show Me the Money

2/26/24

By Yasani Daniels 

Just last year, hackers stole more than 6 million from the New Haven public school system. Since then, about 3.6 million have been recovered. Apparently, the hackers gained access in May to the email account of the school systems chief operating officer and started to observe conversations amongst the school officials, vendors and the city’s finance office. With this, the hackers were able to impersonate the school official and vendors in order to divert the schools money to fraudulent accounts. Mayor Justin Elicker stated in an interview that “It is shocking to me that someone is so greedy that they would steal money from public school children.” He referred to the hackers as “criminals” who were “unethical.” (The New York Times) 

            So this has everyone wondering… what are school funds being put towards? How are they being used? How can they be used? How is this funding contributing to staff and students? In an interview with the new school principal, Dr. Billy, the answers to these questions have been successfully answered. He states that “I think the funds should go to the school, kids and staff to make the school more beautiful.” He feels as though the funds are used to get resources and help needed to be successful, in order to make it feel like a place students want to come to. According to the principal, the funds come from the federal government, the state government, and the district. He says “it’s a good amount of money, it’s not a small check.” 

              Most of the school funds go towards academic material to help students thrive, as the principal states “funds are contributed to academic material a lot, planning is very important for future school years, and so that everything can be done in a timely manner.” In terms of the funds contribution to the building, he feels as though we should take care of the things we already have in the building. Funds are also contributed to give staff resources needed such as technology, and even as small as the hallway passes students use. Dr. Billy says “Hillhouse isn’t a bad school, there is a lot of emotional work needed to be done, it’s an environmental thing.” He believes that if people think that Hillhouse is a good school, they will act accordingly and vice versa.