The Board of Regents announced on Wednesday that the Meriden branch of Middlesex Community College will remain open, after the state legislature made an effort to block efforts to close it.
The school will begin registering students for classes on Monday.
"We are pleased that the Board of Regents has reversed course and will continue to enroll students at its Meriden branch," said state senators Martin Looney and Bob Duff in a joint statement. "The General Assembly has made it clear that the system should not balance its budget solely on the backs of vulnerable students."
A bill was considered in the state legislature that would have prevented the Board of Regents from closing the Meriden campus, an associated manufacturing program, or any campuses and manufacturing programs it oversees, without legislative approval.
The Hartford Courant reported:
Democrats voted unanimously in favor of the bill, but some Republicans questioned whether the legislature should be "micromanaging" decisions that should be made by the Board of Regents for Higher Education.
Democratic Rep. Roberta Willis said it was "unfortunate" the bill was necessary. But she said lawmakers had to send a message to the Board of Regents, which met Wednesday to discuss the situation.
"This is an incredible victory for the students of Middlesex Community College, and for downtown Meriden," said state Senator Dante Bartolomeo of Meriden. "When we learned of this plan, students and legislators rallied to keep the school open, and today it was announced that our voices were heard. ...In the past week I've heard from far too many students who were concerned that they would have to abandon their dreams of obtaining a degree."
The board had previously closed the campus in response to Governor Dannel Malloy's proposed budget.
Ryan King is an intern at WNPR. This report contains information from the Associated Press.
