Vinal High School Should Remain Under State Control

Connecticut’s 16 technical high schools, including in Middletown, would remain under state control under a task force report issued this week on how best to operate the school system.

The report, issued by the Task Force on the Connecticut Technical High School System and submitted to the legislature, makes several other recommendations to improve the state’s technical secondary schools, including ones to improve collaboration by state and private entities to prepare students for the jobs and skills needed by employers here and to make the $160 million system more efficient and fiscally accountable.

The recommendations will now be sent along to several legislative committees, including the Education Committee, for their review and approval, OPM officials said today.

You can view a pdf of the task force's report above.

The task force was created last year after a state budget impasse lead to proposals for significant cuts to the state Board of Education’s budget. The board in turn recommended cutting sports at technical high school, a move that drew significant criticism and opposition among residents and school officials. The state also suggested turning control of the technical schools over to local districts.

Virtually every school district in the state sends some of its students yearly to one of the regional technical schools, including Vinal in Middletown, Wilcox in Meriden, Goodwin in New Britain and Prince in Hartford.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy this week lauded the task force’s report as a move toward helping to boost the workforce in Connecticut and give students the best training possible in technical fields.

“We must ensure that all students have the strongest possible foundation – that is how Connecticut will regain competitiveness and strengthen our economy,” said Governor Malloy. “This report is our blueprint for moving forward to make our technical high school system the best in the nation, and to prepare our students to enter the highly skilled and highly technical Connecticut workforce.”

Other recommendations made in the report include   

• Continuing State operations of the CTHSS.
• Requiring the State Department of Education to develop CTHSS’s strategic plan in conjunction with the Departments of Labor, Economic and Community Development, Higher Education, and specific business and industry consortiums.    
• The State should establish a separate CTHSS board to set standards. The Superintendent would be accountable to the new CTHSS governing board..
• The Departent of Education should endeavor to benchmark standards against international leaders.