Senate easily approves new Norwalk High
Proposal hurdles GOP opposition in House
HARTFORD — A House Republican attack early Thursday morning against a proposed new $189-million Norwalk High School that was put on a priority list by Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, vanished when the bill finally reached the Senate floor on Thursday night.
After a half an hour of debate, with no criticism against the bill, the legislation, part of a $500 million list of projects around the state, was put on a list
of other bills set for unanimous consent, with no further discussion.
“There have not been any schools built in Norwalk in at least 45 to 50 years,” Duff said during the brief floor debate. “What we’re seeing now are schools that have been generations old, falling apart, unhealthy, not up to the standards that we expect from buildings today.”
He described the current school as a moldy, concrete box where Wifi cannot work. “We have a building that’s 50 years old,” he said. “As a matter of fact it was designed after a prison. That’s no way to be teaching our kids today.”
Early Thursday morning, however, minority GOP lawmakers in the state House of Representatives unsuccessfully attempted to strip the project from legislation, charging that the price tag was a huge percentage of the annual school spending.
Late Thursday morning, Gov. Ned Lamont’s budget chief said that the eventual allocation of funding isn’t certain, Gov. Ned Lamont’s budget chief said.
Melissa McCaw, secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, during an unrelated event outside the Capitol Thursday morning, described a “very detailed process,” which still awaits the proposal.
“Obviously, there are pressing needs in Norwalk that the senator felt were critical and should be moved forward as expeditiously as possible,” McCaw told reporters, predicting the debate to continue on Thursday.
During the early morning House debate, Republicans charged that the project was improperly put into the annual list of new-school work.
“We can’t afford this project,” said Rep. Tom O’Dea, R-New Canaan. “It’s taking up so much of the bonding.” he noted that towns like his give far more to the state in taxes than it receives. “We get less than a penny back of the dollars we send to Hartford.”
But Democrats including firstterm Rep. Lucy Dathan, whose district includes New Canaan and Norwalk, said the new school will foster important programs tied to the arts and advanced studies including a program backed by IBM.
“It really is an investment in our future,” Dathan said. “The current high school we have is over 50 years old. It was designed after a prison, not that aesthetics have anything to do with whether to do an update or not.”
The GOP attempt to strip away the high school portion of the bill failed 86-51.