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Christina once again tables vote on Wilmington schools partnership

Jessica Bies
The News Journal

The Christina School Board on Tuesday voted again to table a vote on a memorandum of understanding with Gov. John Carney and the state Education Department, saying discussions over the document are ongoing. 

Christina School District board member John Young speaks during a Christina School Board meeting Tuesday at Sarah Pyle Academy.

Two board members — Meredith Griffin and Harrie-Ellen Minnehan — were not at the meeting. 

The proposed agreement has been revised several times. The school board was scheduled to vote on a final draft last month, but postponed, with one member calling it "a power-play gut punch" that didn't focus on students, but on buildings and adults instead. 

After the board decided to postpone the vote again Tuesday, Gov. John Carney issued the following statement:

"I'm disappointed that the board did not act tonight to address the serious challenges facing students in these Wilmington schools. We have made it a priority to work in collaboration with Christina to do right by these students. We have offered significant new resources to support educators and students in Wilmington. We can't afford to wait and delay on this issue any longer."

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The agreement includes a plan to consolidate five Wilmington schools into two, shifting students from Pulaski, Stubbs and Elbert-Palmer elementary schools to Bancroft Elementary and Bayard Middle School. 

Building principals would get more say in personnel and curricular decisions, and the schools would get additional state funding to create school-based wellness centers and better train teachers to serve students suffering from trauma. A total of $1.5 million, to increase by 2 percent every year, would fund new efforts at the two K-8 schools and be provided in the form of so-called Opportunity Grants.

An additional $2 million would be used to create a dual-generation education center. 

Some of the school board's biggest concerns about the plan have been tied to funding. Board members say the MOU would commit them to spending more money than the district has, and that the level of funding the governor is proposing isn't enough for substantial change. 

Specifically, their concerns have revolved around additional money for teachers and staff taking on additional responsibilities, funding for renovations at Bancroft Elementary and Bayard Middle schools, funding to reduce class sizes, and funding for students living in poverty or learning English as a second language. 

Carney's office seems to have conceded on at least a few of those points in the latest draft of the document, and the board's vice president, Fred Polaski, thought negotiations could still be successful. 

Christina School Board Vice President Fred Polaski speaks during a Christina School Board meeting Tuesday at Sarah Pyle Academy.

For instance, the agreement no longer prohibits the school district from using new state funding to pay teachers and staff for extending the school year and school day as a result of the agreement. It also says new state funding can be used to reduce class sizes or hire instructional coaches. 

The newest version of the agreement also says Carney's team will request 80 percent of the costs, up to $15 million, for renovations at Bayard and Bancroft. Christina would still have to pay for 20 percent of the renovations, which would likely require a referendum, Polaski said. 

Though board members didn't weigh in on the changes Tuesday, John Young tweeted about them last week. 

"The freedom to use the money for paying for extended time is not real and not a give," he said on Twitter. "It comes from same $1.5 (million) pot earmarked for all the OTHER stuff it won't be able to buy either. This is how (Christina School District) gets labeled. The (Department of Education) gets the media on board, then we get smoked."

Background: 

Tension between Christina, state complicate school consolidation plan

Confidential plan calls for consolidating Wilmington schools down to two

He said the school board should also take into consideration a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware. It claims the state provides more support for children who are well off than it provides for children living in poverty. 

"For too long children from low-income families, students whose first language is not English, and children with disabilities have been left behind," said Kathleen MacRae, the executive director of the ACLU of Delaware. 

“Every child deserves a chance to succeed. All students have a right to an education that prepares them adequately for college and the world of work."

Young said the lawsuit could change the nature of education funding in Delaware, which in turn could affect the precepts of the memorandum of understanding. He wanted to know more about how it would shake out before making a decision on the agreement with Carney and the state. 

"I'm hoping we can get some additional clarity," he said. "I think our attorney should not only read the MOU, but should read the lawsuit."

On Twitter, Young said he was on board with the lawsuit and would work to get the Christina Board of Education to approve a resolution in support of it. 

Story continues below PDF. 

Budget not approved

In addition to tabling the MOU Tuesday, the school board voted 3 to 2 against approving the district's final 2017-18 budget. 

Young, Elizabeth Paige and Angela Mitchell cast the dissenting votes. George Evans and Fred Polaski, the board's president and vice president, voted in favor of approving the budget. 

Christina School Board member Elizabeth Campbell Paige speaks during a Christina School Board meeting Tuesday at Sarah Pyle Academy.

Paige also voted against the preliminary budget, saying it did not reflect the district's values or spend enough money on things directly benefiting kids.

Young condemned the district's practice of putting large contracts and payments on the consent agenda, which he felt discouraged public discourse on discretionary purchases and financial decisions. 

Chief Financial Officer Robert Silber seemed taken aback by the decision and was not clear what the consequences would be. It was unclear if the state could, or would, penalize the district in some way or hold back funding as a result. 

Christina School District Chief Financial Officer Robert Silber, left, presents the 2018 budget to the Christina School Board Tuesday night at Sarah Pyles Academy.

“Frankly this is the first time I have experienced a school board not approving a final budget," Silber said. 

When he asked the school board for further direction on how he could modify the budget and get the board's approval, he was initially met by silence. 

Young then chimed in and said he had plenty of ideas and would email them to Silber before the board's next meeting.

Board policy calls for members to approve the budget in January, Silber said. The board does not meet again until Feb. 13. 

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

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