Connecticut Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor said Thursday he is not sure where the $1.2 million mid-year cut to the state’s vocational technical high schools will come from.
But he has determined where it will not come from.
It will not come from sports programs and the scheduled opening of J.M. Wright Technical High School in Stamford in September 2013, he said. Nor will it come from charging students tuition, as state law forbids such fees.
Sports programs were on the chopping block last year when the state faced deficits, but managed to be spared.
The state’s 17-school system has a $133.7 million budget serving 11,000 students.
J.M. Wright is scheduled to open with a freshman class the fall of 2014. That opening will cost the state money in each of the next two fiscal years as it works to hire teachers and staff.
Pryor said while the sports programs and Wright Technical High School will be spared in the round of cuts announced Wednesday, he can make no promises to save these programs if the system incurs any more reductions.
The $123 million in emergency cuts to reduce the deficit announced by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy close just part of the $363 million deficit the state faces this fiscal year.