State Senate Approves New Funding For Danbury Area Schools

Danbury CT

02 October, 2020

8:25 AM

Description

DANBURY, CT — State senators have approved a bill that would give Danbury area schools millions of dollars, and pave the way for a proposed career academy for middle and high school students in the city. Brookfield would receive $16.7 million towards a new Huckleberry Hill Elementary School under the bill, passed by the Senate Thursday evening. Legislators approved another $23.8 million for New Fairfield to help build a new high school and expand Meeting House Hill School. The school construction bill approved a pilot program which would allow the proposed Danbury Career Academy to be housed inside of the Summit at Danbury (formerly known as The Matrix Corporate Center). The bill provides reimbursement of 80 percent of the total renovation costs, not to exceed $93 million, which means Danbury is eligible to receive nearly $75 million in state aid. "It will provide space for about 1,100 kids, so it will handle any growth we have at grades 6 through 12 as well as peel off some of the kids from DHS, so we can drop that number down to a more manageable number," Mayor Mark Boughton said during a Facebook livestream on Thursday. The new academy will be designed to expose students to various career pathways, in addition to educating them in a regular public school curriculum. "This is a really big deal for Danbury families. The Danbury Career Academy has the potential to be one of the top-tier educational programs in Connecticut," said State Julie Sen. Kushner, who has been a strong advocate for the academy. "This infusion of state aid will relieve overcrowding in our schools while providing the opportunity to hire more bilingual and minority educators. This is truly a win for our community." State Rep. David Arconti said, "Our local school population is overcrowded. This project will help us address this concern while giving all our local students the best possible educational opportunities they can get."