School Poverty Level Increasing
By Chris Seymour | Correspondent at May 7, 2024 | 6:30 pm | Print
Demographic Profile Breaks Down Student Body
A steadily increasing graduation rate in recent years and a high poverty rate among city students are two highlights of the recently released “Demographic Profile 2014-15” for New Britain Schools.
The report, which was developed by Board of Education President Sharon Beloin-Saavedra with the help of the school system’s Management Information System staff, shows that 79.89 percent of the 10,094 students in city schools receive free/reduced meals.
“What stands out is the ever increasing poverty rate of our student body,” said Beloin Saavedra. “Soon the BOE will be moving to all students receiving free lunch—an option provided to the district due to our poverty rate.”
Another highlight of the report Beloin-Saavedra pointed to is the increasing number of Latino/Hispanic students from a variety of countries, which include Puerto Rico, Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras, The Dominican Republic, Columbia and Ecuador plus several others.
“Sixty-two percent of [the] student body is Latino,” she noted.
In all, 79.71 percent of New Britain students are from minority groups and 20.86 percent are white. In terms of minorities, African Americans make up 12.07 percent of the student body; Asians, 2.48 percent; American Indian/Alaska native, 0.11 percent; Pacific Islander, 0.08 percent; and two or more races, 2.28 percent.
At the elementary level, minority students make up 79.5 percent of the student body; at the middle school level, the figure is 82.07 percent; while 78.25 percent of high school students are minorities.
Also, over the last four years, the overall graduation rate has been gradually increasing, going from 51.3 percent in 2011 to 65.5 percent in 2014. “Our graduation rate is slowly improving with several new intervention programs just beginning, giving the BOE confidence in that number to continue to move in a positive trajectory,” said Beloin Saavedra.
The overall graduation rates (along with a breakdown of Hispanic, black, English Language Learners and in some cases free/reduced meal students) for the four year period from 2011-14 are as follows:
2011: 51.3 percent (Hispanic: 43.8 percent, black: 55.2 percent, F/R: 46.9 percent, ELLs: 38.3 percent); 2012: 60.5 percent (Hispanic: 49.9 percent, black: 71.3 percent, F/R: 54.1 percent, ELLs: 45 percent); 2013: 60.9 percent (Hispanic: 52.9 percent, black: 62.9 percent, ELLs: 53.4 percent); 2014: 65.5 percent (Hispanic: 57.6 percent, black: 77.3 percent, ELLs: 50 percent).
Beloin Saavedra noted that Special Education and English Language Learners represent 17-18 percent of the student population, respectively, “requiring specialized services,” the board president pointed out.
With respect to Special Education, there are 1,867 total students with individual education plans (IEPs). That breaks down as follows: PreK, 181; elementary, 707; middle, 332; high school, 364; outplacement, 142; and magnets, 141.
The report also broke down the various native tongues of the 1,744 English Language Learners (ELL). These languages include Spanish, 1,372 students; Arabic, 160; Polish, 106; and “other,” 118.
