In what is promising to be an epic board meeting tonight, the Christina School District is facing an onslaught of issues, all at once. These are the biggest items facing them tonight:
-The leave of absence of Superintendent Dr. Freeman Williams and the whole thorny issue over last week’s executive session going over his “competencies” and the legality of it.
-The recent guilty verdict of board member Shirley Saffer’s harassment of a bus driver a year and a half ago.
-Christina’s budget and the unfortunate letting go of over 100 employees, as well as future referendum discussion.
-Declining enrollment due to choice and charters and the impact that is having on the district.
-Tension between board members. Will the topic of two board members tipping off the state auditor to do an investigation against the district come up? It should! As well, reports have surfaced that one board member (could be included as one of the above two) has been acting unilaterally with important matters such as removing a posting for a deputy Superintendent and meeting with local legislators and business leaders on the whole redistricting effort.
-Board Member Elizabeth Paige has an opt-out policy on the agenda which will get into the whole high-stakes testing discussion.
-Tension between the district and the board will surely reach a fever pitch in the coming weeks as school starts and the impact of the budget crunch will be felt in every facet of student’s lives.
-The redistricting effort to remove Christina’s Wilmington schools from their authority and place them under Red Clay Consolidated’s control.
The Season Of Myths 