Political Capitol

When in late July Allan Taylor, chairman of the state Board of Education, said in an interview that J.M. Wright Technical School would not be re-opening Aug. 27 for the new academic year, I asked him if the full board needed to vote on the closure.

The board proposed closing Wright Tech for two years as part of a package of “budget options” the group adopted in a resolution at its December 3 meeting. Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell did not include the recommendation in her two-year budget proposal from early February but did add it to the mix of cuts included in her more recent plans.

Although legislative Democrats pledged to fund Wright Tech in any budget they approve, a majority of the teaching staff over the summer either retired or transferred.

With so many vacancies and no budget deal on the horizon, on July 29 state Education Commissioner Dr. Mark McQuillan officially announced Wright would be closed for two years due to low-enrollment and “the prohibitive costs of maintaining the school and the logistics of opening school on time.”

Taylor at the time told me he did not believe another board vote on Wright Tech was needed.

Turns out that remains an open question. Taylor today told me that in response to an inquiry by Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, state Board of Education attorneys are reviewing the matter.

“I personally remain convinced there was no further vote required but I haven’t seen anything in writing from our legal people yet,” Taylor said.

A vote at this point would not save Wright Tech. But if the board had to meet to officially shutter the school, it would force members (including Linda McMahon of Greenwich, who was not part of the board in December) to further discuss the issue and perhaps give the Wright Tech community an opportunity to vent their frustration.