Cell phone use, attendance requirements and items allowed on school buses will be on the agenda this year for Red Clay Consolidated School District’s Code of Conduct Committee. In their first meeting of the year Monday night, the committee reviewed the changes to last year’s code and discussed what it would focus on as it tries to make improvements to …
Boost ‘22 collab results in 88% of city students graduating
Boost ’22, an initiative to raise graduation rates among seniors in the city of Wilmington, resulted in 88% of those seniors crossing the graduation stage last May, nearly 20% more than 2015. The initiative is a joint effort of five school districts, used one-on-one tutoring and mentoring, college visits, counseling services and more to make sure 435 out of 496 …
Christina first district to agree to join Learning Collab
After five years of planning and months of discussions around the agreement, Christina School District’s school board voted unanimously Monday night to sign the Wilmington Learning Collaborative agreement. The vote came just after 9 p.m. Monday, two hours after the meeting started. “If in some period of time, all of our third graders can read proficiently at grade three, it …
Learning Collab officials want deal signed before November
Wilmington Learning Collaborative officials are asking its member districts for a definitive vote by the end of October. “We have asked for a vote in October because we really need to get the board appointed, get the executive director hired, and that’s going to take some time,” said Jon Sheehan, chief of policy and senior advisor to the governor, during …
Red Clay seeks $265 million from state for building repair
Red Clay Consolidated School District is waiting to hear whether the state will fund a request for $265 million to address maintenance costs and improvement needs in 27 buildings. The district’s school board unanimously voted in its August meeting to submit a certificate of necessity to the Department of Education. “This certificate of necessity is absolutely needed in our district,” …
School boards lay out worries, support for Learning Collaborative
A joint meeting Tuesday of the Brandywine, Christina and Red Clay school districts about the Wilmington Learning Collaborative featured a lively discussion, but still no vote. The 21 board members were joined by Gov. John Carney, Education Secretary Mark Holodick and other key education officials. While no one outright opposed the learning collaborative, some expressed concern about the …
Teachers no longer granted 10-day COVID leave
For the first time since fall 2020, Delaware teachers will not be granted paid COVID-19 leave. That means they have to use their normal sick leave if they or a family member gets sick. “The argument can be made that we’re further away from the craziness of COVID, so I get it,” said Jennifer Saunders, who’s taught in Red Clay …
5 lucky districts may get help with new eco-friendly buses
Bruce Ashby, transportation supervisor at Capital School District, said his office didn’t ask for state help in getting three new electric buses and one propane one. But he will be delighted to get them. Electric and propane buses are said to be more environmentally friendly than gasoline-powered ones because they release less carbon dioxide as the fuel burns. Ashby said …
More legislation in the works to address teacher shortage
A bill that would help address the state’s lingering concern over a teacher shortage was unanimously released by the Senate Education Committee Wednesday. House Bill 430, now headed to the Senate floor, would encourage schools to begin a Grow Your Own Educator Program, which supporters believe will improve recruitment, retention and diversity of teachers in the First State’s public schools. …
Wilmington Learning Collaborative: Executive director by fall
Wilmington Learning Collaborative organizers say they hope to have an executive director in place by early fall. That was one of the new details about their operating draft agreement that came out Tuesday in a community meeting at Warner Elementary School in Wilmington. It was the second meeting since the collaborative published its draft agreement outlining the roles and responsibilities …