BSD Board of Education Meeting - January 2026

001All right. Good evening everyone. Thank you for your patience. We're going to call the January 2026 meeting of the Brandy Wine School District Board of Education to order. We're in the conquered high school auditorium. I'd like to ask Mr. Jimmy to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Thank you. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? >> So moved. >> Mr. Jordan, is there a second? >> Second. >> Jimmy, all in favor? I >> I >> motion carries. Like to invite the principal of Conquered High School, Mr. Jeff Lawson, up to welcome us. >> Good evening, President Heler. Vice President Scrobot. test. >> There you go. test. >> Let's try this again. President Heler, Vice President Scrobot, Superintendent Lawson, members of the board, and members of the BSD community, it is my pleasure to

002welcome you to Conquered High School this evening. My name is Jeff Lawson, and I have the privilege of being the building principal here at Conquered. Imagine a high school where students are challenged to think bigger, supported to grow stronger, and prepared to succeed in college, careers, and life. That's Conquered High School. At Conquered, education is the centerpiece of our work. Students have access to a wide range of academic opportunities, including 26 advanced placement courses, up to 16 pathway options, and hands-on learning experiences that help them discover their strength and interests early. In school year 2025, 223 conquered students took 396 different AP tests in 22 different subject areas. 66% of the exams taken by the students earned a score of three or higher. 55 students were AP honorable recipients and 15 students were named AP

003Scholar with distinction recipients. What truly sets Conquered apart is its commitment to the whole student. Teachers and staff know their students, care about their success, and work diligently to create an inclusive and supportive environment where everyone feels. Conquered High School places an emphasis on diversity. Nearly 55% of our student population comes from a diverse background, which is celebrated through various clubs, organization, and events within the building. For example, Conquered High School's Black Student Union has been working diligently over the past few months to organize the first ever Brandywide School District BSU mini conference. This one-day conference planned for Saturday, March 7th, 2026 aims to bring students together to collaborate, strengthen connections, and lay the groundwork for a shared vision of BSU across the district. I could also lead musical programs, clubs, leadership opportunities, and community

004service. Students are encouraged to involve, build confidence, and develop essential skills such as teamwork, responsibility, and leadership. These experiences just make memorable. They help shape the student. Conquer connect students to a real world. welcoming atmosphere. It's a place where students are challenged, supported, and inspired to achieve more than they thought possible. Located in front of you are CHSformational folders that all prospective eighth graders receive after touring, shadowing, or attending our visitation day. If any of our board members or community members are interested in touring our building and learning more, or simply have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly. We look forward to continue our great work here at Conquered and serving the students and families of the Brandy Wine School District. Welcome to Conquered. >> Thank you, Mr. Lawson. Mr.

005Lawson, before you go, the the March 7th conference that the BSU is organizing, is that being held here? >> Yes, it'll be here at Conquered. And we have a graphic um which is basically an invite and I'll send that to the board. >> Okay. Thank you. And that brings us to our uh school spotlight starting with Brandy Wine High School, Logan and Julian. >> Happy New Year. >> Hello everyone. I'm Logan Scott, Brandy Wine, Brandy Wine Student Council President. >> I'm J. I'm the vice president >> and I am so excited to talk to you about all of the amazing things happening at Brainy Wine lately. Before winter break, we had our Bulldogs den incentive where students were able to play games and relax with their friends on the last day of school. In addition,

006we had a fun spirit week with themes like ski lodge day and ugly sweater day and an intense door decorating competition between our teachers. Coming back from break, we host our first freshman awards breakfast of the year to celebrate the amazing work our freshmen have put into their first semester of high school. In addition, Brainywine alumni returned to the school for our alumni fair where they discuss the different paths students are able to take after graduation. I'll pass the microphone over to Julian >> Good evening everybody. I'm Julian. Um, I'm proud to share what Brandy Wine School has been working on and what is upcoming in the month of January. At the start of January, a Brandy Wine student demonstrated strong leadership beyond our school by earning state recognition um at the JDG. Once the

007slide switches, you'll see a photo of uh class of 28, Zia Dan. She was elected as a state officer at the JDG. Looking ahead, our snowchella spirit week uh will be one of our major January events with uh themed days like pajama day, music Monday, and class spirit days. Our Matilda musical is also coming up with showing times in late February. You should go uh watch that. Uh BHS students also got the opportunity to help out the Delaware food bank with our BHS soup or bowl event where you get to buy a buy a bowl of soup and you know donate it. We've also had uh not pictured our Taribo optop was a Philadelphia Union player um just transferred over to a different team in the last month or so. But yeah, it was a

008great event and a lot of students had great questions for him. That's all for me. Thanks. >> Any questions from the board? >> I I had some questions um for them. Uh um first, are you guys doing any winter sports or winter activities? >> Yeah, winter sports are on the way. Um, in fact, we do have our student staff versus uh student versus staff basketball game upcoming soon. >> But I mean like you guys personally, are you? >> I'm not. No. Okay. >> I'm in Matilda, but I'm not in any sports. >> Oh, you're going to be in Matilda? That was going to be my next question. If there are other activities that you guys were doing in the wintertime. >> Okay. Um, when is that student versus staff basketball game and who is going

009to win? I'm not sure which date it is exactly, but I know for a fact the students are going to win. >> Okay. >> Come on, man. >> Sounds good. Thank you both. >> Thank you. >> That brings us to Conquered High School. Michaela and Molly. Good evening everyone. I am President Michaela Michaelelsson and I'm Vice President Molly Andrews of the Conquered High School Student Council. We're excited to bring you up to speed on the amazing things that happened at Conquered over the past month. At the end of last month's meeting, we wrapped up by celebrating the many holiday festivities happening at Conquered. These events were a huge success. We closed out the Friday before break by surprising all of our teachers with the cart full of goodies to show our appreciation for all they

010do. The Numorous toy drive hosted by NHS was also a major success with 240 toys donated to children in need. In addition, our interact club and educators rising hosted a winter coat drive donating over 80 coats to the Sunday breakfast mission. Our boys basketball team was also treated to free professional haircuts done right here at school to help boost confidence and prepare for an upcoming big game. These haircuts are just one of the many ways that conquered staff and coaches go above and beyond for students, supporting us, not only academically, but also personally. It is truly meaningful to know that at Conquered, academics are not the only priority. Our teachers and coaches genuinely care about who we are as individuals and consistently take an extra step to support our well-being and success. Could you switch

011the slide, please? Thank you. In the short three school weeks since our last board report, an incredible amount has taken place at conquered. To begin, students Mave Tiny, Jada Asante, and Sarah Dawson returned from break and picked up right where they left off, putting their final touches on their outstanding mural. Their work beautifully represents the many pieces of Conquered and truly captures what it means to be a Raider. It is safe to say that Conquer's talent is proudly displayed throughout the school. Continuing on with the theme of talent, our choir presented a fabulous winter concert just days before break. As if the angelic performance wasn't enough, on the final day before break, they filled the halls with holiday spirit, dashing from classroom to classroom, singing carols and making our spirits bright. That same spirit was

012also extended beyond our walls. Our Interact Club handwrote dozens of cards for residents at a nearby retirement home, spreading cheer to the members of our local community who may not feel the magic of the season. Our students represent conquered in every sense of the word, embodying the community spirit. And of course, no board report is complete without sports news. Boys basketball stands six and two, while girls basketball hold a strong 8-2 record. Both swim girls and boys teams remain 5-2 or 5- one, I'm sorry. And the boys wrestling team is 2-2. And that concludes our January board report. Are there any questions from the board? >> Thank you. Thank you. I just wanted to mention that I saw a lot of videos of the carolling and it was >> it was so fun. >> Any

013questions? >> I I had a couple of questions. Um same question from Brandy Wine. Are you guys doing any sports or activities personally uh in the winter time? >> Um I am the boys basketball manager. >> Okay. >> So, yes, >> that's fantastic. >> I don't do any sports in the winter, but I just do like all the clubs that I'm in year round. >> Oh, wonderful. Okay. And I did see on the screen there boys swim team. They beat Dickinson. Is that 3624? >> Um, they also beat McCain on the 18th and as an alum, I cannot say that I approve >> of that at all. Um, but I will note that I think you guys are swimming Brandy Wine later this week. >> Yeah, I think so. >> At Claymont and I should

014have asked Brandy Wine that too >> at 4:00. Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next to Mount Pleasant, Kamani and Stephen. >> Hello ladies and gentlemen. My name is Kamali Beetle, your student council president >> and I'm Steven Rice, your student council vice president. and we are so helpful happy to welcome you to another amazing month. The first thing that we would like to mention is happens to be our NHS toy drive at Mount Pleasant Elementary. They collected toys and gave them out to kids for the holiday season. >> And NHS wasn't the only honor society that was busy over break. Triam Music Honor Society performed at two local nursing homes to spread the joy of the holiday season to people of all ages. >> Then another one of Mount's highest forms of

015pride is our AVID program. Our avid 10th grade raises a lot of money through their popcorn fundraiser, which we mentioned not too not too long ago, which allowed them to take a field trip to the University of Delaware to see the campus and learn more about their college experience. So when the next two years come, they're ready. And also last Friday, me and our assistant principal, Dr. Highland, took a trip over to Springer Middle School to give anformational talk about why did she become a Green Knight. And let's just say, I think some Bulldogs might become Green Knights. Then next up, on the last day before break, we went we gladly welcome a visit from all three middle schools where we're able to show them what our music program is all about. There was performances

016from all our honors level music ensembles, including band, choir, orchestra, and steel pan. And we were and when we were done, let's just say you couldn't hear a thing over the cheers. And also on the last week of school before the break, BSU hosted a food drive to give canned food to families and pe for people in need because even if you have food on your plate doesn't mean there isn't people out there that don't go to bed hungry. So I just want to say thanks to our wonderful BSU and their contribution to our community. Also, our winter sports have been in full gear. And as a me member of our wonderful swim team, I'm excited to say that our girls team has a has had a wonderful 4 and0 start to the season along

017with our boys 2 and two record. The next the next thing I want to talk about is our music department. They took a trip over to New York City to see the show Mamma Mia and after a long week of performances, it was welld deserved. And come see Mama Mia in the spring. And as we would also like to mention, the 13th annual 1axx festival where students from Mount Pleasant drama department put on a small 15 to 30 minute plays. And what I love about 1X is that they're all studentr run. Whether it be lighting, sound, or even directing. It's just a way for students to get that experience that they can take later into life. >> Those are on Friday and Saturday at 7:00. Come see those also. And that right there is the

018end of our report. Stay warm and as we as we always say, we >> we are melt. >> Any questions from the boards? >> Thank you. Any questions? >> I I've got some questions. Um are either one of you acting in the one act festival? >> We both are. >> You both are. Okay. >> All right. Is um are they the same same shows Friday and Saturday or are they different? >> The same shows. Okay. All right. That's that's fantastic. And you said those are seven to eight at Mounts. >> Mhm. >> On Friday, Saturday. This Friday and Saturday. Okay. Um, there's also a variety show coming up at Mount, right? >> February 10th, >> right? Are you guys doing that, too? >> Yes, we are both in there. >> Awesome. >> Um, and then

019Stephen, did you say you're on the swim team? >> Yep. >> What stroke do you swim? >> Um, I'm a flyer in freestyle. >> Okay, never mind. Um, very good. All right. Um, and then I think the last thing I'd mention, I don't know if you guys knew there is a wrestling try meet, I think, coming up at Mount this weekend. >> Maybe it's next. Is it Saturday? >> I think it's Saturday. Yes. at 11:00. >> Yeah. >> And I think And that's Mount Brandy Wine and Conquer. Yes. I think competing, right? >> Okay. All right. Thanks, guys. >> Thank you. >> I got a question. I got a quick question. I I got a seven-year-old. Could I bring him to this one axe or is it Of course. Okay. So, it's it's he'll he'll

020get a kick out of it. >> Wait a second. >> Okay. So, yeah, he's he he he goes to uh MPE. So, I was thinking >> Okay. So, you'll see him in like 10 years. What? We'll see him in 10 years. ML, right? You >> probably will. >> Sounds good. Thank you. >> Thank you to our student reporters. Um Brandy Wine hosted us last month, Conquered Tonight, and we're rounding out the trio in February at Mount. So, thank you. All >> right, that brings us to uh Dr. Rivera for our community partners recognition. You can come up tonight. We are honored to recognize three extraordinary BSD parents. Mary Beth Baxter, Christina Savage, and Kelly Giles for their incredible leadership of Wrapped Wishes. At its heart, Wrapped Wishes is a grassroots mission that connects the generosity

021of our community with the specific personalized needs of our students to ensure no child goes without during the holiday season. What Mary Beth started nearly 20 years ago at Carcraftoft Elementary reached a historic milestone this year. expanding to serve families in every single school across the Bernie Wine School District. Now, while they are technically not on the district payroll for the last several months, this team has essentially been working a full-time job to organize this massive effort. At every school, our school social workers and counselors worked one- on-one with families to build personalized wish list. Meanwhile, our equity leaders and student voice advisors supported student leaders at every school to organize drives for essential household items. Because this took place on the federal SNAP freeze, these donations were critical, ensuring that our families didn't have

022to choose between holiday memories and basic daily necessities. The logistics were handled with professional pre precision. married Beth's husband Dan even developed a custom AI website to help guide our donors and volunteers. Our facilities department, thanks John, transformed our old facilities building into a holiday workshop where these leaders and their volunteers practically live for two weeks straight working around the clock to collect, organize, and wrap every single item. Our site program interns were also instrumental working on the front lines to help collect and organize the mountain of donations. To make sure we could meet this record-breaking need, Mary Beth and I took to the airwaves at WSTW to share the program's benefits and asked the community for help. The response from our corporate and individual sponsors was overwhelming. Because of this team, 198 children from

02367 BSD families had their wishes fulfilled with over 1,000 gifts purchased, wrapped, and delivered with love. Mary, Beth, Christina, and Kelly, you have shown us what it means to be a community. Please accept these plaques as a token of our appreciation. I'll I'll just read it for everyone to see. Says, "Bernie Wine School District Community Partner Award presented to and then their names wrapped wishes in recognition of your dedication and support to the students, families, and schools of the Bernie Wine School District. Your commitment to education and community partnership has made a lasting impact. January 2026. Thank you. and we'll do a photo out there. >> Thank you. >> That brings us to Dr. Lawson and the district news and updates. >> Good evening, President Heler, members of the board, and members of our audience

024and community. As we continue our monthly focus on student outcomes data, tonight we dive a little deeper into the evolution of the highstakes standardized assessment that our students take every spring to understand how the rigor and expectations at each grade level has changed over time. Tonight, we draw a comparison for you between historical test items in fifth and eighth grade math and reading and current test items in fifth and eighth grade math and reading. We will examine test items from the Delaware Student Testing Program of the early 2000s which were based on the Delaware content standards. Comparative test items are from our current assessment, Smarter Balance, which began in 2015 and are based on the Common Core State Standards enacted in 20112. We begin with a fifth grade mathematics question from the DSTP where students

025are asked to identify which fraction represents the shaded area in the picture below. This is a test item that most of us as adults not only remember but can likely select the correct answer. You'll notice that there is only one acceptable answer for receiving the credit points for the question. Here is a current day comparative fifth grade mathematics question from the smarter balance assessment. Students are not asked a simple question mathematical question in pursuit of a simple calculation. Students are presented with a real world problem in pottery and asked not only to calculate and compute pounds in fractions but to generate an explanation and solution with specifications in writing. I'll give you a few seconds to read the problem and the question. The response not only requires students to compute the mathematical portion of the

026problem, but also to lay out a clear explanation of how they plan to meet the required specifications. Answers are scored on a rubric shown at the bottom right of your screen, which can earn zero, one, or two points. Shifting back again to historical mathematics, but this time in 8th grade, this DSTP question requires math calculations of calories based on percentages provided in the pie chart. As we saw in the fifth grade example, there is a single answer to the problem and it can be found by performing basic mathematical computations. As adults who've been out of middle school for quite some time, I'm sure many of you are confident you could still solve this problem. And there is the only numeric answer to the problem that can be found using subtraction and multiplication. However, in a

027current eighth grade mathematics question from the Smarter Balance Assessment, students must translate this narrative text into manageable, computable steps to respond to the question prompts. They must construct solutions that include a detailed response that requires reasoning and explanations. Not only are students required to solve an algebraic equation inside of it, but they must clearly describe how their chosen measurements meet the given specifications using mathematical reasoning in writing. Here below at the bottom right is the answer key for this item. Go back one slide, please. So the bottom line, today's math assessments require advanced reading, not just mathematical computation knowledge and ability. The level of complexity contained in math word problems like these often presents more information than students can hold in their working memory. Capable problem solvers must offload information to sketch pads or margin

028notes to reintegrate it later when providing the written explanation. Real world problems with multiple steps have replaced computational problems and students must process at a significantly higher level of reading complexity than in former mathematics assessments. So now we shift to reading. Here is a historical fifth grade reading test item from the DSTP. It very simply asks which of the four steps explains how to put a sandwich together. The question doesn't require much more than looking back to find the step-by-step section and choosing the corresponding numeral. Here is a comparable item from the fifth grade reading section on the Smarter Balance assessment. Students must answer two questions related to the passage read. The first question asks students to identify the main idea in the paragraph which reflects the kinds of questions we might have expected in

029the past. However, the second question builds on the first and asks students to hold their initial response in working memory while they choose another response that aligns with the first and the paragraph that they read. Returning to history, we see a former passage in question from an eighth grade reading assessment. Students are asked about the author's purpose of a particular passage, such as the one shown here. A very straightforward question with one correct response. Fast forward in time and you've got a current eighth grade reading assessment item where students are asked to analyze and synthesize information they've read. Students must review claims used by another student in their report. It asks to quote decide if the information in source one, source two, both sources, or neither source supports each claim. Click on the box that

030appropriately describes each claim. There will be only one box selected for each claim and some boxes may not fit a claim. The bottom line here, reading items on today's Smarter Balance assessment require a much higher cognitive demand than historical reading assessments. Answers are not right there in the passage. Students must form short or extended constructed responses that require analysis, synthesis, comparison of texts and passages, and evidence-based explanations. Comprehension is combined with analytical thinking and writing skills to require a depth of knowledge that was not previously expected to achieve proficiency. The game has changed, folks. The standards are rigorous and the bar is set very high for our students. We're all okay with that. It prepares them for the demands of college and specific career pathways. However, it is frustrating to continue hearing and reading in

031our various forms of media that the percentage of students who do not reach the proficiency cut point to a score of three or higher on the Smarter Balance Assessment are illiterate and cannot perform basic math. That couldn't be farther from the truth. It brings me back to this slide where we showed you earlier this year the percentage of students who earned a nearly meet score on the Smarter Assessment last spring. 20 to 30% of our students may be one point or one standard away from proficiency or earning a three. And now you know that proficiency is the ability to answer the questions correctly as demonstrated by the examples we just shared. There is much work to be done to address the percentage of students in yellow who fall well below proficiency. We recognize that. But

032the hard work our educators are doing to raise the rigor and ability of all students is admirable. And our students who work incredibly hard to earn that three or higher should be commended. The Brandy Wine School District is proud to announce a remarkable achievement in statewide education excellence, earning all three of Delaware's top educator honors in the same year. State teacher of the year, principal of the year, and assistant principal of the year. This rare distinction reflects the deep the district's deep commitment to highquality instruction, strong leadership, and student centered learning across all levels. In October 2025, we celebrated the achievements of Dr. Jenna D. Lario, a reading specialist at Tally Middle School, who was named Delaware State Teacher of the Year, becoming the 10th educator from the Brandy Wine School District to earn this

033prestigious recognition. This month, Dr. Sterling Seammens, principal of Springer Middle School, was named the 2026 Principal of the Year by the Delaware Association of School Administrators. With over a decade of experience in school administrator administration, Dr. Semens is recognized for his commitment to servant leadership and his belief in the potential of every child. He emphasizes the importance of strong relationships built on mutual respect, prioritizes the safety of our students, and supports academically, socially, and behaviorally through a comprehensive multi-tered system of support. His leadership continues to foster a school culture where students and staff thrive. And also, Mrs. Amber Toss, the assistant principal at PS Dupont Middle School, was named the 2026 assistant principal of the year by the same organization. Mrs. Toss brings nearly 20 years of experience in education across three states and a

034global perspective shaped by teaching abroad in Germany and Australia. Over the course of her career, she has served as both an educator and instructional coach for eight years, supporting teachers and students alike. Her dedication to instructional excellence, professional growth, and student success makes her a valued leader within the BSD community. And finally, our monthly sizzle video. on behalf of Delaware and the National Association of Secondary Principles and the Delaware Association of School Administrators and the Delaware Association of School Principles. We would like to congratulate you for being our principal of the year, >> AP of the Year. >> Thank you. Nothing gives me more pleasure than to see an application like this one and just to see this love right here in this room. And we just thank you for everything that you do every

035single day. One student at a time. You do it every single day here. And it shows and it's, you know, you're representing the best of the best we have in Delaware. So, we're excited for you. This is Dr. Seaman's third year in the Brandy Wine School District. We've asked students and staff to be here because I think they can tell you firsthand that this is a whole different Springer Middle School and that is uh because of the leadership at the top. >> So Amber and I started here 3 years ago, right? But I'm never worried when I'm in this building because we are constant communication. She keeps me up to speed on everything and I know that the building is in great hands with my team. So thank you. It's been an amazing three years

036and I've had such a wonderful um team of education staff here, admin team, the district office staff above me. I'm so blessed to be not only a member of this community um but to be know the principal of such a great school and such a great district and I think that this award honestly is a reflection on everybody within BSD, you know, and particularly Springer Middle School. >> This is incredible. It actually makes me realize that why I love what I do and I do it every day and it kind of just makes it all come together. Um because I love being here. I love serving the population that we serve and so it to be recognized in that way means a lot to me. Thank you very much. To have the principal of the

037year, assistant principal of the year, and the state teacher of the year speaks volumes for staff in the Brandy Wine School District. I couldn't be more proud of the work that goes on here, of the dedication of the staff who are here, and the teams of people surrounding these three individuals who have been awarded with these prestigious honors across the state of Delaware. >> Not much more to say other than proud to be BSD and go dogs. So, thank you guys. President Heler, this concludes my monthly report. >> Thank you. Any questions for Dr. Lawson? >> That brings us to uh public comment. Um just a reminder that public comment isn't necessarily designed to be a Q&A session or a back and forth discussion, but all the board members will get the contact information of

038our speakers, so they can reach out if they have questions or need clarification. And each speaker is provided uh two minutes which will be on the screen behind us. It appears that we have only uh one public comment request tonight from at Moffett. You can come up to the podium. Microphone should be on. >> Good evening. Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Zim Moffett and I'm a Brandy Wine School District parent. My kids go to PS Dupont. They are twins in the seventh grade and they went to elementary school at Lombardi. I attended the presentation by the Reading Consortium in December and it's taken me some time to kind of process that night and how I feel about it. Um, we have had a wonderful experience in the

039Brandy Wine School District, but we have observed the inequities that were introduced by or presented by um, Senator Lochman and Representative Chukocha at the presentation. We feel so fortunate that our kids are a part of the gifted program. But as a parent, it's important that I acknowledge that there are children in the building who are not in the program who are having a different experience. My husband and I are both from out of state and we attended public school as children and we have found that the education system here is challenging to navigate as parents. um the choices are overwhelming and the um the lack of cohesion in our neighborhoods are felt because everyone goes to different schools. So although it may be an unpopular opinion, I would like to give my support for the

040Reading Consortium and the plan for redistricting. If our children choose to make their lives here one day, I hope they will have a more streamlined public school system and cohesive community for their families. This will take time and we should start now. I ask that the district make us make a stronger effort to keep the families informed of the process along the way so we don't have the feeling that things are happening behind closed doors. Thank you for my allowing me to make remarks. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Muffet. And they'll uh there'll be an update coming up in old business as well. If you're around Thank you. Uh that brings us to board business starting with Mr. Acriman. DSBA executive committee. >> DSBA executive committee met last Wednesday. Uh we did have a quorum.

041Um, we voted on the uh legislative priorities for this year which was delayed since we did not have a November meeting because that was the date we scheduled our workshop. So, we did vote for the legislative priorities at the meeting. We did update one. We had an extensive discussion about the SAT. uh the way the priority was worded, it talked about accountability and so forth, but one of the representatives uh from the Capitol School District pointed out that the SAT really only measures uh student achievement for high school students. So, we amended the goal as we felt it should not be the sole measure of student achievement for high school students. Um I have not changed my opinion of the SAT in terms of whether we should give every student in the state the SAT.

042Uh and we did get some data about how much it cost to administer the test that uh uh executive director uh Tol has sent out since then. We also uh did vote for a uh to accept the um assessment that was done on executive director Tull and to give him a slight increase in salary. Our next meeting will be in March and the uh next DSBA meeting will be u Mr. Lavoy's uh legislative meeting coming up shortly. >> Thank you. And that brings us to Mr. Lavoy for the SBA legislative. Thank you. There's there's a bit of an echo, so I have to really strain to hear. Um, yeah, I'm I'm the representative for the DSBA legislative committee, and once again, I would urge people to go into their website and read what the DSBA

043is is um recommending to the legislature and lobbying for. They're all things that are good for students all throughout the state. Uh and to that effect, um I would urge people to keep in mind that tomorrow the general assembly goes back into session and this is a prime time for you to contact your state representative and state senator to vote for those legislative priorities that the DSBA is standing for. Um there's also two public meetings scheduled about the um public education funding commission uh where um legislators and and and leaders throughout the state are trying to find a better way to fund our schools. Uh on the 20th of uh January, there's one in Seafford Elementary School from 5:30 to 7:00. And on the 28th at Stanton Middle School from 5:30 to 7:00. Uh I

044still haven't found out whether that's going to be available remotely or it will be recorded so you can watch it after the the uh after the fact, but I would urge you to visit the website de.govpc for per uh public education funding commission as uh Mr. Arian says the next meeting is going to be in uh March or excuse me on February the 4th at 6:15 in do. So any questions? Thanks. >> Thank you. Next is district finance committee. Mr. Scarbot is traveling but I understand Mr. McCoy is going to be giving us uh a lot of information from that meeting in new business. Um health and wellness is myself. The committee hasn't met since our last board meeting. Um the wellness policy subcommittee is meeting this Wednesday at 4 p.m. and then the full

045committee is meeting on Thursday at 4 p.m. Maintenance Advisory. Mr. Ni, >> uh we have not had a meeting since our last board meeting. We will have our next uh maintenance meeting on the 20th of this month at Carcraftoft at 6 p.m. And uh I encourage everybody to come out and uh to be part of conversation. We will be discussing environmental uh regulation and environmental compliance ma uh matters. >> Thank you. Uh Mr. Jordan, parent council for students with disabilities. Uh thank you, President Heler. We have not had a meeting since uh the last board meeting, but our next meeting is coming up um in two weeks, Monday, January 26th. Uh that's 5:30 to 6:30 at Mount Pleasant Elementary. Child care is available, transportation is available, and so I would encourage anyone who is interested

046to come out um and and join us. Thanks. >> Thank you. And Miss Stock, parent and citizens advisory committee. We have not met since our last meeting. Um, however, we are going to have our next um parent and citizen advisory committee meeting um on uh Thursday, January 29th at Mount Pleasant Elementary. Um and again, as well um dinner, child care, and transportation um are all provided can be provided. Um dinner is provided for everybody. Um so if anyone has any interest they can contact um either myself or they could uh contact their uh principal of their child's school if they are a parent too. >> Thank um do you know if the invitations went out for that yet? >> Um I believe that they are going out. >> Okay. Thank you. And then um Mr.

047Nimmy Wilmington Learning Collaborative. Yes, we just had a meeting on the 7th of January. We discussed the budget for the WLC. Uh one thing that I did want to uh present was that um there is there are quite a bit of funds that are still available and I know that this is something that we have discussed before but Harland um if there are proposals if there are ideas from the public for the betterment of Harlem um you know start presenting them start developing that those proposals and getting them to people in the school people here myself um and getting them eventually to the WLC because there is a lot of funds that should be used that are designed for this purpose that haven't been used mostly because of more so bureaucracy and trying to get

048things up and running rather than having them be running. Uh so there's definitely some funds available and these are funds not just from this year but from previous years as well. So there's a strong appetite for the WL on the WLC for these funds to start getting used. And the other thing I would mention is that there's like I said there have been a lot of funds that have been um assigned by the government by the the state and um uh they have they've been used somewhat but they haven't been fully used and we're talking from 2024 2025 as well. So these are things that are uh are moving forward and really benefit has the capacity to benefit the BSD because of our involvement with WLC. So >> thank you. And then uh Mr. Lavoy

04991.7 WH. >> Thank you. Yes. Uh there has there was no meeting for the ad advisory board since the last board meeting, but our next meeting for WMP advisory board is March the 9th at 6 p.m. at Mount Pleasant High School. And uh we are still searching frantically for a uniquely talented individual who can not only teach journalism and radio but run a station. So it involves a unique set of of talents. Uh, if you know someone, get in touch with us, please. And remember to tune in to Super 91.7 FM at home or in your car or by streaming wmp.net for a robust menu of student generated news, interviews, sports coverage, and a broad spectrum of musical favorites. >> Thank you. They should be playing that ad every hour. >> Hopefully Mr. wishing grads

050recording that. Good. >> Um, are there any other questions or board reports? >> I I had a I actually had a question for Mr. Nimmy and Mr. Lavoy. Um, for Mr. Nimmy, is there a limit or a condition on what those funds are used for? >> So, the general the general reason for those funds are student improvement. So, it's got to be something related more so to the improvement of student uh outcomes. That being said, um I would take somewhat of an any and all approach um because, you know, training teachers can lead to better student outcomes. Um you know, improving I believe Harlo Harlon is about to get a new uh playground. That's something that I would absolutely say is going to improve student outcomes. So the the wider the the uh kind of

051the spectrum of what you're looking for, the worse they can say is no. And we're already there. So it can only improve from that situation. But yeah, it's it's things that are designed think think creatively and think um a little bit uh things that maybe would not be uh something that a budget a school budget would initially consider, but because this is coming from another source, maybe that opens up some more possibilities. >> Thanks. And and then President Heler, I had a question for Mr. Lavoy about the uh unique individual. Um, would they apply online, submit their materials online, do you know, or is there >> Yes, they can apply online, I would imagine, but uh I'm going to defer to Dr. Lawson for that pathway. >> Yes, it's uh frontline. It's join delawarechools.org, but

052I just looked at deletia and the position is posted. >> Okay, great. And and then President Hower, just two more things I wanted to mention. this week, um, Wednesday, January 14th, the Newcastle County Transition Workshop, and this is on the district's calendar. Um, it's a it's a workshop titled Guardianship and Alternatives to Guardianship for Students with Disabilities. Um, it is virtual, so if anybody out there wants to attend, um there is a link on our um our calendar. It's from 6:30 to 8:00. And then um the other thing I would mention uh next Wednesday, January 21st, is the standby me in-person paying for college and trade school workshop for all of those high school uh kids and their parents who are wondering how they're going to pay for school, how they're going to get through

053that process. Um I think this is the last one of the year. It's going to be at PS DuPont. Um, and it will start at 6:30 in the cafeteria. Uh, there's some more information again on the board's um, calendar uh, here, but again, it's it's really a helpful workshop for those trying to understand how to apply for student aid um, and what to do about it. >> Thank you. Great additions. Anybody else? Any additional comments or questions? That brings us to the consent agenda. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So moved. >> Mr. Arian, is there a second? >> Second. >> And Miss Stock. All in favor? >> I. >> Motion carries. Is there a motion to approve student matters as discussed in executive session? >> So moved. >> Second. >>

054Okay. Miss Stock and Mr. Najami. All in favor? >> I. >> Motion carries. Is there a motion to approve the personnel report as discussed in executive session? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Mr. Acriman and Mr. Lavoy. All in favor? >> I motion carries. That brings us to old business, the policy review committee. Um on November 17th, the board unanimously approved an update to policy 1.03, which is titled policy development. This approved update requires me to appoint board members and other stakeholders to participate in the annual review process for all board policies and then that group will report back to the full board with suggested revisions. Um to that end I'd like to appoint the following committee consisting of the board delegate uh Mr. Acriman, the board alternate Mr. Lavoy, the executive team liaison Dr.

055Rivera and Mr. Paladinetti, the building administrator, Miss Jackson, who's the assistant principal at Hamby Elementary. Then in addition, um Dr. Rivera is working with the BEA to name a member per their contract to the committee. And we'd also like to have two community members on the committee. So we'd like to ask Dr. O'Hanland if he can please post and accept applications from the community. and then that committee that was just appointed can review those applications and submit their recommendations for the two community member additions to the committee. I don't believe that needs a motion or anything. Any questions on that? All right. Um that brings us to 10B, the writing consortium update. Um, I have a a brief update prepared and then I can open it up for the board for any questions or comments.

056Um, so I just wanted to provide the community with an update on that reading redistricting process following our December 8th workshop um with the co-chairs and then our December 15th regular board meeting where we had the discussion and direction for Dr. Lawson. As many of you are likely aware, the reading consortium met on December 16th to narrow the three remaining redistricting options down to a single model to move forward. The model selected was the Northern Newcastle County School District model. All consortium members voted in favor of that model with the exception of two votes against. Um, one was Dr. Lawson and I believe there were two members who did not vote. According to the consortium's own timeline at this point, the expectation is that the full plan for the model is to be presented to

057the state board of education per the statutoily required vote in February, followed by consideration by the full general assembly in June. Um it's important I think to state that um from the the board's input at the last meeting that this wasn't the model that we believe reflected the preference of the overwhelming majority of the BSD community and there are some concerns with the model I would say mostly about process but also about the model. Um one of my significant concerns is the timeline. The plan presentation to the state board is at most six weeks away and to our knowledge planning for the full redistricting plan is not yet begun. At the December 8th workshop, the consortium co-chairs committed that once a final model was selected at that December meeting, the full redistricting plan will be

058developed before it was moved forward for any additional votes. Um, I think that commitment is critical and there's concerns with that current timeline and whether that promise can be realistically met. To put it into perspective, the consortium spent approximately 5 years narrowing down the options to the single option. So, the idea that a comprehensive, fully vetted redistricting plan that satisfies all of the legal and statutory requirements can be completed in five to six weeks is deeply concerning. For the record, House Bill 222 requires that any plan presented must fully address 13 specific stipulations. I wanted to share the depth of those stipulations so that everyone can form a vision of the amount of time and resources that would be required to adequately address those stipulations. Um, so here are the 13 stipulations. Number one is

059the orderly and minimally disruptive reassignment of students affected by the boundary changes and the reassignment of governance responsibilities. Number two is redrawing the district boundaries in Wilmington and Northern Newcastle County to better serve the educational interests of all students, including reducing the concentration of low-income students and improving educational support services and supports for English learners and other students at risk. Number three says that the plan must permit students to continue their attendance at the school they attend prior to the boundary change with tuition payments being made by the sending districts as provided in chapter of the title until such time as a pupils complete the grade level offered to that school. Number four is student transportation. Number five is an assessment of the educational needs of the city of Wilmington students and the resources that

060are required to meet those needs. Number six is directives for improving secondary education options for the city of Wilmington students, such as the provisions of additional secondary schools. Number seven is implications for educators, administrators, and other personnel that may lead to equitable adjustments to local collective bargaining agreements. Number eight is the engagement of educators, staff, parents, district personnel, and community members throughout the transition. Number nine is the resources that will be required from the state district and local sources to support the redistricting transition and provide for the effective ongoing education of all affected students and for the support of schools with high concentrations of low-income students and English learners. Number 10 is the distribution of capital assets and financial obligations or a process for such distribution. Number 11 is a stipulation that the funding statewide

061and locally will facilitate effective implementation of the proposed comprehensive plan in a manner that will improve the educational outcomes for all students impacted by the plan. Number 12 is the timeline for implementing each element of the redistricting plan and the designated responsibility for carrying out responsibilities until the date of full implementation. And number 13 is a process for the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the educational impacts and outcomes of implementation which must include an annual report by the consortium to the governor, the general assembly, the secretary of education, and the state board of education. So my concern is that a plan that can possibly meaningfully investigate and address all 13 of these requirements, let alone a full redistricting plan as required in requirement, I believe it was 9 or 11. I just don't see how

062that can be realistically developed in just a few weeks, especially with the fact that the next consortia meeting hasn't even been scheduled yet. For comparison, the last redistricting plan, which was developed by WEIK, took over two years to complete. Um, on the district's end, I wanted to share that our plan is to hold a series of community meetings to ensure that we're meeting our responsibility to keep residents informed. The challenge, quite frankly, with these small meetings we've held already, is that most of the questions were asked, there aren't answers to. Um, most of the pressing questions we don't have answers to yet because the plan hasn't been developed. But that said, we believe it's essential to keep the lines of communication open. So I would encourage residents to watch out for upcoming announcements on the

063district social media and our website regarding the scheduling for these community meetings. Our intent is to engage with the community in a similar manner that we did for the most recent referendum, working with civic associations, community organizations, churches, um plus hosting additional public town halls. We believe that this is a critically important issue not only for Brandywine families but for anyone who resides in the district and northern Newcastle can Newcastle County and our goal is to ensure that there's ample opportunities to share the information and to hear from the community as the process continues. Um so I'd love to open it up to the board if there's any additional comments or thoughts or questions at this point. >> I'll I'll start. Uh, first of all, well, two questions. One, who is coming up with this

064plan at this point? Because we hear it's the the Reading Consortium. Is it all the people in there? Is there a subcommittee? Is there one person? Is there five people? So, who is actually drafting this? And the second one on, will we actually be able to see this plan prior to its presentation to the next entity that it has to be presented to. And you know, I I I asked those because I think that they're both important for the I I'd like to know, but I also think more importantly, it's important for the public to know who is who should be responsible for these things. Um I can maybe defer to Dr. Lawson since he is on the consortium for her input. I will I emailed Senator Lachman and Mr. Den. I believe it was

065on the 17th of December um to ask those questions about you know who would be forming this. I haven't heard back from them yet. I had intended to reach back out to her today, but my work schedule got a little bit crazy, so I didn't. But Dr. Lawson, do you have any >> The consortium has not had any follow-up emails or invitations or anything since the December 16th meeting. >> Did that I did that help with your question? I mean it it answered the question and the answer was unfortunately what we've been getting a lot of which is you know non-answers things will be done time frames that will just magically occur. I'm not even wholeheartedly against something. I'm just against something. I I can't be against something because there's nothing to be against. It's

066it's it's like uh being mad at a cloud or something. So, it's just I'd like to, you know, get some things nailed down for lack of a better term. >> I'll reach out to they start their session tomorrow there. I I'll reach out to Senator Lochman again though and I'll share what I hear back. Did anybody else? >> Yeah. President Heler. Um, if I understand correctly, once the plan is submitted to the board of education, is there an opportunity for public comment? I believe that's what we've been told. Well, there will be public comment at the state board of education meeting. Um, as always, I believe that Senator Lochman had committed that there would be public sessions held in each district again, but I don't recall if that was before the state board or before

067the legislature vote. Do you recall? >> So, on their timeline, it was February for public hearings. Um, and my understanding is that they intend to take a plan to the state board in February in at their February meeting and that there would be public hearings that would be scheduled and held in February. At least that's according to the timeline that we received um last month. And >> Dr. Lawson, did they give you any deadlines on when a written public comment could be submitted or did is that also unknown? >> No. >> Okay. And we don't have the dates for the public hearings either. >> Yeah. Um and and President Aller, the last thing I'll mention, you know, my I share your concerns about the consortium's ability to to meaningfully address the 13 requirements, but I

068would also note that there are six optional requirements um that the plan may include. My concern is that with this kind of a tight timeline that they're going to focus on those 13 and not address any of those six optional ones. And for me, the one that is optional that really needs to be addressed and should be a requirement is uh the one that calls for recommendations for policies and practices for systematic reform to address the negative impacts of the neighborhood schools act, which for me um is a a real friction point between us and and the other districts. And this was something that I had mentioned um when we had our uh the writing consortium when we hosted them at at Mount Pleasant Elementary um because it as I see it as a fundamental

069difference in the way in an educational philosophy and how we approach our education in in the district. Um and it's really what makes it the Brady Wine School District community. And I fear that that is being overlooked and it's being discounted. um and that the reading consortium has no plan to address that that that optional requirement. Thanks. >> Thank you. Any other questions or comments? >> A learned colleague of mine who is also a superintendent of another district said it succinctly, change is not necessarily improvement. And that's what we're left with right here. It's a change, but nobody knows if it's going to improve. So, I echo my fellow board members. >> Thank you. So, we'll uh we'll continue to provide updates as we have them for the board. Like I said, I'll try to

070get in touch with Senator Lachman before the session starts tomorrow and see if I can get an update on the timeline. Right. That brings us to 10 C, Miss Jones Davis on the revised 2627 calendar. >> Good evening, President Heler, Superintendent Lawson, our distinguished board members, and the BSD community. My name is Lavina Jones Davis and I serve as the chairperson for our district calendar committee. This evening is the first read for our revised 2627 calendar. This calendar was pre previously approved by our board. As you are aware, the Brandy Wine School District prepares this district calendar two years in advance. There are times as the designated year approaches the a slight revision slight revisions are presented to the board for approval through extensive discussion collaboration with various stakeholders receiving feedback from our community through

071a survey. We have revised the calendar that consists of multiple perspectives. You should have and I know Tia, did you get a chance to pass out the folders? Excellent. On the left hand side of the folder, you have some highlights before we actually look at the revised calendar. Some of the highlights for the calendar, Yong Kapor and also Eid. Those are two recognized religious days. Since schools are closed, offices are open. In the on the previous calendar, Yang Kapor teachers actually had professional development. Our parent teacher conference was moved to October 22nd and the 23rd. Just listening to our teachers. They would like to have an extended week of really building relationships with students before meeting with the parents. Professional responsibility day was moved to November 2nd. Again, schools are closed, offices open. Professional development

072day moved to April 21st. If we could switch to the calendar so that our community can also have a visual. I will go through the calendar. Okay. So for August, we have our new teacher orientation on August 12th and 13th. August 19th is when our teachers first day, 19th, 20th, and the 24th and the 25th are professional development days, but those days are also included where teachers have the opportunity to set up their classrooms. First day, August 26, as indicated there, the grade clusters will attend school kindergarten orientation. And September 4th and August 21st, schools are closed, offices are open, and Labor Day September 7th. So one of the the areas when we are doing the um working on the calendar is Labor Day. It's very very critical for this upcoming year. Actually this year

073Labor Day is slightly later. In previous years I think the last time it was September 7th was 2020 and 2015. So that does play a part because our district has decided that our students start before Labor Day. September 15th is professional development day and also state primary day. And if you go to October, I do want to mention something there. October 9th right now uh is professional development day for the state, but we are not sure yet whether or not a decision will be made to move prof the state professional development day to September 15th. So, we are waiting for that decision, but I wanted to put it on record, but there's a possibility that the governor may decide, board of education may decide to move professional development day, which is the state day to

074September 15th. In October, I've already mentioned parent teacher conference. And if there are any questions, you can stop me. I'm going to keep moving. M Jones Sav if if they move that professional development day then then the October 9th date would become a inschool day again. >> Well that's that's going to be up for discussion. >> Okay. November we can move to our next slide. So professional responsibility day which is uh that was moved that I believe that was like November 5th. We just moved it to November 2nd because election day is the following day. Everything here is the same. Next, December. Now, this year I did get a lot of positive comments about the twoweek break. We couldn't do it this year, but people were really, really excited to have a solid two weeks

075off. So, of course, the calendar committee accepted all of that positive praise. Um, but we will still enjoy the time that we have off for the upcoming break. Next, nothing really is different here either. Next, and I've already mentioned uh Eid, uh, schools are closed, offices are open. wanted to make sure that we were equitable there. You see the spring break. Next, April 21st professional development day. We we had moved that. That was maybe in February. We moved it to April. Next slide. And here we are. last day of school for our teachers will be June 15th and our student last day is June 10th. And I will also say that uh we have we are now working across districts with other district calendar committees. uh our our calendars may look different but the collaboration

076is there to make sure that our sister districts that we are collaborating with one another as we organize this um calendar for our community. Any questions? >> I had a question about um graduation date being June the 6th. Traditionally graduation has been the weekend before that. Was the what was the reason to change that? Graduation is normally the Sunday after Memorial Day. So that's why >> Okay. So it's usually the Sunday after Memorial Day. >> Correct. >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. Take it to you. >> I I have a question for you, but it might actually be better directed to Dr. Lawson. Um so for Yam Kapoor and I schools are closed, but offices are open. um which is fine for the students who practice those faiths. But what about the

077employees? Are they do they have to take a holiday those days or are they do they get a a floating holiday for that at that time? >> So 12-month employees um obviously work differently. There are only set number of days that uh they we are permitted to um schedule them to be closed or off. Um certainly our facility our essential employees are in a whole different bucket here. So if they fall in the realm of essential employees, anybody can celebrate their religious holiday as they need to, it gets simply marked. It does come from their time. It's a personal day. It's a religious holiday. Um but but it does come from their banked time, right? So it it's um it's a personal choice. Um but we wanted to make sure that our teaching staff and

078our student staff were off as they have been in the past. offices have always been open and we've always worked with our 12-month employees to ensure that they get their religious time, but that we are um remaining operationally open. >> All right. Thank you. And then I just wanted to note a a mark of appreciation because something had been brought to my attention this past year about a conflict between Rashana and um uh open house and it looks like that is not going to happen this time. So, thank you for taking that into account. >> Yeah, that's not going to happen. and and it's always good when we hear from our community to any changes that we need to make. It's all about improvement. So, we definitely address that. >> Thank you. You're welcome. I

079do have a question. Um I feel like uh in the beginning of the school year, um we're actually with students, we're actually in session for nearly five and a half weeks. Maybe I'm counting wrong. Um but or or maybe four and a half weeks. um until we have a full week September 28th through October 2nd where we have five cons five days of school. And um I just wonder about um and I know that I know that some of these dates in the fall are not our choice. Uh whether it be uh a state um professional day or and I know that our district has also uh made choices about certain religious days uh which is fine. Um I just feel like then looking at you know towards the end of the school year uh

080when we're looking at more of um May uh it seems like they go every day with the exception of Memorial Day. And I'm just wondering and that's tends to be when people are tired or their motivation is the lowest uh whereas at the very beginning of the year uh motivation is is really high. that's the highest uh level of motivation that you see with um students and with uh staff. And I'm just wondering about maybe, you know, uh is it is it is it time for the Brandy Wine School District to consider perhaps um um having more weeks in the beginning of the year that are full weeks, taking advantage of the natural momentum. Um, also, um, you know, since we do border Pennsylvania, uh, there's many days, uh, that, um, uh, when there's a

081comparison, I think that sometimes I think sometimes the, uh, sometimes the feeling is that, um, that you hear, uh, in Delaware or or in the Brand School District is that, uh, we never go to school. There's never the school's never open. um and kind of a sometimes a frustration with that. So I I'm just curious just because um the mo the the natural motivation is so high at the beginning of the year and it's so much lower in May. So I'll just offer my two cents. You can certainly jump in Lvina. I think that Delaware changing the requirement of 180 days of school to hours significantly affected how much how many days we're in school. the thousand or whatever hours equates to about 173 to 175 days. So we are we have lost instructional time

082as a state from tacking on minutes to days instead of keeping the 180day requirement. And I would offer that several years ago we did try to come before the board to change exactly what you're talking about in terms of the beginning of the year and we wanted to move as an example parent conferences out of October. Many of our sister districts do it that week in November, the Thanksgiving week. But there was a strong um inclination here to leave the week of Thanksgiving completely off. So we have racked our brains to try to figure out how to uh obviously you can't change elections years and seasons and those kinds of things, but we we too notice this and we were trying to gain more instructional time back for students. Thank you. That's just what I

083was going to say, Dr. Thank you. Any other questions and comments? >> I appreciate your time and I will seek your approval in February. >> Thank you. That brings us to new business. Mr. McCoy, we'll start with the 2526 final budget. Good evening, President Heler, members of the board, Superintendent Dr. Lawson, and community members. Today, I'm here to present the 2025 2026 final budget for Brandy Wine School District. So, on the the second slide, uh just a quick overview. So, there's a lot of um moving parts to this, but in the in the long run, we end at the same spot, similar to where we were for the preliminary budget. Uh the story for the final budget, uh the first one, our tuition tax shortfalls. Uh we'll touch on this uh in more detail in

084future slides. However, you'll see that our tuition tax revenues are not covering our tuition tax expenses, which means we are depleting our tuition tax balances from prior years that have carried forward. Uh enrollment decline. We had an enrollment decline of 279 students. That was unexpected. We actually thought that our enrollment would climb a little bit. Uh that results in a decrease of 11.48 teacher units. uh many of the state funding buckets are calculated based on enrollment or number of units. So as our units decline, as our enrollment declines, so too does our state funding. Assessment changes. Uh so this is really what the big positive of our budget this year. Uh there was a significant increase in the assessment base uh from the from the day we had to set our tax rates until now.

085And that was due to the fact that um Newcastle County realized that they had valued Delm Marva properties at the wrong assessment. Uh so that added Delm Marva alone added 123 million to our tax base for the 6 months of the remaining year. Uh if you take the full year they added it added $246 million to our assessment base. So during the reassessment um we identified Delm Marva as one of the the the businesses that had made out in the reassessment but the fact of the matter was that all of their numbers that were provided by the county were incorrect. So they have fixed that on the January tax role and Delm Marva will have to pay the increased assessment for the remaining six months of the school year. Uh that assessment growth for the

086remaining six months of the school year will result in additional $1.4 million in current expense revenue for the district. Uh and this is welcome news to help offset some of the declines that we experienced in our uh state funding due to the enrollment declines and the lost interest income. So for the assessment changes saying on this topic the topic of appeals 153 appeals have been settled that is out of 667 total for our district. Those 153 result in a loss of $9.1 million in assessed value for the district. Um the good thing is that we factored that in when we set our rates for this school year. Um and it this will come back on our uh looking forward slide in the in the end. Uh there's 521 appeals that remain open. 72 are non-residential.

087There's some big ticket items out there. Uh the largest I believe is um Dupont Country Club and there's 595 residential properties still out there waiting for an appeal to be settled. Uh we also had a a large decline in interest income. Uh the budget was adjusted downwards by $660,000. That is due to the delayed tax revenues that we have still yet to receive uh the bulk of our tax revenues for the year. And then charter tuition uh the the higher there's higher tuition rates per student and more students in costlier tuition categories. And we'll look at more detail as we go through the slides. On the next slide, uh it's a picture of where our local ending balance is projected to land. Uh the line by line detail of the budget is attached to board

088docs. The end result for our local funds is a June 30th, 2026 balance of $8.893 million. When the referendum was passed in fiscal year 24, the goal was to land at $8.8 million at the conclusion of this school year. Uh so we should accomplish that goal. A major concern that we have going forward is that the tuition tax funds are being overspent. Uh tuition tax funds are the portion of our tax rate that produces funds to be specifically used on students with intensive or complex needs. Uh I did a a look back at the previous four years and it showed that three of those year three of those years our tuition tax revenues were less than what we spent. meaning we used prior year tuition tax balances that had been carried forward carried forward from

089previous years, those balances were used to cover our overspending. Uh so while it is advantageous to taxpayers to use the reserves when available, we are reaching the point where our expenditures will soon deplete our tuition tax reserves and require us to use our current expense local funds to cover the difference. So on this slide, you can see that we're projected to overspend tuition tax by $1.5 million. Uh that would leave us with a balance at the end of the year of also $1.5 million. So if next year is like this year, we will have depleted our tuition tax balances. Uh so the the cut cost mind of me thought that we were just simply overspending and out overspending our means. Um and then I sat here I sat at the board meeting last last month

090and I watched Superintendent Lawson present the number of uh students that we have that now have intensive and complex needs. So on the next slide, slide four, you can see that the the numbers increased dramatically from 22 to 23 and then just continued to climb uh with a slight decrease in 26. Uh the reason for the increase can be traced to a better identification of of disabilities and a deeper understanding of of the best practices for teaching the students. um advances in medical care that allow ch children to attend schools who may in the past may not have been able to. And uh lastly, uh just a successful special education program uh attracts families who move to the district specifically for those those special education u aspects. So, the tuition tax rate has been minimally

091increased each of the last three years. As our debt service tax has been uh declining as we retire debt, we've we've moved a portion of it into tuition tax. However, the the number of students that we have and the needs that they present have far outpaced the additional revenue that we're we're receiving from the incremental increases to tuition tax. Uh just a a quick explanation of how the funds are used. It's a basically a recap of what Superintendent Lawson presented last month. The tuition tax funds are used when a need arises for a smaller adult student ratio. uh for example um onetoone paras or the need for assisted technology or instructional assistance need for extended services beyond the regular school day or year and the need for related services or health services like occupational or

092physical therapy or nursing services and adaptations to the curriculum or educational environment. Uh just to further drive home the the numbers that we're seeing. Um in fiscal year 23 we had 179 students who required alternative communication supports. This year we have 328 students requiring this support. Uh and these students require specialized technology equipment and staffing. All of which comes at a a pretty substantial cost. So, that is something that we'll have to address when we set the tax rate and the budget for next year, but I just wanted to put it um in the back of your mind. This year, we'll be able to cover our costs. Um, and as always, we're just continually monitoring the costs to make sure what we're spending is actually what we need to be spending, and we're looking for

093ways to find efficiencies and cost savings. On the next slide, we have the uh enrollment details. So this slide illustrates the enrollment decline we faced from fiscal year 25 to fiscal year 26. A decline of 279 students. Uh this is a big deal due to the fact the way districts are funded in the state of Delaware. The number and type of staffing units that we earn from the state are directly tied to enrollment. While we have enough units to cover all of our employees for this school year, there is we don't have the excess like we experienced in years past. uh those units that we had in years past, the excess um depending on the type of the unit, we could use that to cash it in with the state and they would give us

094additional funding or we would give it back to the state in what's called the give back where the state uh makes us pay back essentially $2 million of the money that they have given to us to satisfy the alternative reduction plan. So since we have less units to cover those needs, it means that we will have less money available to us to uh limit the burden that local funds must cover uh in lie of the state funds. On the next slide, uh you can see how those uh unit the lack of units and the decreased enrollment impacted our numbers versus the preliminary numbers. In total, uh, what we have listed here is an $872,000 decline. Our preliminary budget was built, um, with the notion that our enrollment was expected to go up and it was,

095uh, drastically the opposite of that. So, the division two other costs, all other costs in the division 2 energy, that money is used for our utilities, uh, our gas, electric, and sewer. The equalization line and the education sustainment line are used 100% for salaries. The tech block grant line decreased because it was included in the give back to the state. So we had less units, so less open positions to give back to the state to satisfy the alternative reduction. So we had to go to other pots of money. So we had to get back the tech block grant. And that's not unusual. We've had to do that in years past, but in years past um we had more units. So it kind of we didn't have to give back as much in other buckets. So

096all of these items are revenues that are utilized to delay the use of local funds. Since we are receiving less than anticipated, it means that our local funds will have to cover the costs and these revenues are um we're expected to cover those costs, but now we have to use our local funds. Moving along, and feel free to stop me if you have any questions. On slide seven, we have the charter enrollment changes. Uh the chartering costs have increased by $981,000 compared to last year. This change is not due to a large number of students leaving Brandywine and going to charter schools. Uh in fact, charter school enrollment has only increased by seven students when compared to the prior year. The largest driver of the increase was due to the shift of enrolled students from

097less costly categories to more costly categories. So you can see from the slide that 49 students uh came out of the lowest level and they are listed in the order of lower cost to higher cost and those numbers in the higher cost categories have jumped up. Additionally, the rate per student is calculated based on district spending. uh legislation changed the calculation to include a wider range of district expenses which made the per student calculation larger than it had been in previous years. On the next slide, we can look at choice changes. So this is the change from fiscal year 25 to 26. Not the total number of students, it's just the change. So in the BSD students going out column, we had 23 additional students who live in Brandy Wine School District leave our district

098and go to uh mainly well pretty much red clay. Uh other districts who send their students to Brandy Wine or whose students choice into Brandy Wine decreased by 54 students. So the net impact is a loss of 77 students to Brandy Wine School District. Um, I don't really have an explanation for that. I I in looking at the numbers for Red Clay, it does seem like the Charter School Wilmington has um taken more of our students than they have in years past. I kind of wonder if they also have enrollment declines in Red Clay, so they were able to let more students into Charter and Cab Callaway. Uh with that said, Brandy Wine has taken a much more active approach to attract and maintain students within our district and we hope that our efforts will

099be reflected in next year's choice numbers choice and charter. On the next slide is just a very brief summary of revenue changes. Uh if you wanted the details, you can look at the the uh budget that is attached to board docs. Local revenue is expected to increase by $914,000 over the preliminary budget. The main drivers being that additional real estate tax that we spoke about and the offset by the decrease in the interest income. Cafeteria revenues that was adjusted downwards based upon collections that we've seen for the first half of the year. The nutrition department is working extremely hard to increase their revenues and they've been very successful thus far. However, I I think I was a little too pie in the sky with the preliminary number. So, I brought it back down to a

100number that is more easily attainable and therefore when we attain when we get to that number, it looks better than they worked very hard and they didn't reach a revenue number that was unattainable. State revenue has fallen due to the discretionary revenues that we we looked at earlier and it's offset by a couple one-off state grants that we've received during the year. Nothing major. Uh and federal re revenues remain unchanged. Next, we have some notable expenditure changes on slide 10. I'm not going to go through all of these. The one thing that I did want to talk about um is the top line, the salaries and OEC's. That's the local salaries and OEC's. Uh, and that did increase by $849,000. Some of that, a lot of that was uh less state funding. So, we had

101had to cover more things um than we anticipated. Another large chunk of it was right sizing our opportunity fund. So, in the past, we had carryover balances from the opportunity fund um because we did not have the waiver. So, uh, we weren't some years we were faced with the fact that people who were in the fund had moved buildings, but the money couldn't move with them. So, that money just sat there. So, we had that money to use in the next year. So, we since we've had the waiver, we have uh utilized all those funds. So, last year the opportunity fund was actually overspent by a a pretty decent amount. So in order to rightsize that, we had to pull some employee, some teachers out of opportunity fund and put them into units. So that

102meant that they were not 100% covered by opportunity fund and now they're covered by a unit which is state and local. So they have a local portion that's now going into the salaries and OEC line shown there. Uh real quick, I just also wanted to mention the board of education budget is increasing by $15,000. Um that's probably not known to the board in front of me, but uh that is because the migration from Board Docs to Diligent is an increase of $10,000 and that was a uh pretty much a forced migration because Board Docs is no longer um going to exist and they are a sister company of Diligent and so we've been pushed to the higher version of our software. The other $5,000 is for accessibility updates for board meetings. Are there any questions

103on that slide? Uh I know there's a lot listed there. Just keep moving on. All right. On the next slide, this is where things kind of look uh quite gloomy when you look ahead at the the future of the budget. So the first item is the reassessment fallout. When we set our tax rates after the reassessment, like I mentioned, we had the ability to factor in appeals. We won't have that ability going forward because our rates are already set and they don't let us adjust the rate. Um I as well as all the other CFOs anticipate there will be more appeals next year than there were than there are this year. Um, so that will be an issue if we start losing assessment and have no ability to reset our tax rates to um still

104be revenue neutral. Additionally, many residents have just generally lost confidence in the tax system since a vast majority of our residential properties saw a larger than expected increase because of the reassessment. It will be a difficult task to win back their trust uh next time that we need to ask for their vote for any referendums in the future. With that said that there has been chatter of referendum reform, but I'm told that's something that pops up all the time and it never really gets through the general assembly. Uh the budget pressures. So like everyone uh school districts are not immune to inflation. Uh contractor prices are going up. Utility costs are rising. Uh cost of operating a school district in general are just increasing across the board. Inflation rates in 2025 have sat in the

105mid to upper 2%. on the slide. If we had an inflation rate of 1% in operating costs, that would add $2.4 million in expenditures. Obviously, we would kind of we would take a look at things and see if those costs are absolutely necessary or if there's a way to trim those costs, but we're kind of uh for that aspect at the mercy of all the rising costs that everyone is experiencing in their everyday life. tuition tax adjustments. We've I've spoken about that. Uh we'd likely need an additional $1.5 million to cover current spending if it stayed at the same level next year. >> Quick question on that, if I may. Uh is there any ability to essentially get some sort of efficiencies from the uh tuition tax uh expenditures? Essentially what I'm asking if you

106had to spend say $50,000 on one special education stu uh teacher um that teacher could teach maybe five just for example five students if you're hiring that person for one student you're hiring them for the next four as well and I was just wondering is there any plan capability other district solution that can can create that level of efficiency or is it going to be kind of like a a curve going up forever where for every additional student with complex needs or or things of that nature, there will be an increased cost as well regardless if there'll never be like a plateau. It'll always be going one for one. >> I know that's a very difficult question because you're you're not in the >> the business of the other side. You're in the business of

107the financing side. So, I didn't know whether or not that was something that could address the 1.5. >> Um, I know that Dr. Dr. Hes has been looking at everything with a financial eye. Um, I believe a lot of the one-on- ones are written into students IEPs and that's a one-on-one um with a pair professional. The teachers I believe are with many students at one time. Um, but it's um it it's a tough spot because if you you don't provide the service, you could get yourself in trouble and if if it's not in the IEP, um the parents might fight for it to be in the IEP. So, it's a a very difficult situation and just the special education in general is such a difficult um department to budget for because you could get one

108student that comes in and cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars or that student could leave and then you you don't have that expense anymore. But I will say that they are doing a great job um the special education department of reviewing everything that they they that Dr. Hess has inherited to make sure that it's running in an efficient cost effective way. >> Dan, Mr. McCoy, excuse me. This may be a a theoretical question, but in reassessment we we we faced the idea that it was supposed to be revenue neutral. And once we got the reassessment totals, we all voted on a tax rate that would not give us any more money than we would have gotten anyway. Now that the appeals are going through, that's virtually a reassessment. So why wouldn't we have the

109power to adjust the tax rate to get us back to revenue neutrality? Uh it's not specifically written into state code that we could do that. So the state code said the year following a reassessment you can reset your tax rate, but it didn't say anything about two years following you can adjust for appeals. So we set our tax rate factoring in the appeals for this current school year. It will probably help us a little bit next year, but I think the number of appeals that the county will get are going to be much much more than last year. So, I don't think that our factoring that in this year will help us for the full uh impact of appeals next year. But the the tax structure for next year is not even set in in

110stone yet. So we don't know if split rates will still be around. We don't know if um the reassessments will happen every four years, 5 years, 2 years. And when that happens, can we still reset our rate? And is that extra percent out there? We have no idea where our our tax structure will even land at the end of this school year. >> And this is unique to Newcastle County because we learned in legislative hall that Kent and Sussex um satisfied their at risk and appeals before they sent out tax bills. So we were the only county that had um unattended appeals and at risk properties and and we sent out tax bills. So, we just are in this alone as far as the state goes. And it was it was frustrating to go down

111and hear all of this in legislative hall that much of what has happened was a Newcastle County problem. And we remained revenue neutral and took none of the 10% and and now we're not in a good place >> and we don't have access to that any part of that 10%. No sir. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yep. >> Uh capital needs uh those are always hanging over our head. The state has not approved a capital needs request for school districts in Delaware in the last two years. Uh so not only are BSD's requests being continuously denied, but if there are projects ahead of ours, those remain ahead of ours and have not been there's been no movement in two years. This means that the district must divert our local funds to repair buildings and equipment

112that are in desperate need of replacement. So, for example, PS had a unit that I think uh broke loose on the rooftop, flooded a classroom below it, and uh that might need a full replacement, and that would be a couple hundred,000. uh the public education funding commission. This organization mentioned earlier is attempting to update the Delaware school district funding formula that has remained unchanged for 80 years. Uh the organization recently voted to move forward with a hybrid model to fund districts, meaning that it would add additional dollars or weights for certain certain categories of students. This new model would need to be approved by the general assembly in July. And it's hard to say at this point if it would benefit us or I believe they're going to try to hold harmless all districts so

113they don't receive less money than they did in years past. Um, but this organization also had a study done that said 200 million needed to be added into the school district funding formula at a minimum. And then obviously the reading consortium unknowns. Um we should have a final answer this summer but we are going to continue to budget forecast and long-term plan as if we will remain Brandandy Wine School District. So that is uh my presentation for the 2025 2026 final budget. The I will say again the full details are on board docs. Uh the 2025 2026 final budget was approved at the December 10th district finance committee meeting. Um board member Scrobot was at that meeting um with him not here tonight. Our timeline for the budget does say that it could be approved

114in January or February. Um so I will leave that up to the board. >> Thank you. Any questions? Move to accept the final budget. >> Second. >> Motion by Mr. Acriman, seconded by Mr. Lavoy to accept the budget. Any discussion? All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed or abstain? Motion carries. That brings us to 11B, the monthly financial report for December 2025. >> All right. uh the monthly financial report for December 31st, 2025. Um on the first page, the ne next page uh there we go. I'm just going to hit the highlights. So the budget column has not been updated because the budget was just approved. So that will be updated next month. Some of the big things on here in on page one, the local funds, the choice and charter lines, those payments,

115and the revenues. So the revenues for choice because we take in more students than we send out have started to come in from other districts. With that our our second charter payment has gone out. So our full charter payment has now been made. So you can see the numbers in the choice and charter line in the received column. We're still trending below behind on revenues because of our tax receipts that have not been yet the bulk have not yet been received. uh in the state funds section, the cost recovery and tech block grant. Last month, there used to be an amount in the cost recovery and tech block grant, the received column, that has gone away because we gave back the tech block grant money. Um, in the categorical state funds kind somewhat towards the

116bottom, the driver's ed and professional development, they're italicized. They were they had revenue numbers last month, but they have also been given back as part of the required alternative reduction by the state. Uh, tuition funds, the charter payment has been made in the tuition fund column. So, that will be updated to agree to the new the new budget amount. on the next page. Um there's not um really much to highlight here, >> Mr. McCoy. >> Yes. >> I I just want the the previous page. >> Sure. >> You said Wilmington Learning Collaborative. Does that mean they have not paid the $75,000? >> Correct. We're we're actually still using funds from previous years to pay for our costs in this current year. Um so as board member Naji mentioned the there's a backlog of spending WLC

117funds. So we're spending previous year's funds and the $75,000 that you see there is budgeted for fiscal year 26 funds of revenue. >> Thank you. >> Yep. Uh the on page two, I just wanted to point out the debt service. Um it's been on the report, but I just wanted to point it out. The June 30th balance is we have a balance in our debt service of $5.3 million. And you compare that to what we pay in one year, which is $4.5 million. We have a healthy balance in our debt service um accounts, which means that there's the ability to move money out of debt service and into tuition tax in future years to mitigate any actual tax increase and kind of just offset um one tax with the other. And we I'll have more

118on that when the time comes to actually set tax rates. Uh moving on to page three. This is the expenditure page and we had pre I had previously hidden the ex in encumbered amount and expended amount columns to clean this up in months past but DFC wanted uh it to be expanded for December. So I expanded it. So now you can see more detail than in previous months. The only item that I wanted to note was the board of education. It's currently over spent, but um that will the budgeted amount will go up $15,000 to cover that over expenditure. Uh the only other item of note on here is line 11, student support services. That is at 96.76% of its budget that they have spent or encumbered. that's um a bit concerning this early in

119the school year. So, we are taking a closer look at that um and we'll we'll meet with the budget owner and make sure we're good for the year. I'm just going to keep moving if there's no questions. Uh, page four. I do not have anything of major concern on this page. All the numbers, the percents obligated are in line with where they were last year and nothing jumps out. We continue to spend our our federal funds and things are are looking solid on this page. On page five, that is the additional detail of the individual school budgets. They are still below where they were at this time last year, and they all still look very good, and all the spending is what you would expect for individual buildings, and there's no concerns with with that

120page. On page six, the prior year appropriation expenditures. The only item of note is line 28, the special school tuition payment. That's the unique alternatives. Uh that shows up on the prior year appropriation page because we are paying we are using fiscical year 25 funds to pay for fiscal year 26 expenses. So there was just a large PO entered to pay for uh unique alternative expenses and that's why it shows on the prior year page. Uh no other items of note on that page. Moving on to page seven, the cash flows. Uh the the biggest thing on here is that the that the district finance committee suggested that somewhere on the board report we we notate how much cash we have used of state funds as a loan due to our delayed tax payments. So

121when the when the state pushed out the tax deadline, they said you can also use our funds to cover yourself if you have a shortfall in in available funds. So as of 1231 the at the bottom left hand side of the page, we had used $14 million of the state's funds for this. So when we receive our tax revenues, $14 million of it will go towards um backfilling the state funds. Uh so you can see at the end of this cash flow it has an ending balance of 8.807 million. That is a little that's lower than what was presented in the u uh the final budget and that's only because the final budget was constantly moving and this was created before the final budget was finalized. um that uh uh in December the actual column

122the local funds the monthly revenues is negative once again and that's because it was offset by the large uh charter payment. So the charter payment was $3.76 million. Uh and our our choice revenue was 1.34 and our regular tax receipts were $2 million and the net of that was negative $347,000. Uh the monthly financial report was approved by the district finance committee at the December 10th meeting. Um are there any questions? >> Thank you. Any questions? If not, motion to approve the financial report subject to audit. >> So moved, Mr. Arman. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mr. Lavoy. All in favor? >> I. Any opposed or abstensions? Motion carries. And then finally, Mr. McCoy. Item C, the February 1st, 2026 financial position report. >> The financial position report is required by the state

123of Delaware to ensure that school districts have enough projected balance as of 6:30 to cover their payroll through the summer. Uh so the projected balance as of 630 is the same number that you just saw in the cash flow statement. This report is um basically a carbon copy of the cash flow statement but in the state's uh format. U so our projected balance is 8.8. One month of payroll is $5.1 million. So we cover ourselves for um the month of July and then August and September we'll start receiving our tax revenues and we'll cover ourselves with tax revenues. And this was also approved by the district finance committee at our December meeting. >> Thank you. Motion to approve the financial position report. >> So moved. >> Mr. Ger, is there a second? >> Second. >>

124Mr. Aman. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed or abstensions? Motion carries. Thank you. U with that general information. Um, we do have a board workshop scheduled for Monday, February 2nd, because it's an early board meeting month. That will be at Mount Pleasant Elementary. And, uh, we believe the main topic of that meeting will be the district success plan. Our next regular board meeting is February 9th at Mount Pleasant High School and then a board workshop again March 2nd at Mount Pleasant Elementary. If there's nothing else, a motion to adjurnn. >> Uh, no. I just was wondering if uh Dr. uh Lawson if you could just describe a little bit of the gifted program, some of the um the timeline for things that are going to be going on with regards to that. I

125know a lot of uh teachers and parents have been asking me about it and I know that uh you have come up with a a schedule and a plan to going forward. >> Yes, I will try to get uh something um on there that specific section of the website so that parents are aware. Uh we have been planning for several months uh to offer a few information sessions for current parents but then also to address um our identification process and our acceptance into the program. So, uh, suffice it to say, we're going to kick off with information on January 29th at our parent and citizens, um, advisory, uh, committee where we are going to highlight all of our specialized programs in the district, how, uh, we identify or accept or invite students into the program

126and what the program is all about, and then also how the program may or may not intersect with other programs that we have here in the district. And then following that um we have successfully hired cluster leaders for our gifted services program. So our teachers will be helping us with communication and collaboration with families. But we have a few information nights that we are going to be offering for current families. And then in terms of prospective families, as we move towards kindergarten registration and that kickoff, we're going to launch uh a new a new process or an improved process to ensure that the uh screening for kindergarteners gets done in time so that parents can make a decision whether they choose gifted services or whether they would rather go to their home school. So we

127are working on it and we will have uh communication out in in short order. >> Thank you. If there's nothing else, is there a motion to adjurnn? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mr. Loy, Miss Stock, all in favor. I I motion adjourn. Happy New Year. Have a great night, everybody.