Groton — Ron Giroux, a 1984 graduate of the Ella T. Grasso Technical High School, said he was shocked to hear about the decision to discontinue the school's carpentry program at the end of the year.

"When I heard they weren't having this program anymore, it concerned me," said Giroux, who works as a superintendent for Standard Builders. "How are we going to find qualified carpenters to rebuild eastern Connecticut?"

Giroux was among a group of about 20 people, including carpenters, state legislators and community members, that stood by the entrance of Grasso Tech on Friday to rally in support of the school's carpentry program. The group held a sign that said "SAVE CARPENTRY! CARPENTERS ARE STILL BUILDING AMERICA!" during the rally, which was hosted by the New England Regional Council of Carpenters with the legislators.

Giroux said carpenters represent a broad range of the construction industry, from bridge-building to cabinetry to housing to mill shops. In eastern Connecticut, there will be a need for carpenters at Electric Boat and to build and remodel homes and build infrastructure.

"It's about giving students and young people opportunities," said Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton. "If not, we're going to be importing people from other states to do the jobs that our Connecticut students are missing out on."

Since finding out about the decision to close the program, Somers said she has "made noise" along with Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, who also attended the rally, and Sen. Paul Formica, R-East Lyme.

"It's a bipartisan push here to have this reinstated," Somers said.

Plans to close the program began in 2015, but Somers said that was before the resurgence in manufacturing that includes contracts at Electric Boat and a potential wind farm.

Osten agreed that much has changed since then, "particularly EB's announcement that it's going to be building a dozen new submarines over the next 20 years and that they need to hire nearly 20,000 skilled tradespeople, including carpenters."

"We should reinstate a commercial carpentry program at Grasso Tech, not only for EB but for all the subcontractors and manufacturers in southeastern Connecticut," she said in a statement. "The need for carpenters is expected to grow nearly 10 percent over the next decade, and these jobs pay an average $50,000 a year with a high school apprenticeship."

State Rep. Christine Conley, D-Groton, said by phone that with the growth at Electric Boat and in manufacturing, carpentry and all the programs at Grasso Tech are essential for the current job market.

State Rep. Joe de la Cruz, D-Groton, said by phone that he fully supports the program, and carpentry is an all-encompassing trade that provides foundational skills for many jobs. He said now is not the time to be cutting anything related to "the pipeline to Electric Boat."

Gene Chaude, instructor at Grasso Tech's carpentry program, told The Day that he learned in 2015 of the plan — by the board of the then Connecticut Technical High School System, now called the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System — to end the program in 2019. The end date of the program later was changed to 2018.

Five students are slated to graduate from the program this year. Chaude said that at times he has had 15 students in one class and can have up to 18 students in a class.

Chaude said he is renewing his calls to reinstate the program. He started a petition to reinstate the carpentry/construction education program; it had 665 signatures early Friday evening. He said that he appreciates the bipartisan support from legislators.

Members of the eastern Connecticut delegation, members of the carpentry union and Chaude met with Connecticut Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, on Thursday. Larry Perosino, press secretary to Aresimowicz, said by phone on Friday that the consensus from the meeting is that it is worth stopping the movement to shut down the program and reassessing the situation.

In a statement, Connecticut Technical Education and Career System Superintendent Jeffrey Wihbey said the CTECS board of directors made the decision to consolidate the carpentry program at Grasso Tech with Norwich Technical High School as part of a Trade Reauthorization process, which the board undertakes every five years. He added that reduced funding due to holdbacks and budget cuts in recent years "compelled CTECS to find efficiencies by consolidating and eliminating certain programs."

He said the decision to close the carpentry program — finalized in February 2018 — was "not a rash decision" but began in 2015 with public hearings, feedback with stakeholder groups and consultation with the region's manufacturers about workforce needs.

"As part of the Architecture and Construction Trade Reauthorization (2018-2022) approved at the CTECS Board’s February 2018 meeting, and based on the specific needs of Electric Boat, Grasso Tech added Welding/Ship Fitting and Masonry to the trades offered for the upcoming school year, while simultaneously bolstering Mechanical Design based on the labor needs of industries in the Groton area," he said in the statement.

"Also part of the 2018-2022 Trade Reauthorization, was the consolidation or phase out of the trade areas with the lowest enrollment and student interest which, at Grasso Tech, were the Carpentry and Culinary programs," he said. "Grasso Tech’s carpentry program was combined with the Norwich Tech carpentry program based on the low enrollment in Grasso Tech’s program and the fact that both schools serve the same student population in southeastern Connecticut and so both draw enrollment from the same towns."

Chaude pointed out that technical schools use "cut scores," meaning students have to score at a certain level to gain entrance to the schools, so enrollment overall isn't as high as it could be. 

De la Cruz said this was discussed during part of Thursday's meeting, and he would like to see a bigger push to help students who are interested in working with their hands, but ordinarily wouldn't be accepted into the technical schools based on aptitude testing in subjects like English and math, gain admission to the schools. For example, he suggested, a hands-on test with mechanical applications.

Chris Bachant, one of the business agents for Carpenters Local 326 who helped organize the rally, said there is a huge shortfall in skilled labor. Carpentry provides a great opportunity for students, and it would be unfair to take that away from them, he said.

"Carpenters craft bridges, foundations, flooring, framing, exterior siding — and that is just scratching the surface of the work we do," he said in a statement. "With the amount of opportunity that is coming to Eastern Connecticut it is reckless and foolish to get rid of the carpentry program. In fact, many carpenters are nearing retirement so it’s absolutely essential to foster a skilled workforce to fill these job vacancies, and fill vacancies with a workforce that has been trained with new technology."

Day Staff Writer Erica Moser contributed to this report.

k.drelich@theday.com