Wright Tech mothballed

The Connecticut Department of Education suspended operations at J.M. Wright Technical High School for at least a year, after the Stamford vocational school filled less than 170 of its 700 seats for the coming school year.

Wright Tech”™s curriculum includes training for careers in food service, hairdressing, and mechanical trades like auto repair, plumbing and electrical work. A drive to keep the school open has been championed by Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele, a resident of Stamford.

The school would have required an additional $8 million in funding to open this fall, according to Mark McQuillan, commissioner of education for the state of Connecticut.

“Over the past year, we have explored a number of options to revitalize this school ”¦Â  The state”™s economic downturn and the close proximity of opening day make it next to impossible to proceed with any of these options,” McQuillan said.

Those proposals have included transforming the school into a vocational finishing school for high school juniors and seniors; and creating a “middle college” concept linking Wright Tech with Norwalk Community College. As part of a wide-ranging education bill passed last month, lawmakers required Wright Tech and Norwalk Community College to establish a partnership to operate during the 2010-11 academic year.

Wright Tech students were offered the option of returning to their local school districts or applying to enter Henry Abbot Technical School in Danbury.