Lewis S. Mills High School

In the beginning of November 1960, a contest was held to select the name for the new high school. Some of the options played with the names of the two towns: "Burlwin", "Har-Bur" (which later was used for the middle school), "Burwin", "Burlin", "Harburton" and "Barburl". Students in seventh through twelfth grades put forth submissions and by the end of the month, Lewis S. Mills Regional High School was selected. A few weeks after the announcement, a dedication ceremony was held which featured the school's namesake, delighted to be present in spite of his confinement to a wheelchair. Mr. Mills spoke: "I feel that this honor which has been bestowed on me by the towns of Harwinton and Burlington should be shared with the thousands of people including pupils and parents, who have worked with me through the years."[2]

Until the opening of Mills, students in Burlington and Harwinton continuing to that level would attend high school in neighboring towns, such as Farmington.

Lewis S. Mills High School was named in Doninger v. Niehoff, a civil rights lawsuit brought by (former student) Avery Doninger, against Principal Karissa Niehoff (now retired) and Superintendent (now retired) Paula Schwartz. In spring 2007, Doninger posted a blog entry criticizing the administration and encouraging students to email or call the school regarding the scheduling of Jamfest (a school event). She also referred to the administration as "douchebags". When the blog was discovered some weeks later by the superintendent's 36-year-old son, the administration banned Doninger from running for a class officer position. Doninger won by write-in, but the write-in votes were not recognized. Doninger lost a hearing for injunctive relief when district court Judge Mark Kravitz ruled that there was not a substantial likelihood that Doninger would win her case against the school and thus declined to grant the injunction.

On May 29, 2008, a US Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that the administration had acted within the bounds of their authority. The court made the ruling not so much because of the "douchebags" comment, but because her encouragement of students to contact the administration could cause a "foreseeable risk of substantial disruption to the work and discipline of the school." She had said on her blog that students could contact the Superintendent "to piss her off more". The court stressed that their decision was not an endorsement of schools regulating off-campus speech. Thomas Gerarde, representing the school district, was quick to assert that "any speech that is likely to come to the attention of administrators on campus, even though it’s off campus, will be subject to discipline if it’s disruptive."

Doninger and her mother have said that they will attempt to bring the case to jury trial. She graduated on June 20, 2008.

On April 25, 2011, the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals (based in NYC) "ruled 3-0 that school administrators did not violate “clearly established” First Amendment precedent."[3]