SEN. CABRERA WELCOMES $517,000 IN STATE GRANTS TO HELP REDUCE ABSENTEEISM IN HAMDEN, NAUGATUCK AND DERBY

HAMDEN — State Senator Jorge Cabrera (D-Hamden) today welcomed $517,179 in state grants to improve student attendance in Hamden, Naugatuck and Derby. Hamden and Naugatuck will each receive $200,000, and Derby $117,179.

“There’s a lot of reasons why kids don’t make it to school – it could be a family issue, or transportation, maybe there’s a physical handicap, an illness, or a language barrier. LEAP addresses all of that and has made huge strides in the past few years to bring more kids back to school and keep them there,” Sen. Cabrera said. “I’m really happy to have this funding for Hamden, Naugatuck and Derby.”

The grants are being made through Connecticut’s Learner Engagement and Attendance Program, or LEAP. Since the Lamont administration established LEAP in 2021, chronic absenteeism has declined for four consecutive years, from 23.7% in 2021-2022 to 16.4% in 2025-2026, meaning nearly 35,000 more students are attending school regularly compared with 2021-2022.