HARTFORD, CT – Today, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) led passage of legislation to provide $1,404,186 in state funding for construction at Norwalk High School.
“State funding for school construction is critical to helping local taxpayers and our students,” said Senator Duff. “By expanding the facilities for Norwalk’s highly successful and popular Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts program we are strengthening our schools and preparing our young people for jobs after high school. This $1.4 million is another important investment from Hartford into Norwalk’s local education system.”
Senate Bill 1210, the 2019 school building project bonding bill, authorizes eight school construction grants totaling $160.5 million toward total project costs of $229 million. The bill also exempts certain school construction projects from various statutory and regulatory requirements to allow them to qualify for state reimbursement grants or a higher level of reimbursement, and it makes changes in school construction laws concerning school building committee membership, reimbursement rates for diversity schools, and school construction project contracting rules.
The Norwalk project will alter and expand the existing culinary arts program and upgrade all bathroom facilities at Norwalk High School. Since the Norwalk Board of Education evaluated and developed a “pathway” for the Hospitality Management/Culinary Arts program at Norwalk’s two high schools, there are more than 200 Norwalk High School students currently on a waiting list for the program.
To accommodate for the increased demand for the Hospitality Management/Culinary Arts program approximately 2,340 square feet will provide a hands-on experience with more cooking and lab/classroom space and a commercial kitchen with work stations for cooking preparation. Bathroom facility improvements will reconfigure the floor plans, replacing plumbing fixtures, and replacing light fixtures in repaired ceilings to make them code- and ADA-compliant spaces.
The bill passed the Senate 30-1 and the House of Representatives 93-35. The bill now heads to Governor Ned Lamont for his signature into law.
