New London ― A group of city students, community leaders and residents on Monday urged the City Council to increase ― or at least not reduce ― an $83.2 million Board of Education budget proposal, warning that cuts to the spending plan could have dire consequences for student health and success.

Several of the 16 speakers specifically cited the imminent loss of three district wellness interventionist positions, specialists tasked with addressing student mental and behavioral health issues, as potentially devastating to the district.

Deshaun Phillips, a student member of the Hearing Youth Voices group, said the interventionists were a great help to him as a freshman at New London High School.

“It was someone I was comfortable talking to and someone I could just let all my emotions out to,” he said. “There were certain days that year that, if we didn’t have the wellness interventionist jobs, I don’t think I would have made it through those days with a clear head space.”

The board last month opted to eliminate three interventionist positions, two at the high school and one at the middle school, from Superintendent Cynthia Ritchie’s proposed budget. The cuts ― the only ones made by the board ― resulted in a $250,000 savings, said board President Elaine Maynard-Adams.

Adams on Tuesday said those jobs were created using a pool of federal COVID-19 relief funding that is no longer available. She said the eliminated job responsibilities will be shouldered in the future by school psychologists, social workers, guidance counselors and other staff members.

“That’s not to say a month from now it’s not possible we’ll reconsider those positions, if other savings are found,” Maynard-Adams said. “As I told the students, this is just Round One of the budget process and we’ve got a long way to go. How much we do or don’t do is up to the council and the mayor.”

Most of the meeting’s student speakers urged council members to “prioritize education spending,” a sentiment echoed by Alicia MvAvay, head of the FRESH New London food justice group and a city resident.

McAvay said she appreciated the tough budgetary decisions facing the council in the wake of of pandemic relief funding losses ― the district alone expects to lose $10.9 million in such monies ― and a recent property revaluation that saw residential property values sky-rocket.

“But I’m asking you to fully fund the Board of Education's (budget) request and increase it,” she said, describing herself as a member of a “working-class, low-to-moderate" household. “With that, I still support fully funding the Board of Ed request, even if it means an increase in my taxes. And I’m confident I’m not the only homeowner on my block, just a block over from Bennie Dover, that feels this way.”

New London High graduate Shineika Fareus urged councilors to take the long view when undertaking budget deliberations by imagining the world six years from now.

“Who is sitting in those seats you are in now?” she asked. “Who are the city councilors? Who is the mayor? Who’s are teachers, our doctors, our engineers? Who is keeping this town going?”

Fareus said she hoped the next generation of leaders will be like her: New London High graduates who found the school a safe and supporting environment and returned to the city after college.

But she said such success stories are challenging without the “prioritizing of students.”

The budget pleas came two weeks before Mayor Michael Passero is expected on April 1 to present his 2024-25 budget plan, a document that will include his municipal and school district spending recommendations to the council.

The council and mayor can impose a bottom-line spending level for the board but cannot dictate how that money is spent.

The school board budget proposal, if approved without change, would require $50.8 million in city funding, a $4.54 million jump from the current year. The plan anticipates receipt of $32.4 million in federal, state and grant funding.

Several councilors praised the students’ passion but made no specific funding promises. Councilor Reona Dyess noted any increase to the total budget would most severely impact the “lowest income earners” in the city, including renters.

“I just want you guys to really realize that it has to be a balance to make sure the community is being served,” she said.

j.penney@theday.com