Appo will buy metal/weapon detectors for all 3 of its high schools. (Photo from Evolv)

Appo to lease weapon detectors amid schools’ focus on safety

Jarek Rutz Headlines, Education

Appoquinimink School District’s vote this week to install weapon detectors is the latest move by Delaware schools to combat violence and the presence of guns. It’s an issue that’s plagued schools since fall, with the latest incident occurring Wednesday when a Sussex Central High School student was found with a firearm on school property.  The student was taken into custody …

School bus drivers want higher pay, expanded benefits and discipline for unruly behavior on the bus. (Unsplash)

School bus contractors call for higher pay, expanded benefits

Jarek Rutz Headlines, Education

Companies that provide Delaware school bus drivers want the state to raise school bus driver pay to $25 an hour. They also want the state to pay more for insurance for buses below the C&D Canal and expand benefits to mechanics, backup drivers and office staff. Those requests were from Gerald Dutton, president of the Delaware School Bus Contractors Association …

DelawareLive Feb 12 2

Delaware LIVE Weekly Review – Feb. 12, 2023

Sonja Frey Delaware Live, Weekly Review

Click on the image below to view as a PDF This Week’s Top Headlines Include: Headlines Legislators call for means testing for property tax credits Parents plead for safety in heated Brandywine board meeting Will foam cups, containers be banned like plastic bags? Business Brandywine Town Center redevelopment tweaked Super Bowl ads to be heavy on nostalgia, AB&C exec says …

Appo will add security to sporting events after a gun was fired at a basketball game Monday night. (Kat Wilcox/Pexels)

Appo to review school safety, increase security

Jarek Rutz Education, Headlines

The Appoquinimink School District will review its safety measures and increase security at entry points for events. The changes follow a gun being found Monday night in a hallway when Appoquinimink High School was hosting a basketball game against Tri-State Christian Academy. “The adults and the students handled that situation very well, thanks to the training that they’ve been given,” …

Parents showed out to Brandywine's school board meeting to discuss school safety. (Unsplash)

Parents plead for safety in heated Brandywine board meeting

Jarek Rutz Headlines, Education

Complaints about safety at Springer Middle School at Monday night’s Brandywine School District meeting devolved into a shouting match between a board member and a parent. About 12 parents and several students told the Brandywine School District the same thing:   They’re concerned and outraged about the lack of action after bullying, fights and other events  have compromised student and staff …

Over the last decade, many Delaware school districts have hired constables to help ensure school safety. (Getty Images)

Constables: What are they; why so many are being hired

Jarek Rutz Headlines, Education

Christina School District is the latest Delaware district to hire constables to help ensure student safety, a trend that has been spreading statewide.  Since the start of the school year, Christina has hired three at the elementary level. School board member Don Patton expects Superintendent Dan Shelton to push for constables at secondary schools next. “I’m against that and I’m …

Caesar Rodney's David E. Robinson Elementary School, located in Magnolia. (Caesar Rodney Facebook)

Caesar Rodney’s strategic plan focuses on mental health

Jarek Rutz Headlines, Education

Caesar Rodney School District new five-year strategic plan will focus heavily on social and emotional learning. “Meeting the needs of the child, especially around social, emotional and behavioral health was the number one item that was brought up on our students surveys, parents surveys, community surveys, teacher surveys, our talks with the Department of Education, steering committee, really across the …

Paul Anthony, left, and B. Scott Gray, started their first day Monday as constables at the Seaford School District.

Seaford hires 2 constables to ensure school safety

Jarek Rutz Headlines, Education

Seaford School District has hired two constables to patrol its schools and help keep students safe, it announced Monday. The system was inspired to take extra security measures partly as a response to school shootings in the last year, including the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, said Gary Zoll, director of student services at Seaford. …

237 schools will receive digitalized maps to prepare for school emergencies.

State to create digital school maps to aid first responders

Jarek Rutz Headlines, Education

The state will spend just under $1 million to help first responders navigate schools more quickly when emergencies occur. As part of its Comprehensive School Safety Program, the Delaware Emergency Management Agency will use the money to create accurate and uniform maps of the state’s public and charter schools.  The maps will enable law enforcement to react swiftly in unfamiliar …

School Safety Lawmakers

GOP lawmakers: Invest in school safety, not gun control

Charlie Megginson Headlines, Government

When a wave of mass shootings prompted Democrats in Delaware’s state legislature to introduce a package of sweeping gun restrictions, Republicans responded with a proposal of their own: invest more in school safety. House Bill 388, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Hensley, R-Odessa, would allow school districts, vocational-technical schools and charter schools to use money from the Delaware School Safety and …