The Connecticut Board of Education adopted a resolution Wednesday to address violations of federal and state law by the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System, after the system was found to have disproportionately denied admission to students with disabilities to CTECS schools.

The resolution, which was approved by a unanimous vote, requires CTECS to provide the Connecticut State Department of Education with quarterly updates about the school’s admissions, student withdrawals, and other changes to student enrollment related to special education students.

The resolution follows a report by Michael McKeon, the lawyer for the education department, which confirmed that the admissions process at CTECS, which denied admission to nearly 160 students in the 2024-25 school year, was a “clear violation of federal and state law.”

Former leadership at CTECS used what they called “safety review panels” in the admissions process, which gauged whether potential students posed a safety risk. A department investigation found the panels denied admission to students who received disciplinary infractions at their previous schools — including for things like vaping — and disproportionately kept students with disabilities out of the CTECS system.

At Wednesday’s meeting, McKeon said that he was also concerned by his findings that a large number of students withdrew from the schools for no clear reason. While some students left because they felt the program wasn’t a good fit for them, and some left when their family moved out of the area, others simply left without explanation.

“One has to wonder if students were routinely counseled out,” McKeon said. Of the students who withdrew without explanation, McKeon said, a third had disabilities. That’s “a troubling percentage,” he said, “and seems to underscore idea that they were being targeted and essentially exited from CTECS system.”

McKeon said that many of the students who were denied tried to appeal the decision.

“Sixty-seven of the 158 appealed, because there was an appeal process. Every one was denied. This was a process that seemed to have offered no real opportunity” for students who were appealing the decision, he said.

“This was, needless to say, a problematic and illegal process,” McKeon said.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the system’s new executive director, Alice Pritchard, spoke to the board, saying that CTECS has since implemented a truly blind lottery for its spots. McKeon thanked Pritchard for her help with providing needed documentation to review what exactly had happened at the school under previous leadership.

Pritchard said, “It’s never pleasant to be called out for bad behavior, but we do appreciate it, because we know that students deserve better than that.”

She pledged to continue updating the board on progress, as required by Wednesday’s resolution.