Colonial to help the struggling Delaware Academy of Public Safety and Security

The Colonial School District is stepping forward to help a struggling charter school near New Castle, the Delaware Academy of Public Safety and Security, "right the ship" before it is shut down by the state. 

On Tuesday, the Colonial School Board of Education approved a proposal allowing district leaders to work with DAPSS on a plan to address systemic problems that have led to low enrollment, poor test scores and being put under formal review for closure by the Department of Education.

“Not every failing school deserves saving, but DAPSS serves a need in our community and could be a great asset, but right now, it’s not getting the job done for kids. We think we can help them change that,” Colonial Supt. Dusty Blakey said in a statement. “This is really about making sure that all kids in Colonial are getting a great education, even if they choose other options.”

DAPSS is a charter high school serving just over 200 students in grades 9-12. Their focus is preparing students for careers as first responders, such as law enforcement, firefighters and EMTs.

About 16 percent of the school's students were proficient in English in 2016-17, while about 12 percent were proficient in science. None were proficient in math, according to data from the state Education Department. 

Enrollment has dropped from a high of 363 students in 2014-15 to its current levels. The school was originally located in the Faith City church complex near Christiana Mall but has since moved to 801 N. Dupont Highway, near Wilmington University. 

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Colonial’s intervention hopes to turn things around for the school. The plan will be presented next week to the DOE Charter School Accountability Committee, which is conducting the formal review process for DAPSS and will ultimately decide if the school is allowed to remain open past this school year. 

Margie López Waite, who was recently named president of DAPSS' board, hopes the partnership with Colonial will help prove the school can still be viable. She is also head of school at the popular Las Américas ASPIRA Academy, a Newark charter school with a lengthy waitlist. 

"I think having Colonial as a partner is definitely a significant improvement, a significant change," said Waite, who could not pinpoint the exact reason for the charter school's decline but thought it could benefit from stronger leadership. 

A decline in the school's reputation has led to a decline in enrollment which in turn, has led to a decline in revenue, she said. Declines in revenue ultimately impact the quality of instruction, because schools cannot afford to bring in specialists or offer needed support to students. 

“It’s a combination of things," she said. "The school started on good footing. Then there were some leadership changes and the school physically moved from one location to another, and I think they strayed, for whatever reason, away from their initial mission.”

The school's mission and vision, as listed on its website, is "providing cadets a rigorous academic curriculum that meets State of Delaware standards as well as providing cadets practical career training in the public safety field." 

Waite said Thursday she still thought that vision was a viable one. 

“For any of us that live in the community, it would be devasting if we didn’t have a pipeline of quality individuals going into those career paths.”

The new plan with Colonial involves working with DAPSS to establish various milestones to ensure continued academic progress. If those milestones are met, Colonial would become the charter authorizer when the school is up for renewal in 2019.

If the milestones are not met and improvement isn’t seen over the next school year, DAPSS would surrender its charter and close after the 2018-19 school year.

DAPSS Head of School Herbert Sheldon said he was brought on board to lead the school in 2016 and has been working with his team to improve outcomes since then. He previously served as the school's chief financial officer. 

Sheldon said Thursday school leaders know proficiency rates are much lower than they should be. 

"We have acknowledged that," he said. "We have also acknowledged a significant change in our population." 

He was referring to students with special needs. About 30 percent of the school's students currently qualify for special education, a significant increase from 2012-13 when only about 12 percent did. 

Sheldon said he wasn't sure why that population has grown so much, but that "many times a parent will want to put a student that learns differently in a smaller student environment." 

He said the school started offering additional support to those students just recently, in 2016. 

Waite implied changes should have been made sooner, as soon as the school's demographics shifted. 

“To have a 30 percent special education population really changes the whole dynamic," she said, adding that test scores at DAPSS are one of her biggest concerns. 

A letter from Board President Margie López Waite addresses concerns about the school's future and what the new partnership with Colonial could mean for its future. 

“The biggest issue is a lack of academic growth. The whole reason we do what we do as educators is for students. Our test scores do not reflect that our students are making the gains they need to graduate high school and be successful.”

Through the new partnership, Colonial is offering its services to provide leadership, curriculum development, professional learning opportunities for DAPSS teachers and other services, for which Colonial will be paid as a consultant.

“We are not using Colonial dollars to infuse the DAPSS budget in any way. They must become financially stable on their own by increasing their enrollment numbers. We are providing them the framework and guidance to enhance the academic program to make the school more attractive to students who are interested in their mission around first responders,” Blakey, the district's superintendent, said.

If the turnaround plan is approved by DOE and is successful, Colonial would become the second school district in the state to authorize a charter school, after Red Clay, which oversees the Charter School of Wilmington.

Being the authorizer will give the Colonial School Board the role of formal oversight of the school.

Families voice their support  

More than 100 parents, students and staff attended a public hearing on DAPSS in New Castle Tuesday night and submitted public comment on the school's future. Students gave heartfelt testimony on why they loved the school and what they thought could be improved. 

Here's what some of them said in writing: 

Moving forward

The Charter School Accountability Committee will meet to discuss DAPSS at 1 p.m. Feb. 20 at the Townsend Building in Dover. It will issue its final report and recommendations on Feb. 22. 

There will be a public hearing on the school 5 p.m. March 9 at the J.W. Collette Building in Dover. 

The State Board of Education will hold a public hearing and vote on whether or not to renew the schools' charter March 15. 

Below is the committee's initial report on the school and the challenges it is facing. 

Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies.

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