HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) _ A task force studying Connecticut’s 16 technical high schools is advising the General Assembly to keep them open under state control and create a new oversight board.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s office released the group’s recommendations Tuesday, and they will now be forwarded to lawmakers.

State officials last year considered turning over control of the state-run schools to the local districts in which they sit.

The idea was unpopular among technical school students, alumni and supporters.

The task force recommends keeping them under state control, but establishing a group separate from the State Board of Education to set their standards and oversee the system’s superintendent.

About 11,000 students attend the schools, which offer regular high school degrees in a college prep curriculum and training in technical and vocational fields.

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