WEIC Public Hearing

A second public hearing will be held in the Red Clay School District on Tuesday, December 8th 6:30 pm at Warner Elementary School, 801 West 18th Street. If you cannot make the meeting, you can submit a public comment here or email to solutionsfordelawareschools@gmail.com.

Below is the Executive Summary of the report. Click here to read the entire report.

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WEIC Public Hearing

A public hearing will be held in the Red Clay School District on Monday, December 7th 6:30 pm at Brandywine Springs, Duncan Road. If you cannot make the meeting, you can submit a public comment here or email to solutionsfordelawareschools@gmail.com.

Below is the Executive Summary of the report. Click here to read the entire report.

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New Parent Advocacy Group For Special Needs Children & At-Risk Youth In The Works

Source: New Parent Advocacy Group For Special Needs Children & At-Risk Youth In The Works

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Local Author/19th District Constituent Visiting Marbrook Elementary School

I am really excited about an upcoming visit to Marbrook Elementary School. A local, children’s author (Rick DeDonato, the author of Pipsie Nature Detective), a 19th District constituent, reached out to me after reading my monthly E Newsletter. I had a post about my visit to Brandywine Springs, where I was principal for the day. He offered sometime to come to a school and read his book to a group of students. He sent me the information about his book and he dropped off a book for me to read.  

After emailing Rick, I thought that this would be a great opportunity to bring a local, children’s author into one of our schools in the 19th District. I reached out to Dr. Daugherty, the Red Clay superintendent, asking him if it would be possible to have Rick come into one of our schools and read his book to the students. Dr. Daugherty agreed to it!

I ordered books for every student in a second grade class at Marbrook Elementary School. Rick is going to read the book to the students and then sign each of their books. Rick has two more books that will be released. This is such a great opportunity for the students! 

MOT Charter, Charging Fees, Is This Even Allowed?

I was quite surprised by all the fees MOT Charter charges parents: $100 registration fee, $150 per student for every sport that a student participates in, and fees have been assigned to their clubs and activities.

ii. HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ONLY: A NON-REFUNDABLE payment of the $100 registration fee will be by the registration deadline.

I did send an email to DOE asking for an explanation. Public schools cannot charge a fee so I am not sure how this is even allowed. What if a family cannot afford all these fees? Other additional costs; families are required to take insurance out on the laptop, buy a holder for the laptop, and purchase uniforms at Rush. I get asking the parents to purchase insurance but all of these fees add up.

I also have concerns about when parents must respond to the invite to attend MOT. MOT does not have a specific date on their website as to when parents need to respond to the invite. DE code states that families have until the 3rd Friday in March to accept a choice invite. They also tell parents if a child misses the first two days of school and does not have an explanation their seat will be filled by a wait listed student.

 

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Funding Student Success Meeting

There is a Funding Student Success Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, November 24th 2:00 at Baltz Elementary School, Board Conference Room.

Click here, to view the minutes.

Parents Be Aware, Changes Are Coming to FAFSA

At the State Board Meeting on Thursday, it was reported that FAFSA changes are coming in 2017-2018 school year. Students/Parents who apply will be able to start their FAFSA in October 2016 and will be able to use that year’s taxes when filling out the FAFSA for 2017/2018 school year.

FAFSA Changes for 2017–18

Folks You Should be Paying Attention to This – Information on Statewide Review of Educational Opportunities

Yesterday during the State Board meeting, they gave an update on the Statewide Review of Educational Opportunities (SREO) – formed through House Bill 56. I would pay close attention to this and DOE and the State Board’s recommendations which will be released next month at the December State Board meeting. I am not sure if the State Board and DOE are heading in the direction of the bill’s original intent, time will tell if they are or not.

House Bill 56 – Section 2.  There shall be a moratorium on all new charter schools opening until June 30, 2018 or until the State Board of Education develops a strategic plan for the number of charter, district, and vocational-technical schools in the State, whichever occurs first.  The aforementioned strategic plan shall be based on a systematic evaluation of educational needs using national models and best practices that align with the public education system, such as the National Association of Charter School Authorizers guidelines.

If you look at the two guiding questions DOE and the State Board are using, there appears to be some difference between what House Bill 56 was looking to accomplished and what DOE and the State Board are looking to do. Below is a one page document explaining what DOE and the State Board are looking to accomplish. The word that they use in their two guiding questions is “DEMAND”, I know practicable is used as well, I just don’t see best practices.

I know there is demand for more schools like Cab Calloway School of the Arts and Conrad Schools of Science. I know that they have high numbers of families applying to these choice schools and the waitlist numbers are huge. Same goes with Charter School of Wilmington and DMA, very popular schools with our Red Clay families and across district lines. I am interested in seeing DOE and the State Board’s formal recommendations.

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• Public Consulting Group (PCG) – was awarded the contract in August
• September started the project
  • Data is being collected from DOE, charters and districts
• October collecting of data and survey responses
• PCG will start the data analysis and working on draft map
• Next week the draft map will be available
• Final report will be given at State Board meeting in December

My Comments to the State Board of Education

Below are my comments that I made to the State Board of Education. They send their Executive Director to almost every committee, group etc. outside the State Board meeting room, so they are hearing one sided views.

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