Capital School District, located in Dover, DE, will be going out for a referendum next year to help build two new middle schools in the district. Tomorrow night the district will be holding a public forum at Central Middle School to get public input on their plans for the district. Tonight, Superintendent Dr. Dan Shelton sent the following message out to parents in the district:
William Henry Middle School
16 Very Tough Questions With Capital School District About In-School Alternative Placements
Capital School DistrictA month ago, I posted an article about an In-School Alternative Program the Capital School District Board of Education would be voting on at upcoming board meeting. When I read the contract and heard the board audio recording, I had several questions about the program. I do understand the Christina School District runs the same program but I had some concerns for it in Capital’s middle schools and high school.
Capital School District Does The Administrator Shuffle
Capital School DistrictFor many students in Capital School District, their building leaders will look different in August. Capital is moving Principals and Associate Principals around as a part of their Strategic Planning Process.
For Booker T. Washington Elementary School, Dr. Paige Morgan will replace Dale Brown who resigned/retired earlier this year. William Henry Middle School will look very different. Charles Sheppard, the current Principal of Towne Point Elementary, will be the new Principal while Linda Daye will take on a role of Associate Principal, coming from Central Middle School. Current William Henry Middle School Principal Tori Giddens will take Sheppard’s spot at Towne Point. Current Associate Principal Lurleen Lumpkin will become an Associate Principal at Central Middle School taking Daye’s former spot.
I know a lot of these administrators and they are good people. I believe this is a positive step for Capital. Sometimes you need to mix things up a little!
According to a letter sent from Superintendent Dr. Dan Shelton, these changes are being made to help the district grow.
Capital School District has engaged much of the community in its Strategic Planning Process over the last 2 years. As part of that process, we are working to ensure we have opportunities for all staff members to learn and grow. We are also being very reflective on how we can advance the district.
As part of that reflective process, some administrative changes were identified. We believe that these changes will help everyone as we educate the whole child.
DE Atty. General Matt Denn Files Brief For Special Education Supreme Court Case… What About My Kid Matt?
Delaware Attorney General Matt DennDelaware Attorney General Matt Denn, along with the AGs from Massachusetts and New Mexico, filed an amicus brief for the upcoming special education case which will be heard by the United States Supreme Court. The Endrew F. v Douglas County School District is a case which can change the face of special education. But what about my kid right here in Delaware Matt Denn? The one who was kicked out of a special education program at a Delaware private school last Friday with no due process, no advance notification to the parents about the true purpose of the meeting, and no chance for my son’s voice to be heard?
For the most part, I like Matt Denn. I think he can be an excellent advocate for students with disabilities. But sadly, what he wants and what we have in Delaware are two very different things. I wish Denn could help my own son the way he is helping this child in Colorado. I understand the implications of this case and what it can do for special education if they rule in favor of the student. That would be a very good thing. But there are far too many students here in Delaware that are now suffering with special education. My own son Jacob included. If Delaware’s special education is supposed to be so great, why isn’t it Matt? We both know the answer to that. But why should my kid have to go through all venues of education in this state and still not have schools understand his needs? Charter, district, private school, private school homeschool-coop program. None have worked Matt. None. They may be great at other things, but they have all failed my son. As one father to another father, I’m asking you to do something here, in Delaware. In your state. Not later, not down the road, but now. I don’t know if I can get my son back on track. There has been so much damage done to him. By adults who think power is more important than what is right. Maybe you don’t know what it’s like to watch your own child’s spirit break time and time again. I truly hope you don’t. But I’m just one of many parents who has to pick up the pieces of a child’s shattered life again and again while the system fails him time and time again. It doesn’t matter what kind of school it is. I don’t care about all this fancy legal stuff. I just want consistency and best practices with my son, with all the special needs kids in this state. We are destroying lives here Matt. What are you going to do about that?
Talk is on thing but actions speak louder than words. How many more Jacobs do we have to have in this state Matt? How many more tears have to be shed before something is done? How many families have to deal with turmoil you can’t even begin to imagine Matt? How many more children have to be psychologically beaten down before you do something?
Delaware Files Amicus Brief Supporting a Colorado Student’s Claim on Behalf of Delaware, Massachusetts, and New Mexico.
Delaware Attorney General Matt Denn, joined by the Attorneys General of Massachusetts and New Mexico, filed a formal brief Monday with the United States Supreme Court supporting the appeal of a Colorado public school student with disabilities who claims that his school district has not complied with federal law in meeting his educational needs. The brief filed by Delaware urges the United States Supreme Court to adopt a higher national standard for the services that U.S. schools must provide, and articulates that the standard reflected in Delaware state law, rather than the lower standard used in Colorado and many other states, is the proper standard to measure the provision of such services.
The brief was written by Delaware State Solicitor Aaron Goldstein and Deputy Attorneys General Patricia Davis and Laura Makransky. The brief states that the three Attorneys General “implore this Court to find that the highest level of educational benefit for children with disabilities currently recognized by federal courts of appeal is the correct level for all of the nation’s children with disabilities in order to ensure that the [Individuals with Disabilities Education Act]’s ideals of equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency are fulfilled.”
Although Attorney General Denn has joined other briefs filed with the United States Supreme Court since taking office in January of 2015, this is the first United States Supreme Court brief that his office has authored since he took office. “We chose this issue to seek to be heard with the United States Supreme Court,” Denn said, “because it is fundamentally important to the future of every child with a disability in our nation’s public schools. We also sought to be heard because how the Supreme Court phrases its opinion could also have a direct impact on students with disabilities in Delaware public schools.”
Dover High School’s Anti-Bullying Plan Should Be A Model For All Schools In Delaware
BullyingBullying. It can be one of the most damaging experiences any student goes through. It can cause school-wide disruption in some cases and robs students of the ability to learn. Are Delaware schools safe? Do they take the best steps to prevent bullying from happening? Dover High School, in the Capital School District, is in the midst of launching an Anti-Bullying Protocol. They will be discussing this at the Capital Board of Education meeting this evening. Principal Courtney Voshell has heard the concerns and sees what happens when bullying happens. This school, students and staff alike, are sick of the bullying and are saying “Enough is enough!”
Any stop bullying plan is only as good as the implementation of it. I believe the drive to make this plan work is there, but it’s long-term outlook is unknown. I believe it is a good plan, but I do have some concerns. The words “students with disabilities” or “special education” are not mentioned once in the below document. Special needs students have been the victims of bullying and have also been the agitators of bullying. There are very specific laws, at a federal and state law, that protects these students in certain situations. Can a school-wide plan contradict an IEP team, state law, or federal law? If a school isn’t implementing an IEP correctly, should a student be punished for behaviors that are a manifestation of that disability? This is a very hard question to answer and I don’t have the answer. I am not saying this to be a Donny Downer on the plan. I think it is excellent, and if it takes off, it should be a model for many schools in Delaware. But I believe this is an angle they should look at.
My other concern is this: Why is this being done at a high school level and not the elementary or middle school levels? One of the biggest complaints I’ve heard in the Capital School District is the middle schools. Students are coddled in the elementary schools which go up to 4th grade in this district. But then they are thrown into one school for 5th and 6th grade, and then another for 7th and 8th. If those schools aren’t aggressively tackling the bullying issues (and they might be but I haven’t seen any plan this extensive coming from them), leaving the burden on the high school could be a lesson in futility. I strongly urge William Henry Middle School and Central Middle School to take a hard look at this plan and try it out in their own schools.
I would say a lot of responsibility for bullying should be on the part of parents. If they see their child participating in any type of bullying activity, they should crush it at the onset. I always tell my son when he is crossing a line with friends or online. Even though he has disabilities that affect his thinking at times, it is my duty as a parent to let him know what is right and what is wrong. By the same token, when I see him standing up for others who are bullied, I congratulate and praise him. This is just as important. I firmly believe parents need to watch their children’s social media and online activities, even if they are in high school. Things happen outside of school that may never manifest itself in that setting. Parents or guardians need to know who their kids are hanging out with and who could be seen as a bad influence. If they know of something going on outside of the school, I believe they should proactively tell a school to inform them of the situation. I don’t expect the school to fix those issues, but knowing about things is half the battle.
If other schools or districts in Delaware are already using this type of bullying plan, I apologize in advance for giving Dover H.S. the credit for all this. If that is the case, kudos to those schools and to Dover H.S. for picking up the ball and running with it. This is what we should be doing in Delaware: finding out what truly works and emulating it so all our students can truly succeed (this is not an endorsement for Common Core, Smarter Balanced, or any corporate education reform Kool-Aid agendas).
Dr. Chanda Jackson-Shorts Wins Capital Board Seat
Capital School Board Election, Dr. Chanda Jackson-ShortDr. Chanda Jackson-Short won the Capital School District Board of Education seat today. With 190 votes, she had a close race with opponent Andres Ortiz who won 183 votes. Kevin Ohlandt gained 119 votes. Jackson-Short won East Dover Elementary School with 28 votes and tied with Ortiz at William Henry Middle School with 159 votes. Ohlandt won Hartley with 19 votes.
Okay, enough of the official journalism stuff. I lost! But you know what, it was an interesting journey with lessons learned. I’ve always known I’m a bit of a radical for many voters, and I’m okay with that. What was supposed to happen happened. I always believe God has a plan for everything, and this wasn’t in the cards. Jackson-Short saved Capital from becoming an all-male board. I will definitely be watching her to see what she does in the next five years. Congrats Chanda!
For now, I’m pretty beat and I’ve been awake since 4:55am yesterday morning so I think I’m going to go to bed. Tomorrow is a new day.
The Season Of Myths 