BRIDGEPORT, CT — A Bridgeport Board of Education committee is scheduled Monday, Oct. 5, to consider sending the full board an application that would ask the state to put the school district under fiscal intervention and oversight. The City Council meets the same evening on grants for a downtown public market, the Remington Shot Tower and the East Main Street corridor.
School board committee weighs state fiscal oversight
The board's Operations Committee meets at 5:30 p.m. Monday. Item 4 on its agenda would send the "Application for Fiscal Intervention and Oversight" on to the full board for a vote. The process was created by Section 388 of Public Act 26-68. A Sept. 23 letter attached to the agenda, from Deputy Education Commissioner Charles Hewes to board Chair Jennifer Perez, says the state sent the application and a flow chart of the process at the request of Interim Superintendent Royce Avery.
The state's application lays out how it works. A board must vote by majority to apply. The education commissioner, consulting the state Office of Policy and Management, then reviews the board's finances, including its deficit and the city's own financial condition, and writes an oversight plan. The plan must require the board to appear before the state's Municipal Accountability Review Board, which reviews the plan and may recommend changes. The application asks for a rationale signed by the board chair, the district's current fiscal status, five years of revenue and spending records, and any court orders or settlements that drive its costs.
The same agenda lists referrals for the 2026-27 food bid results, a fall and spring landscape cleanup contract with CheapScapes and an amendment to the landscape cutting contract, along with reports on operating grants, the parent allocation, the budget calendar and the quarterly finances.
City Council, Oct. 5
The council meets at 7 p.m. Monday in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, 45 Lyon Terrace, and streams on YouTube; the public speaking session starts at 6:30 p.m. Its consent calendar includes:
- applications to the state Department of Economic and Community Development for predevelopment planning of a Downtown Bridgeport Public Market and for cleanup and stabilization of the Remington Shot Tower;
- an application to the U.S. Conference of Mayors for a fitness and wellness zone at Seaside Park;
- a land development agreement with Douglas Allen Real Estate LLC for 157 and 171 Golden Hill St.;
- ordinance changes covering food establishments and building permit fees;
- an Ordinance Committee report that denied updated salary ranges for city officers and unaffiliated employees.
A separate vote is listed on a state Community Investment Fund and Urban Act application to revitalize the East Main Street corridor. A resolution from Council Member Pereira asking city departments to report on large commercial vehicles parked on city streets goes to the Public Safety and Transportation Committee. Eight residents have signed up to speak, on topics including flooding and drainage on Amsterdam Avenue, affordable housing and homelessness, taxes and handicap signs.