What? Who in the world is Herbert Sheldon? Who is the Board? While you may not know this name right now unless you are very involved in Delaware education, you soon will. Why?
Last week I informed readers a Delaware charter school would be going under formal review. I purposely did not say which one because I wanted to make sure all the ducks were in a row. That has now happened and I can say that Delaware Academy of Public Safety & Security will get a recommendation for formal review from the Delaware Charter School Office to the Delaware State Board of Education for low enrollment and financial viability. The school is way below their approved enrollment. They are way below the state required 80% of their enrollment. This has been an ongoing issue which is not being ignored by the Delaware Department of Education. Recently, the DOE sent someone in to physically count heads according to my mole. And the numbers were not pretty.
Head of School Herbert Sheldon and the school’s Board of Directors will have to face the music before the Charter School Accountability Committee. With numbers this low, I don’t give high odds for this school. While this is all subject to the State Board approving the formal review, they would be foolish to ignore the reality before them. This downward spiral has been going on for years. I’m not knocking the school and their mission, but sometimes you just have to hang it up. Whether it is too many charter schools or something going on internally at the school, their enrollment has consistently been dropping. Even after they were approved for a major modification to lower their enrollment. Now their special education numbers are VERY high compared to other charters. Which I don’t take issue with, but when you do not have the staff to adequately serve those students, they deserve far better.
So Sheldon and the Board get my first 2018 impact award for these reasons.
The Season Of Myths 