Windham Technical High School (WTHS) is due for a new building, and Windham town officials are trying to keep the school in the downtown area.
Windham Town Manager Robert Zarnetske shared an analysis with Connecticut Technical Education and Career Systems (CTECS) officials that highlights the benefits of building the next school in downtown Willimantic, where the current school is, according to Mayor Thomas DeVivo. CTECS oversees the regional technical schools in the state.
WTHS has been operating out of its current building since 1956. In the past five years, there have been issues with the school’s boiler, piping, and hot water, CTECS Chief Engineer Daniel Poulin told The Chronicle. According to Poulin, a new school building would save the state money in the long-run by cutting back on repairs. It would also be larger, so more programs could be offered, and the school could expand its athletic facilities.
Right now, CTECS officials are considering building the new school in Mansfield on a plot of land owned by the state. However, Windham town officials are trying to persuade them to build the new school where the Willimantic mill used to be.
“We can give the title out as quickly as they want it,” DeVivo said.
WTHS has nine career and technical education programs. Like all CTECS schools, WTHS has work-based learning programs, where students work for employers while going through their education programs. This allows them to earn money and experience while learning trades.
This can also be an opportunity for students to work at local businesses, Zarnetske’s analysis states. This analysis was written with feedback from DeVivo, town commissions, and Rep. Susan Johnson (D-Windham), according to DeVivo.
“The State’s interest in the Mansfield site is understandable,” the analysis states.
It may take up to two additional years to build a new school on the town’s land, as opposed to the state’s lot in Mansfield, because of additional bureaucratic processes.
“However, this analysis proceeds from the premise that school siting decisions—particularly for specialized, once-per-century facilities such as a regional technical high school—cannot be evaluated solely on near-term administrative or capital cost grounds,” the analysis states. “Unlike many other public facilities, a technical high school directly shapes workforce formation, entrepreneurial pathways, and long-term patterns of economic interaction between students and the communities they serve.”
Zarnetske’s predicts that more graduates from the school will stay in the area if the school is integrated into the local economy than if it is moved to the “isolated” lot in Mansfield.
Even though the school takes students from 23 different towns, the majority of its 500 students live in Windham, DeVivo said. Keeping the school in the area would make it easier for Windham students to attend the school, because they can walk there easily and not worry about transportation.
“We’re a distressed community,” DeVivo said. “[CTECS should keep the school here] if [they] ever want to get us out of being distressed.”
WTHS has been in the Willimantic district for decades. Despite that, Windham was the most economically distressed municipality in the state in 2025, according to the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD). DeVivo thinks that a new building, expanded programming, and a larger student body can help turn the area around.
“If the world were going to end tomorrow, I’d plant a tree there,” DeVivo said, paraphrasing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. DeVivo says that he is a hopeful man and that the new programs in the school might make a huge difference for the town.
DeVivo said that the state has a good plan for a new school in Mansfield, but he has “faith” that CTECS will take Windham’s proposal seriously.
CTECS Director of Communications Kerry Markey could not be reached for questions.
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