Gregory Coverdale Resigned From The State Board of Education & Other State Board News

The Delaware State Board of Education has a vacancy!  Board member Gregory Coverdale resigned before the November State Board meeting and it was announced by President Dennis Loftus at the meeting.  His term expired prior to that but he decided to continue his seat until a replacement was found.  Coverdale was unable to continue serving due to work commitments.  Chances are good Governor John Carney will wait until the new year to nominate Coverdale’s replacement.  The 149th General Assembly returns in mid-January.

The State Board of Ed has their next meeting on December 14th, at 5pm.  The big news will be the charter school renewal-palooza with five schools awaiting the big decision.  Public comment on those renewals ended today.  Academia Antonia Alonso, Early College High School, First State Montessori Academy, Sussex Academy, and Thomas Edison Charter School are all up for renewal.  Delaware Secretary of Education will announce her recommendation for each school and then the State Board will vote on each school.

Other items on the agenda for the State Board meeting include an update on the State Board’s Literacy Campaign, a presentation on the DPAS Annual Report, a Regulation dealing with matching Delaware state code with Federal Law concerning visually impaired students, a Regulation about Financial Literacy and Computer Science standards, a few Regulations from the Professional Standards Board on teacher licensure, and a couple of information items about appeals between students and the Smyrna School District.

What is NOT on the agenda is Regulation 225.  For those who don’t know, the Regulation received 11,000 comments which will take some time for Secretary Bunting to review.  She did thank all who submitted public comment.  This information appeared on the agenda for the meeting on Thursday concerning Regulation 225:

The public comment period for proposed 225 Prohibition of Discrimination Regulation closed on December 4, 2017. The Department received more than 11,000 comments, which deserve careful review before a decision is made. Secretary Bunting is asking the Development Team to reconvene in January to review the comments and make recommendations for changes to the regulation. If substantive changes are made, the regulation will be published in the Register again with another 30-day public comment period before any decision on a final regulation is made.

Secretary Bunting thanks, those who shared their feedback during the formal comment period. All comments received will be posted online so the public, as well as committee members, can review them prior to the January Development Team meeting.

I expect a full house with the charter renewals so if you plan on attending I would get there early!  Good luck to Greg Coverdale in his future endeavors!

Two New Teacher Regulations Up For State Board Of Education Meeting On 10/15

The Delaware State Board of Education sure does love their state regulations!  Here are two more  brought forward by the Delaware Professional Standards Board.  The first deals with Graduate Level Salary Increments and the second tackles Emergency Certificates for teachers.  I went through both and looked for some key wording in the proposed changes.  I have some areas of concern.  Where things are crossed out that is old parts they are looking to get rid of.  Underlined sections are the proposed changes.  Once again, both of these regulations would give the Department of Education more power in certain matters.

The second one has some very interest language in it concerning alternate routes to certification (Teach For America, Relay Graduate School).  While neither of these two companies are mentioned, it is certainly implied this is what they are talking about.

However, the Department may issue an Emergency Certificate to an employed educator enrolled in an approved alternative routes for teacher licensure and certification program even if the employing authority fails to meet the 60-day request deadline.

I would suggest teachers read these documents to see what it could mean for them.  I will fully admit I am not an expert on these matters, but does this open the door for more Teach For America and Relay Graduate School in Delaware schools? Let me know!

Delaware’s Numerous October Education Meetings

As the Wilmington Education Improvement Commission barrels ahead and the State Board of Education tries to firm up an accountability system for Delaware, look for several meetings this month.  I’m going to try to get them all in, so look for a tab below this blog name going forward.  I will be updating this list through the next couple days.  Keep a close watch on the weather as several of the meetings or events could be canceled or delayed based on Hurricane Joaquin!  If you have an event or meeting you would like included on here, please feel free to leave a comment or email me at kevino3670@yahoo.com but I will be putting the traditional school districts and CBOC meetings up later today, along with the other WEIC meetings and town halls.

10/1: Professional Standards Board, 5pm-9pm, Townshend Building, 2nd Floor Conf. Room, Dover

10/1: Great Oaks Charter School Joel Klein Event, *$100 ticket, $25 for educators*, Community Education Building, Wilmington

10/5: Accountability Framework Working Group (AFWG), 1pm-4pm, Townshend Building, 2nd Floor Conf. Room, Dover

10/5: Charter School Charter Renewal Public Hearing (Campus Community, MOT, Providence Creek), 5pm, Townshend Building, 2nd Floor Conf. Room, Dover

10/5: Charter School Major Modification Public Hearing (Mapleton Charter), 5pm, Townshend Building, 2nd Floor Conf. Room, Dover

10/5: Freire Charter School Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, 5:30pm, Wilmington, Governor Markell and Mayor Williams scheduled to attend

10/5: State Board of Education Workshop on alignment of standards, curriculum, and assessment (Smarter Balanced), 5pm-8:15pm, Grotto’s Pizza-Capitol Room, Dover

10/5: WEIC: Red Clay Town Hall Meeting, 7pm, Warner Elementary School, Wilmington

10/6: Delaware Education Support System (DESS), 1pm-4pm, Government Support Services Blue Hen Conference Room, 100 Enterprise Place, Suite 4, Dover

10/6: WEIC: Funding Student Success, 2pm, Red Clay District Office, Wilmington

10/6: Citizens Budget Oversight Committee Meetings: Delaware College Prep (no time given),

10/7: Delaware Developmental Disabilities Council: Children & Families Committee, 1:30-3:30pm, DDDS Office, Bear

10/8: WEIC: Redistricting Committee, 4:00pm, Red Clay District Office, Wilmington

10/8: SCR22 Educational Technology Task Force, 4:30-7:00pm, Townshend Bldg., 2nd Floor Conf. Room, Dover

10/8: Christina, Q&A with Acting Superintendent Robert Andrzejewski, 7pm, Shue-Medill Middle School, 1500 Capital Trail, Newark

10/8: School Board Meetings: Kuumba Academy (6pm)

10/10: School Board Meetings: Delaware Academy Of Public Safety (6:30pm)

10/12: P-20 Council, 12pm, Buena Vista Conference Room, Buck Library, New Castle

10/13: Charter School Accountability Committee: Charter Renewal (Campus Community, MOT, Providence Creek), 1pm, Townshend Building, 2nd Floor Conf. Room, Dover

10/13: Charter School Accountability Committee: Major Modification (Mapleton), 1pm, Townshend Bldg., 2nd Floor Conf. Room, Dover

10/13: WEIC: Parent, Educator & Community Engagement Committee, 5:30-7:30pm, Highlands Elementary School, Wilmington

10/13: Citizens Budget Oversight Committee Meetings: Kuumba Academy (2:30pm), Odyssey Charter School (7pm)

10/13: School Board Meetings: Appoquinimink (7pm), Christina (7:30pm), Colonial (7pm), Delaware Design Lab High School (6:30pm), Delmar (7pm), Polytech (6:30pm)

10/14: School Board Meetings: Odyssey Charter School (7pm)

10/14: Citizens Budget Oversight Committee Meetings: Brandywine (12pm)

10//15: New Castle County Combined Boards of Education Meeting, 7:30am (Breakfast & Socialization, food not free for non-board affiliates), 8:00am-Meeting begins, Sheraton Wilmington South, 365 Airport Rd., New Castle

10/15: State Board of Education Meeting, 1pm, Townshend Bldg., 2nd Floor Conf. Room, Dover

10/17: Caesar Rodney School District Referendum

10/19: Citizens Budget Oversight Committee Meetings: Delaware Military Academy (4:30-6:00pm), Las Americas Aspiras (6pm)

10/19: School Board Meetings: Brandywine (7pm), Delaware College Prep (6:30pm), Milford (7pm), Seaford (7pm), Sussex Tech (Time Not Listed), Thomas Edison Charter School (6pm)

10/20: Wilmington Education Improvement Commission Regular Meeting, 4pm, Sarah Pyle Academy, Gymnasium, Wilmington

10/20: Citizens Budget Oversight Committee Meetings: Gateway Lab School (5:30pm), Newark Charter School (5:30pm), Sussex Academy (3:30pm)

10/20: School Board Meetings: First State Military Academy (5:30pm), Gateway Lab School (7pm), Newark Charter School (7:30pm), Prestige Academy (6pm)

10/21: Citizens Budget Oversight Committee Meetings: Christina (6:30-8:30pm), Positive Outcomes (5pm)

10/21: School Board Meetings: Capital (7:30pm), Laurel (7pm), Positive Outcomes (5:45pm), Red Clay Consolidated (7pm), Smyrna (7pm), Sussex Academy (3:30pm), Woodbridge (6pm)

10/22: WEIC: Colonial Town Hall Meeting, 6:30-8:00pm, George Read Middle School, New Castle

10/22: Citizens Budget Oversight Committee Meetings: Academy of Dover (5:15pm), Early College High School (4pm)

10/22: School Board Meetings: Academy of Dover (6pm), Cape Henlopen (6pm), Early College High School (5:15pm), First State Montessori (6:30pm), lake Forest (7pm), Las Americas Aspiras (?)

10/26: WEIC: Meeting the Needs of Students in Poverty Committee: 4pm, United Way of Delaware, The Linden Bldg., Third Floor, Wilmington

10/26: WEIC: Christina Town Hall, 7:00-8:30pm, Pulaski Elementary School Auditorium, Wilmington

10/26: School Board Meetings: Delaware Military Academy (5:30pm), Great Oaks (5:30pm), Indian River (7pm), New Castle County Vo-Tech (7pm)

10/27: WEIC: Funding Student Success, 2pm, Red Clay District Office, Wilmington

10/27: DPAS-II Advisory Committee, 4:30-6:30pm, Townshend Bldg., 2nd Floor Conf. Room, Dover

10/27: Citizens Budget Oversight Committee Meetings: Family Foundations Academy (5pm)

10/27: School Board Meetings: Caesar Rodney (7pm), Charter School of Wilmington (5:30pm), Providence Creek Academy (7pm)

10/28: Vision Coalition 8th Annual Conference, 7:45am-2pm, Clayton Hall, University of Delaware, Newark *$30 ticket*

10/28: WEIC: Charter & District Collaboration Committee, 5:30pm, Location TBD

10/28: Citizens Budget Oversight Committee Meetings: Academia Antonia Alonso (5pm), Campus Community (4:30pm), East Side (4pm)

10/28: School Board Meetings: Academia Antonia Alonso (5:30pm), Campus Community (5:30pm), East Side (5pm), Family Foundations Academy (7pm), MOT Charter School (7:30pm)

10/29: WEIC: Redistricting Committee, 4:00pm, Graham Hall, 111 Academy St., Newark

*The Delaware Met & Delaware STEM Academy have no scheduled board meetings on their websites