The Christina School District. They have less administrators than they did four years ago, but they also have over 2,000 less students than they did then. Much of that can be attributed to the very big charter school growth during that time. Not only were new charters springing up all over the place, but existing charters expanded their enrollment by adding new grades. Former Superintendent Freeman Williams resigned in the Fall of 2015 and the district did not get a new Superintendent until the beginning of 2017. The Delaware DOE and various Delaware Governor’s public education target, Christina has actually come a long way. Last month they signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Governor Carney and the Delaware Department of Education. They are taking a strong look at each of their schools, not only in Wilmington but also the Newark/Bear/Glasgow area as well.
I’ve predicted their demise but that was more of a warning shot to them. Out of all the districts and charters in Delaware, I’ve probably written about them the most. Which I feel gives me the ability to defend them when the need arises. The district certainly has their challenges but all districts do. Christina has some of the highest numbers of low-income and special education students in the entire state. While they don’t have the highest percentage of low-income students, they have the highest number of students. And many of those, especially in Wilmington, are students of poverty. They aren’t the district I’m worried about. More on that another day.
A very important note about their numbers. The district itself has 75 administrators making over $100,000. While that may seem like a lot, they also have over 15,000 students in their district despite the charter explosion in the past decade. But they also hold special programs in their district, such as the Delaware Autism Program and the Delaware School For The Deaf. With those programs, the district has 93 administrators making over $100,000. This is an important distinction which will play out later on. Four years ago they had 108 administrators hitting the over $100,000 mark.
Christina School District:
30 Schools
14,689 Students
District: 75 Over $100k
Other Programs: 18 Over $100k
*(broken down by district and other programs)
DEMOGRAPHICS
African-American: 39.3%
American Indian: .2%
Asian: 5.5%
Hawaiian: .1%
Hispanic Latino: 22.5%
White: 27.5%
Multi-Racial: 4.9%
English Language Learners: 13.7%
Low-Income: 42.9%
Special Education: 20.9%
District
Deirdra Aikens, Principal, Leasure, $126,341
Raushann Austin, Principal, Pulaski, $120,736
Dionne Bartley-Avant, Assistant Principal, Gauger-Cobbs, $113,883
James Baustert, Manager, Facilities Services, $116,842
Curtis Bedford, Supervisor Professional Development, $134,758
Natalie Birch, Principal, Wilson, $122,325
Jeffers Brown, Principal, Stubbs, $127,825
Heather Buchanan, Assistant Principal, Keene, $118,509
Vilicia Cade, Senior Director, Secondary Education, $146,083
Victoir Cahoon, Principal, Bayard, $134,896
Shevena Cale, Principal, Jones, $123,413
Erin Cassel, Principal, Gallaher, $119,647
Dana Crumlish, Supervisor, Student Services, $127,143
Kristin DeGregory, Assistant Principal, Newark H.S., $122,314
Marilyn Dollard, Principal, Oberle, $134,139
Bartley Dryden, Principal, Maclary, $128,695
Nakia Fambro, Assistant Principal, Glasgow H.S., $119,064
Brandie Foxx, Assistant Principal, Gallaher, $111,413
Jacqueline Gallagher, Assistant Principal, Brader, $111,663
Jeanette Ganc, Principal, Brader, $122,575
Garcia Garnett Jr., Supervisor, Transportation Services, $127,643
Mable (Mae) Gaskins, Principal, Jennie Smith, $123,075
Christine Getugi, Assistant Principal, Christiana H.S., $114,113
Denise Glover, Supervisor, Business Services, $128,270
Krystal Greenfield, Assistant Principal, Bayard, $122,314
Richard Gregg, Superintendent, $180,000 (four years ago former Superintendent Freeman Williams’ salary was $182,076 with an additional $10,011 in other compensation for a total of $192,088)
Ledonnis Hernandez, Principal, West Park Place, $120,736
Catherine Herring, Assistant Principal, Christiana H.S., $113,855
Harold (Butch) Ingram Jr., Principal, Bancroft, $130,841
Dean Ivory, Principal, Glasgow H.S., $128,770
Patricia (Elaine) Jefferson, Assistant Principal, Shue-Medill, $116,206
Robert Jefferson, Assistant Principal, Gauger-Cobbs, $121,637
Philip Keefer, Supervisor, State & Federal Programs, $125,141
Karen Keller, Director, Human Resources, $133,700
Norman Kennedy III, Principal, Kirk, $127,729
Dolores (DeeJay) Kingery, Assistant Principal, Bancroft, $122,009
Amy Kohan, Assistant Principal, Kirk, $118,419
Nicholas Koski-Vacirca, Manager, Facilities Services, $116,992
Wendy Lapham, Manager, Public Information, $116,842
Jennifer Lapin, Supervisor Assessment, Research & Evaluation, $128,393
Noreen Lasorsa, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment, $156,668
Brian Lee, Assistant Principal, Leasure, $119,009
John Lynch III, Assistant Principal, Jennie Smith, $119,259
Kristina MacBury, Principal, Sarah Pyle Academy, $132,221
Daphne Mathews, Administrator, Adult Education, $125,891
Edward Mayfield, Assistant to Superintendent, Director Operations, $143,800
Gina Moody, Principal, Elbert-Palmer, $134,513
Sean Mulrine, Principal, Gauger-Cobbs, $123,479
Tracy Novack, Assistant Principal, Marshall, $120,231
Kevin Ohlandt, Unofficial Blog Writer for District, $0.00
James Osgood, Assistant Principal, Christina Early Childhood Center, $120,495
Gaurang Pathak, Financial Manager, Procurement, $116,992
Donald Patton, Administrator Special Assignment, $124,891
Demeter Picciotti, Manager, Facilities Services, $116,992
Samuel Postlethwait, Principal, Christiana H.S., $128,270
Patricia Prettyman, Principal, Downes, $125,591
Charles Priestly, Assistant Principal, Shue-Medill, $119,064
Rebecca Reggio, Assistant Principal, Newark H.S., $126,002
Rella Reynolds, Assistant Principal, Oberle, $113,440
Rebecca Ryan, Principal, Christina Early Childhood Center, $121,825
Michele Savage, Principal, Shue-Medill, $121,137
Michael Scott, Assistant Principal, Glasgow H.S., $121,137
Aaron Selekman, Principal, Newark H.S., $134,520
Amy Selheimer, Principal, Marshall, $120,564
Robert Sharkey, Manager, Facilities Services, $116,842
Robert Silber, Assistant Superintendent, Chief Financial Officer, $149,168
Timothy Slade, Assistant Principal, Newark H.S., $124,887
Andrea Solge, Supervisor, Child Nutrition Services, $124,741
Celeste Sosa-Vann, Assistant Principal, Pulaski, $118,759
Eric Stephens, Principal, Brookside, $125,841
Mariellen Taraboletti, Principal, Keene, $120,736
Josette Tucker, Senior Director, Human Resources, $141,083
Robert Vacca, Supervisor, Payroll, $126,993
George Wicks, Supervisor, Planning & Facilities, $126,993
David Wilkie, Principal, McVey, $123,413
Whitney Williams, Supervisor, Parent & Community, $129,270
Christina School District CEEC Reach ILC & Networks Programs
Norma Brister, Principal, Networks School, $125,391
Jill Casey, Principal, REACH, $120,736
Melissa Henry, Assistant Principal, REACH, $112,427
Tara Needam, Supervisor, Special Services, $124,891
Elizabeth O’Hare, Administrator, Special Services, $122,064
Delaware Autism Program
Michael Andrews, Assistant Principal, Ext. Services, Brennen, $116,481
Jennifer Brown, Assistant Principal, Brennen, $118,028
Heather Calkins, Assistant Principal, Brennen, $117,745
Jeffrey Conkey, Principal, Brennen, $125,141
Alexis Hackett, Assistant Principal, Brennen, $115,986
Pamela Padovani, Assistant Principal, Brennen, $120,350
Vincent Winterling, Statewide Director, $134,450
Delaware School For The Deaf
Mark Campano, Coordinator State Programs Deaf-Blind, $121,825
Courtney Cooper, School Leader, $111,413
Eva Hartmann, Dean of Students, $119,759
Tara Kelly, School Leader, FACES, $113,440
Laurie Kettle-Rivera, Interim Director/Coordinator Statewide, $134,902
Daphne Werner, Secondary School Leader, $114,704
The Season Of Myths 
How are salaries of the 18 from additional programs funded?
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Uhm, I don’t know.
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Easy Peasy Answer. Those are state and federal funds supplemented by our fancy schmacey TUITION TAX dollars – the tax that voters don’t actually get to vote on… it’s raised and lowered every July or August based on the IEPS of the students served therein. And yes, some years, in CSD, the tuition tax been lowered. It’s minutia but would be unfair to not disclose the full truth.
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But Christina gets the tuition tax portion from districts that sends their kids to those special programs, correct? For example, if an Appo student goes to DAP, Appo sends that funding to Christina. And I believe the Delaware DOE has to approve all of those payments.
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I’m going to try and be clear and just use DAP as the example in the explanation.
There are special programs that have been created through state legislature. DAP was one such program. It was embedded in CSD for the purpose of handling its business office and a few other reasons that are pretty much non-issues today. CSD is the financial custodian for DAP. DAP earned it’s own unit count based on the IEPs of the children served therein. CSD does the hiring, firing, and billing, and bill paying for DAP as part of its duties. The state approves the billing formula, approves the bills, and sends them to the sending district. Christina actually receives tuition bill from DAP. Because DAP is its own little entity, the chief financial officer makes an e-transfer from CSD to pay the bill to DAP. CSD knows how many of its children attend DAP via the in-district IEP process. Thus, when the district needs to calculate tuition tax, CSD has the pertinent numbers needed to adjust the DAP’s share of the tuition tax. Sending districts have this same data as it pertains to their districts and set their own tuition rates. Red Clay pays it’s bill to DAP where it is electronically managed by CSD.
I can’t stress enough these are statewide programs, created through legislation and embedded in CSD in a way that saves the tax payers money because the programs do not have their own business offices and the salaries that accompany such staff. CSD acts as their custodian. It does NOT inter-mingle funds. However, it has loaned programs funding when sending districts are neglectful of sending their payments.
The system, however, has not always been perfect and still isn’t. That’s not CSD’s fault. DOE tells them what to do. One year several sending districts disputed their bills and waited until the CSD board issued very strong guidance on the future acceptance of their students and notification of sending parents. During the standoff, the special program ran low on funds and CSD stepped in to loan the program money. It was fully repaid. As another example, A long long time ago, Christina tax payers fully funded the residences for DAP – DOE did not include the cost of the residences in the bill. Therefore, districts that sent a student for a short-term stay at the residences were paying nada. The big secret is that CSD tax payers paid for those stays for ages until the formula was changed at CSD’s request about 8 years back. From my experience an the long-dismissed DAP task force for future growth, a group of education leaders and parents that met several times 10-12 years ago, some of these funding details were oversights that resulted from a program growing exponentially across the state. The residential issue stems from the fact that DAP in NCCo was/is the only location of residential units. Billing practices and guidance from DOE happened much slower than the speed of growth. There is one more point I want to share – I believe the staffing ratios, including what appears to be an excessive allotment of vice principals – is explained in state code. I can’t provide a more current view as I have not had much contact with the DAP for several years. But, I hope this provides a more complete picture of the operations of special programs in general.
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These are local dollars? Chrstina home and business owners?
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I really like this blog site, will definitely come back again. Make sure you carry on creating quality content articles.
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What KO guy needs a salary.
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