Explosive Public Comment For Odyssey’s Renewal, McGuiness Fails To Deliver

Public comment sent to the Charter School Office at the Delaware Department of Education indicates the AHEPA members of the Board of Directors over at Odyssey Charter School STILL haven’t learned the lesson that put them on formal review in the first place!

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This prompted Delaware State Rep. Kim Williams to file Freedom of Information Act violations against the Board of Directors not once, but twice!

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Sounds like AHEPA has some explaining to do!

Meanwhile, Delaware State Auditor Kathy McGuiness has failed to deliver the audit investigation into Odyssey Charter School.  They informed the school it was “anticipated” by December 15th.  It is now December 18th and the State Board of Education is making an important decision about this school in two days at their monthly meeting.  Once again, missing information.  But hey, let’s give McG a big break because I’m sure she is really busy socializing around Delaware for every opportunity she can get to let folks know she is Kathy McGuiness and some useless facts about the Auditor of Accounts office!

My prediction: further probation for Odyssey Charter School until all the facts come out on this stuff!

The Strange Case Of The Disappearing Christina Board Meeting

I see this with charter schools quite a bit but postponing a regular board meeting for a school district?  That is highly unusual!  Today, the Christina School District postponed their regular January Board of Education meeting scheduled for tonight at Bayard Middle School.  Is this a fluke or is there a specific reason the meeting was postponed?

Letter To Indian River School Board Re: Civil Lawsuit Against Patrick Miller

It has been two years since the Indian River School District Audit Investigation report came out.  In that time, the Delaware Attorney General’s office decided it wasn’t worth pursuing criminal charges against former Chief Financial Officer Patrick Miller.  Even though African-American and minority charter school leaders who pulled the same shenanigans did get punished.  Delaware’s justice system really sucks.  Delaware Attorney General Matt Denn knows better than this.  I am highly disappointed.

One citizen of the district decided to email the Indian River Board of Education and find out why they didn’t go after Miller in a civil suit.

What Is Going On With Gateway’s Board Of Directors? Did They Violate FOIA & Their Own By-Laws?

The Gateway Lab School Board of Directors went through a radical shift between their July and August board meetings.  Four board members disappeared but nothing was found in the minutes or audio recordings stating those board members resigned.  As well, changes to their by-laws might have been done illegally.

Attorney General Opinion Highlights Need For More Accurate Accounting For Education Funding

Allison Reardon, the State Solicitor for the Delaware Department of Justice, wrote a legal opinion on a Freedom of Information Act complaint last week.  Even though DOJ ruled the complaint was not a FOIA violation, the answer from Christina School District shows Delaware seems woefully lost in terms of being able to decipher education funding.

Exclusive: Odyssey Parent’s Email To Board About Unethical Board Practices & Conflicts Of Interest

No sooner do I post an article about Odyssey than an email comes in from an Odyssey parent who is fed up with their Board!  While this email has been circulating among Odyssey parents on social media today, this is the first time it has been open to the public like this.  The parent gave me full permission to post this and considers it a public document!

Teachers & Parents Are NOT Happy With Odyssey’s Lack Of Transparency With New Leadership

Events at Odyssey Charter School have been bubbling for some time now but they are coming to a boil in recent weeks.  When the Odyssey Board of Directors chose not to renew Headmaster Nick Manolakos’ contract, they put forth Riccardo Stoeckicht as their new “Campus Operations Officer” and Denise Parks as their Head of School.  Between these two hirings, the school is looking at over $300,000.00 for these two positions alone.  But the shenanigans don’t stop there.

Former Employee Alleges Delaware DOE Violated FOIA, Delaware AG Opinion Agrees

Atnre Alleyne, a former employee of the Delaware Department of Education and the current head of DelawareCAN, filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the DOE back in March.  He was not satisfied with their response and filed a FOIA complaint with the Delaware Department of Justice.  The Delaware DOJ issued their opinion on the complaint on May 4th and found the Delaware DOE did violate FOIA.

Carney & Bunting Announce Teacher Advisory Council But Violate FOIA With First Meeting Today

**UPDATED**, 4:36pm: I was informed by the Governor’s Office this is a public meeting.  With that being said, they are in open violation of Delaware law.

It wouldn’t be Delaware without yet another council.  But this one takes the cake because no sooner does Governor John Carney and Delaware Secretary of Education Dr. Susan Bunting announce this but the first meeting is today.  To assume this decision was made today would be foolhardy because the teachers would have been given advance notice to attend this meeting.  I don’t know when the teachers were given their notice, but I can tell you it did not appear on the Delaware Public Meeting Calendar until 3/23.  Today is 3/27.  Delaware FOIA law states all public notices of meetings must be up seven days prior to that public meeting.  I don’t look at that calendar every day.  The last time I looked at it was on 3/22 and I did not see it on there.

The below picture is from the posted agenda:

This is my issue with this.  There is a reason we have that seven-day law.  Not a rule, a law.  Every other state agency who had meetings or committee meetings postponed due to last week’s snowstorm reposted agendas.  But four days, for something brand new, is not acceptable.  The DOE and Carney’s Office could have rescheduled this first meeting.  But no, they announce it the day of with little to no disregard they are violating state law.  Had I known this was an actual public meeting (which was not announced in the DOE’s below press release), I would have gone to it.  But instead, I see an email from the Governor’s Office stating it is.

What was the criteria for the selection of teachers?  Does DSEA know about this?  While I always feel teachers having a louder voice is important, I do NOT like the fact this was just announced today (or on Friday if you want to be technical).  And where is the Parent Advisory Council?  How come parents are always left out of important education policy decisions?  I guess our voices don’t matter as much.  We just have to deal with the results of these education policy decisions…

I would file a FOIA complaint about this meeting with no agenda just being announced today, but it is a backdoor meeting and not open to the public.  FOIA only applies to public meetings.  Which Bunting and Carney don’t seem to want… 

Maybe I should file a FOIA complaint.  Since the meeting is going on, let’s see, NOW.

Council will gather feedback from educators statewide, increase the voice of teachers in policy decisions

DOVER, Del. – Governor John Carney and Dr. Susan Bunting, Secretary of the Delaware Department of Education, announced on Tuesday the establishment of a new Teachers Advisory Council to gather the feedback of educators from across the state.

Secretary Bunting invited two teachers from each of the state’s 19 school districts and six charter school educators to join the group, which will facilitate communication, contribute to solutions, and help increase the voice of teachers in policy decisions. The group will meet bi-monthly to discuss a variety of issues affecting teachers.

“Educators work on the front lines helping prepare Delaware’s children for the future,” said Governor Carney. “We are committed to transforming the Department into a true support agency to help schools and educators better serve their students. This new advisory council will help ensure that we are listening to educators every step of the way as we make policy decisions that affect the classroom. Thank you to the educators who are participating, and Dr. Bunting and our team at the Department of Education for convening this group.”

“This is an opportunity for me to hear directly from those who work closest with our children and often feel the most direct effects of our policy decisions,” said Secretary Bunting.

Teachers participating on the new advisory council were recommended by their superintendents or the Delaware Charter School Network for the voluntary role. Secretary Bunting has asked each to share his or her personal feelings as an individual rather than serve as a representative of a district or charter school’s position on an issue.

This group is in addition to the Teacher of the Year Advisory Council, which Secretary Bunting also meets with bi-monthly.

 

Educators participating in the new advisory council include:

• Kristyn Bradford of Lake Forest North Elementary in Lake Forest School District
• Seth Buford of Milford High School in Milford School District
  Shorel Clark of Brittingham Elementary School in Cape Henlopen School District
• Marisa Clarke of Central Elementary in Seaford School District
• Guy Cooper of Providence Creek Academy charter school
• Luke Crossan of Waters Middle School in Appoquinimink School District
• Todd Cushman of Delmar Middle School in Delmar School District
• Chelsea Darczuk of East Side Charter School
• Robert Edmondson of Seaford Middle School in Seaford School District
• Catherine (Katy) Evans of Sunnyside Elementary School in the Smyrna School District
• Christina Gallo of Lake Forest High School in Lake Forest School District
• Shelby Gordon of Bunker Hill Elementary School in Appoquinimink School District
• Emily Green of Caesar Rodney High School in Caesar Rodney School District
• Robert Harrod of Cape Henlopen High School in Cape Henlopen School District
• Matt Hoopes of Concord High School in Brandywine School District
• Shelley Hovanec of Woodbridge Early Childhood Education Center in Woodbridge School District
• Michelle Howard of Delmar High School in Delmar School District
• Lesley Louder of Dover High School in Capital School District
• Tina Lykens of POLYTECH High School in POLYTECH School District
• Jennifer MacDonald of Smyrna High School in Smyrna School District
• Nathalie Melvin of South Dover Elementary School in Capital School District
• Phyllis Mobley of Harlan Elementary School in Brandywine School District
• Elaine Norris of Mispillion Elementary School in Milford School District
• Petra Palmer of Delcastle High School in New Castle County Vo-Tech School District
• Michael Paoli of Hodgson High School in New Castle County Vo-Tech School District
• Sarah Polaski of Christiana Middle School Academy in Christina School District
• Moraima Reardon of Woodbridge High School in Woodbridge School District
• Lisa Richardson of Millsboro Middle School in Indian River School District
• Matthew Sabol of William Penn High School in Colonial School District
• Dara Savage of Early College High School charter school
• Cameron Sweeney of POLYTECH High School in POLYTECH School District
• Crystal Thawley of Sussex Technical High School in Sussex Technical School District
• Elizabeth Van Aulen of Wilson Elementary School in Christina School District
• Anthony Varrato of Sussex Technical High School of Sussex Technical School District
• Kim Weber of Welch Elementary in Caesar Rodney School District
• Leigh Weldin of Conrad School of Sciences in Red Clay Consolidated School District
• Karen Willey of Sussex Academy charter school
• Jill Young of Lord Baltimore Elementary in Indian River School District
• Stacie Zdrojewski of Red Clay Consolidated School District Office

The Teacher Advisory Council will meet on Tuesday, March 27th from 4:30 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. at the Collette Education Resource Center Conference Room, 35 Commerce Way, Suite 1, Dover.

Delaware Public Education Salaries Over $100,000: Rankings, Student Cost, Ratios, $$$ Totals, & Synopsis

After weeks of work, all of the Delaware Public Education salaries over $100,000 have been posted with a few exceptions.  Those are four charter schools who either did not respond or will in the next couple of days.  But there is more than enough data to make some sense out of all this.  Many asked why I was posting these.  There were several reasons: requests, comparisons, money tracking, and general curiosity.  But the main reason was to see if I could answer the age-old question- “Are there too many administrators?”  Finally, I am prepared to answer that.

New Castle County Vo-Tech Salaries Over $100,000

New Castle County Vo-Tech School District has a lot of very high-priced administrators in their district.  Their leader, Dr. Victoria Gehrt, is the second highest paid Superintendent in the state.  Their enrollment has gone up in the past four years by over 168 students but they have eight less administrators making over $100,000.  What is very interesting with them is their Assistant Principals seem to begin in the $120,000 range, which is significantly higher than the rest of the state.  All of their Principals are in the $140,000 range.  This is what happens when the General Assembly approves a line-by-line budget as they do with all the vocational districts in Delaware.  I do get that all of their schools are high schools and those usually require Assistant Principals.  It just seems way out of proportion when compared to other districts.  Of note is the fact they do not appear to have an Assistant Superintendent so perhaps that is a wash.

Charter School Salaries Over $100,000: Freire, Las Americas ASPIRA, Positive Outcomes, and Thomas Edison

Three more charter schools.  Two in New Castle County, one in Kent.  One centers around Spanish language skills.  Another is a special education theme.  One originally began with a theme of zero tolerance with school discipline but changed its tune.  One had a ruckus last fall when their school leader was placed on leave because he wanted more pay for teachers. 

Polytech and Sussex Tech Salaries Over $100,000

Delaware has three vocational districts, one for each county.  For this post, I’m combining Polytech (Kent) and Sussex Tech (Sussex).  Both have fixed enrollments.  In fact, Sussex Tech got in trouble a few years ago for going over that fixed amount of students.  The key difference in funding between the vo-techs and the districts and charters is the Delaware General Assembly sets their budget in line-by-line items in their annual budget.  As well, their boards are appointed by the Governor of Delaware.  Their salaries can be higher than the districts around them in certain areas.  And what is up with Sussex Tech’s former Superintendent still making the big bucks?  Isn’t he former?  Oh yeah, he’s been on paid leave since last June because of inappropriate land deals down there according to the Cape Gazette.  Do these two schools really need this many administrators?

Woodbridge School District Salaries Over $100,000

The last of the traditional school district, Woodbridge School District is another one of the “cross-county” districts.  They are a growing district.  They also have a Superintendent with a name that sounds like a movie star: Heath Chasanov.  I’ve written a billion of these salary posts so I feel I ‘m allowed a bit of humor as I approach the finish line. But I digress.  Woodbridge is also home to someone I admire, Michele Marinucci.  The district’s special education coordinator, along with State Rep. Kim Williams, got the Special Education Strategic Plan formed into a cohesive committee that is doing great things for special education in Delaware.  Chasanov has been commended by the Delaware Dept. of Education for the district’s growth on the Smarter Balanced Assessment.  Not my cup of tea, but it keeps them in the spotlight.

Smyrna School District Salaries Over $100,000

Smyrna and Clayton are very tight-knit communities.  Many in the Smyrna area will tell you the Smyrna School District runs the town.  Whether that is true or not, one thing is true: Superintendent Patrik Williams certainly runs his schools!  By keeping administrative costs down, he runs a tight ship.  While Smyrna is not the fastest growing area in the state, it is certainly growing.  Smyrna’s biggest competition is local charter schools Providence Creek Academy and First State Military Academy, both in Clayton.  The district has grown modestly by about 200 students in the past four years.  Last year, former Superintendent Deborah Wicks retired.  The one thing about Smyrna that troubles me to no end is their very high expulsion rates.  They are the highest in the state.  Last year they had 30 expulsions.  To me, that is zero tolerance.  Something we should be getting away from.  It is rumored Smyrna does this so they can pay for pre-paid spots at Parkway Academy.  While this hasn’t been made official, it makes sense in a bizarre way.  The State Board of Education sees more expulsion appeals come from Smyrna over any other district or charter school.  There is a reason for that.  Williams is a pretty funny guy once you get to know him.

Seaford School District Salaries Over $100,000

The Seaford School District lies on the western edge of Sussex County.  The district hovers around the just below 3,500 mark most of the time.  Even though their enrollment is the same, they have two more administrators making over $100,000 than they did four years ago.  Like their neighbor to the south, Laurel, they have a high percentage of low-income students and English Language learners.  The Wilmington Education Improvement Commission brought up both of these districts many times in their reports on Delaware public schools.  Seaford reminds me of the school district I grew up in with its make-up four elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school.  But that’s where the similarities end.  My school district was about 3/5ths the size of Seaford.  Which means they have a lot of kids in their buildings. 

Red Clay Consolidated School District Salaries Over $100,000

Red Clay Consolidated School District has become a cash cow.

I thought I had a general idea of my overall theory of school administrators in Delaware.  Red Clay was the last to respond to my FOIA request with their numbers.  I sat for a good ten minutes just staring at what they sent me.  While Christina and Red Clay have the exact same amount of administrators, Christina has more schools AND holds statewide programs like the Delaware Autism Program.  Both have 93 administrators.  But in reviewing Red Clay’s, along with some of the titles, I was utterly shocked.  They have individual supervisors for each core subject, personnel specialists, and program coordinators.

Milford School District Salaries Over $100,000

The Milford School District is one of the few districts in Delaware that lies in two different counties.  For Milford, both Kent and Sussex County have parts of the district.  As a result, their tax pool is different.  A couple of years ago, Milford, like many other districts, had to raise their tuition tax.  This is a portion of property taxes the public does not get a vote on.  The money is for special education costs.  Milford raised their tuition tax considerably and the public got sticker shock when they opened their tax bill.  As a result, it forced the district to become very frugal with their spending.  The district has the second lowest amount of administrators over $100,000 based on their student count.  New Superintendent Kevin Dickerson inherited the previous Superintendent’s mess but is doing a decent job of putting the district back on solid ground.  The district has 104 less students than they had four years ago and three less administrators making over $100,000.

Charter School Salaries Over $100,000: MOT, Newark Charter, Odyssey, Providence Creek, & Sussex Academy

These five charter schools are very distinctive in one area: they all have low populations of special education students compared to their surrounding districts.  But those aren’t the only comparisons among them.  Two of them have school leaders that received salary bumps over $50,000 and then resigned or are set to retire.  Pension law in Delaware sets your pension based on your three highest years of salary.  Intentional?  You be the judge.

These five charters range from near the top of Delaware in New Castle County all the way to the heart of Sussex County with one right near the middle in Kent.  All of these charters have significant student enrollment and have taken many students from their surrounding school districts.  They are also in very populous, and in some cases, fast growing areas of the state.

Laurel School District Salaries Over $100,000

One of the southernmost districts in Delaware, Laurel school district’s population is increasing at a modest rate.  But it also has a very large percentage of low-income students.  As well, they are dealing with a fast growing population of English Language learners.  Many districts in western Sussex county face the same issue with property assessments bearing a large burden on local taxpayers.  The way the system was set up decades ago has winners and losers.  For Laurel property owners, they lose big.  As a result, the district is forced to tighten their money belt the same time their population is growing.  Four years ago, only the Superintendent made over $100,000, now there are five.