Thom Labarbera, Brandywine Social Studies Teacher, Passes Away

I just saw Brandywine School District put this out.  My condolences to Mr. Labarbera’s family and the Brandywine School District community.  Rest in peace sir.

Dear BSD families,
It is with the heaviest of hearts that we mourn the loss of Concord teacher Thom Labarbera, who tragically passed away this weekend. Mr. Labarbera, a Brandywine School District social studies teacher of 20 years, will be sorely missed at Concord and in our community. Due to this unexpected and tragic loss, there will be no school for Concord students tomorrow, Monday, January 23rd. Members of the BSD Crisis Team are meeting today. We will be prepared to support Concord’s faculty tomorrow and are working to plan and coordinate support for students on Tuesday. For those CHS students who need additional support more immediately, Crisis Team members will be available at Concord from 11 am to 3 pm tomorrow. Please know that the District will do everything it can to ensure that the emotional needs of our students, staff, and families are met during this most difficult time. May Mr. Labarbera rest in peace. He will be dearly missed.

Only One More Day To Vote In DSEA Election For President and Vice-President

The voting for the Delaware State Education Association leadership officially ends tomorrow, January 23rd.  All ballots must be in as per the DSEA election website.  Initial results will be shared with the Executive Director and Business Manager of DSEA on Thursday, and preliminary results will be announced on January 27th.  If there is a challenge based on the preliminary results, that would have to be in by February 3rd.  At the DSEA Executive Board meeting on February 16th, the results will be officially ratified.

There are four races for the President slot and two for the Vice-President.  For President, there is Karen Crouse, Mike Matthews, Danny Rufo, and Dom Zaffora.  For Vice-President, there is Jackie Kook and Stephanie Ingraham.  Two are running on a “ticket” per se, but that ticket could be divided pending the results.  Those “tickets” are Matthews/Kook and Crouse/Ingraham.

What is at stake with this election?  The teacher’s union in Delaware would have a lot to contend with in the coming years.  The three-year terms would usher in the new Every Student Succeeds Act in Delaware along with mounting budget issues that will almost assuredly result in education cuts along the way.  Add on the new Carney administration and a promise from Governor John Carney to make the Delaware Department of Education less of an accountability factory and more of a resource center for districts and charters.  However, much of that will depend on the final approved ESSA state plan.  Even though ESSA was meant to eliminate a lot of the federal oversight, accountability regulations won’t change things that much.  And if history is an indicator, the Delaware DOE loves accountability.  The role of teacher evaluations will always be a major issue with DSEA.  Other potential factors affecting them, depending on the state budget, could be the Wilmington Education Improvement Commission redistricting plan or the possibility of consolidating districts around the state becoming more than a discussion point.