Our Comments from Last Night’s Red Clay Board Meeting on Inclusion

Last night, Mike Matthews RCEA President, Ashley Sabo Red Clay parent and co-chair of Red Clay’s Inclusion Committee and I addressed the Red Clay School Board in regards to their Inclusion Plan. We are very concerned about the implementation of the plan and the necessary resources that are needed at our schools. Below are our comments.

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Wilmington Education Improvement Commission – Redistricting Committee – 1st Meeting

Wilmington Education Improvement Commission Website

I attended the WEIC – 1st Redistricting Committee meeting on September 10th at Baltz Elementary School. There were about 13 people sitting in the audience and about half were University of DE or Red Clay staff the other people were members of the public. Dr. Rich spoke mostly about the history of the Wilmington Education Advisory Committee.

One question that was asked by a member of the Redistricting Committee, “Why are the State Board of Education members not present at these meetings?”

I was wondering the same thing. The State Board will be voting on the plan, would it not make sense for them to attend the meetings so they can be well-informed when voting on the Commission’s plan.

• Christina School District – 1 of 4 discontinuous school districts in the country. If the plan is approved, Christina will no longer serve students who live in the city unless those students choice into Christina.
• Colonial School District – no schools in the City of Wilmington. About 300 Colonial students live in the city and about 150 of the students are choice students.
• Red Clay School District will serve the city along with the Brandywine School District.

Below is WEIC’s tentative timeline. This document was handed out at the meeting and is labeled DRAFT, so dates could change.

• November 30th thru December 4th  – tentative period for four public hearings.
• December 8th – Commission meets to review possible revisions to draft plan.
• December 15th – Commission approves the Final Plan for submission to the State Board of Education.
• December 17th – Commission presents and submits Final Plan to State Board. This will be a discussion item on the State Board agenda, including public comment.
• January 21st – State Board acts on Commission Redistricting Plan as a complete package.
• February 11th – If the State Board of Education does not approve, Commission may revise and resubmit as a complete package by February 11th.
• March 10th – If the State Board of Education does not approve, Commission may revise and resubmit as a complete package by March 10th.
• March 31st – State Board of Education authority ends.

Tomorrow is the first Funding Student Success Committee meeting- 2:00 to 4:00 at William Penn High School.

After the Funding Student Success Committee meets the Wilmington Education Improvement Commission meets from 4:00 to 6:00 at William Penn High School.

Then, the  Parent, Educator & Community Engagement Committee meets from 6:15 to 8:00 at William Penn High School.

The next Redistricting Meeting is September 24th – 4:00 at Graham Hall Room 185, 111 Academy Street, Newark, DE.

To view all future meetings, click here.