001Good evening. Welcome to the Red Clay Consolidated School District regular school board meeting February 11th, 2026. We will begin with the pledge of allegiance. Will you please stand? Pledge >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. To the republic which stands one nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. You may be seated. Miss Stevens, can you please commence the roll call? >> Miss English, >> present. >> Mr. Henson, >> present. >> Miss Landis, >> Natch Melandis, present. >> Mr. Matthews, >> present. >> Miss Sander, >> present. Miss Tortois, >> present. >> Mr. Leonard, >> present. >> Forum reached. >> Thank you. All right. Agenda approval. Uh, is there a motion to approve the agenda for tonight's board meeting, February 11th, 2026, as submitted? >> So, moved. English.
002>> Second. Susan Sander. >> I would like to make an amendment to that motion. Um, I amend uh the motion to remove um items C, give me one second. C and D from um action consent items. >> Okay, we have a motion. >> Second. We have a second. We have a second. Any discussion? All in favor? Okay. Opposed? Motion carries. >> Amendment. >> The amendment. >> Amendment. >> Car. And now we have one more for the for the final for the motion. >> Okay. So, uh the the amendment carries. Is there a motion to accept it? The the new agenda. >> What is it? >> A vote. Okay. accepted as amended. >> Accepted as an amendment. Thank you. >> So moved. >> We have a second. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Thank you.
003Motion carries. All right. That wasn't difficult. >> Okay. Uh >> you ready? >> Everybody good? >> Okay. We now have uh public comment. Uh we don't >> The Red Clay School Board appreciates any member of the community who would like to make a public comment. According to board policy 2006, Red Clay School Board allocates 30 minutes to public commentary. Each person may have up to three minutes to address the board and this time may not be transferred to or from another speaker. The board generally does not respond directly to a speaker. The board meeting is not an appropriate forum to raise complaints or concerns about individual employees. Upon request, the superintendent shall provide the speaker with the procedure for submitting such complaints or concerns. The order of the speakers is listed on the screen. As
004you see your name, please make your way to to a seat near the podium or if you're virtual, unmute when called to respect the time of anyone present tonight. When you speak, please state your name and organization. If you're speaking on it behalf and the topic of your comment, there's a timer on the screen that will turn on turn on when you have one minute left. It will turn yellow with 30 seconds left and flash red for three minutes or over. I will then thank you for your comments and call the next speaker. Let's begin with Jim Casper. Mr. Casper is Mr. Casper here. Okay. All righty. We're going to Janna Maring on Zoom. >> Hello. Can you hear me? >> Yes, we can. >> Hi, good evening. Um, I'm just quite frankly I'm calling
005about uh the transparency with um uh the school board um and the Department of Transportation. um my child um gets the privilege of being in um first grade in the Spanish immersion program at an elementary school. Um we up until maybe 3 months ago um I had the privilege of taking my child to school and picking her up every day. Um my work arrangements um changed. um I I get the privilege of serving our community um serving those at end of life and unfortunately it means I have to start meetings a little bit early. So, I decided um to trust um the school bus um to bring my kid to school. Uh two weeks ago um on a Monday, there was an issue um with a school bus in which the school bus driver got
006off of the school bus and came up to me um outside of the school bus, leaving kids unattended and other kids. um that got off at my child's bus stop were crying. Now, again, I I'm not here to speak on anyone. What I want to talk about is the process. And so, I called um the bus district um spoke to the person um that answered the phone, asked to speak to um a supervisor, got nothing. I then went to the school. Um, I brought my child to school every day last week, um, giving up my time at work, um, because I was genuinely afraid of what my child would experience on that school bus. Um, what I want to talk about is the transparency in communication with parents. So, what I was told was that,
007um, guess what? We're not going to change that school bus driver. You can go ahead and go a mile up the road and bring your child to um a a a different bus stop with a different bus driver. That to me was not sufficient. What I did find out from my child was um because we just started back this week was that there was someone else um that is now on the bus as a bus, you know, um a liaison, someone that is on there. Why is that transparency not there? And I'm just going to say in my community and we have a small neighborhood. I have talked >> Thank you, Jana. Our our next speaker is Miss Morgan Dukes. Miss Dukes. >> Hello. My name is Morgan Dukes. I'm a McCain staff member and
008alumni. Um, I want to be really clear. I don't claim to have the perfect solution to our enrollment challenges. It's a complex problem and it deserves a lot more thoughtful and collaborative work. But what I can say is that dismantling one of the district's comprehensive high schools that is performing well is not the answer. You don't fix one problem by creating another. And repurposing a stable, successful school does not strengthen our system. It destabilizes it. What is most troubling is not just the plan itself, but how consistently the concerns about it have been ignored. Staff, parents, community members, and students have spoken out repeatedly. They've shown up to meetings. They've emailed. They've shared thoughtful questions, real fears, and practical concerns. And yet, those plans have gone unanswered, not addressed, not incorporated, just acknowledged, and then
009set aside. Public schools are already losing students. Trust is fragile. Families are paying attention. Right now, parents with children in elementary and middle schools are watching this process unfold. They're watching how concerns are handled. They're watching whether voices matter. And many of them are asking a very reasonable question. Is this a district that listens to its community? If the answer appears to be no, they will choose to leave public education. That's how enrollment declines accelerate. Not because families reject public education, but because they lose faith in the process behind it. Finally, I want to address a hard truth. A plan without buyin will fail. It doesn't matter how detailed the rollout is. It doesn't matter how enthusiastic district leadership or board members might be. If staff don't believe in it, if students don't support it,
010and if families don't trust it, the plan won't succeed. Implementation requires cooperation, morale, and shared purpose. You can't mandate those. They have to be earned. Right now, buyin is not just low, it's actively eroding. and continuing forward without addressing that reality risks wasting time, resources, and goodwill that this district can't afford to lose. I urge you to pause, reflect, and reconsider the path forward. Engage the people who will be most affected. Strengthen what is already working. And remember, sustainable solutions are built with communities, not imposed on them. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Dukes. We now have Mary Cole on Zoom. Miss Cole. >> Hi. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Oh, great. Thank you. Um, good evening members of the school school board. Um, I come here tonight uh before you not just
011as a parent, but as an advocate for stability, security, and fairness for our children. In the fall of 2027, Thomas McCain High School is set to be restructured into an innovation center. While I understand the intent behind this change, I need you to understand what this means for students like my daughter and for so many others. My daughter will be a senior that year. Instead of celebrating her final year with the teachers, the counselors, the coaches, the friends who have supported her for three years, she will be uprooted and sent to a completely different school. new teachers, new administration, new sports teams, new support staff. And for her and for many students, this isn't just a change. It's a disruption of everything that gives them confidence and security. Students with special needs and learning disabilities
012thrive on consistency. They need to feel safe and supported to succeed. McCain has given my daughter that environment. It has molded her into a confident, independent young adult. To rip her away from that in her senior year would be devastating. It could set her back tremendously, not just academically, but emotionally. And this isn't just about my child. Every student deserves a chance to finish their high school journey where they started, surrounded by the relationships that they've built with the teachers and counselors, coaches, and peers. These bonds aren't just connections. They are lifelines. They are what help our kids grow into strong, capable adults. Senior year is supposed to be a celebration, a time to reflect on years of hard work and look forward to the future. Forcing these students to start over in an unfamiliar
013environment during this critical year is frankly unfair. It would be a sin to tear them away from the place that they call home. So tonight, I'm asking the board to consider the human impact of this decision. Please work with the district to create a transition plans that allows current McCain students, especially those entering their senior year, to graduate at McCain. Grandfather them in. Give them the stability that they need and deserve. Because when we prioritize their will be well well-being, we set them up for success not just in school but in life. Thank you for listening and considering the impact this will have on the current students of McCain High School. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Colt. We now have Miss Jenny Howard on Zoom. Miss Howard. >> Hi. Good evening members of the
014school board and Dr. Green. Uh my name is Jenny Howard and I almost wasn't going to speak tonight but at the last second I thought you know what I need to say this so that you all can understand. Over the past two years my questions have gone been dismissed or reframed as adversial. And I'm aware of the chatter but I want to remind everyone something I said the first time I spoke. I'm here for one reason and one reason only and that's the kids and that means all of the kids which is why I want to talk about the fiscal and structural implications of the proposed McCain Innovation Center. We're discussing major redesign of three comprehensive high schools but we currently have five high schools in this district two of which are selective magnet schools
015with enrollment criteria that many students can't access. Those two schools consistently offer the broadest range of sports, extracurriculars, advanced coursework, and CTE pathways. So, if we're talking about structural change, why are we not examining the full high school ecosystem? Why are only the comprehensive schools being restructured? If we're serious about equity, shouldn't we be evaluating whether resources are equitably distributed across all five high schools, not just redesigning the ones that serve the highest need populations? This is an attack isn't an attack. It's a systems question. And before moving forward with the innovation center, I really think we need to see the full fiscal impact analysis, a comparison of per people expenditures across all five high schools, and a clear explanation of how this plan advances equity districtwide, not just structurally reshuffles three buildings. And finally,
016I just want to say to the parent that just spoke about the bus concern back in October, the director of transportation promised that there would be some type of portal or Google doc or some method to contact transportation and get a written response back to them back to the parents because parents have transportation concerns all the time. It is very difficult to call transportation. Most of the time someone doesn't answer. When they do answer, they are very short. Obviously, they are busy and it is not the best way to get in contact with somebody from the transportation department. There needs to be a system and we were promised that and parents are still waiting for that. So, we're just asking for more transparency across the board. Thank you for your time tonight. >> Thank you,
017Miss Howard. Now, Mr. Stephen Fakenthal. >> Good evening, board. My name is Stephen Fenthal, music teacher at Richie Elementary and president of the Red Clay Education Association. I don't have prepared comments tonight, so this could go either way. And I have a sinus infection, so we'll see what happens. I'm here to speak tonight regarding the proposed uh 2627 school year calendar. When I had shared the calendar with my members, some of the most of the feedback came back regarding the late start in August, the fourth week of August for staff instead of the third week the previous few years and the two days of winter break, the two days before winter break, so eight days of break instead of 10. I recognize that we have a certain amount of hours that our students have to
018meet and days for educators. I also think that we continue to act in a way that this calendar and the way we operate is very rigid. You heard me last week speak about time. Time for our educators. [gasps] If we're going to respect that time, then we're going to need to come up with a better way to make that time happen. One of the things if we're not, and I also recognize that, you know, how holidays are going to fall where holidays fall and we're not going to be able to change that. But I'm wondering if if we're not able to do something like respect the time that f that our educator have with families like the two weeks because we all loved it. And I know administrators loved it too because it was absolutely
019fabulous. Can we recoup some of that time on the professional end? Um, one of the things I would love to see this board think about when I think it's presented next month, and I know other districts have done this in the past, is a one for professional responsibilities in-person day. [gasps] It would be a day for teachers to get caught up on their work. Get caught up, don't have to work during their winter break. That is now that is proposed as of now lessened by two days for next year. I would love the idea to consider that we need and I think the district needs more time. They want more time for PD special responsibilities their development for us. We are looking for that time as well. Um, I don't think our current calendar model
020is able to do that. And I would really love for us as a district to come together and think about how we can talk about time in a way that everyone is is able to come together for the betterment of the profession and in turn their students. So I'm I hopeful that makes sense. It made sense in my mind, but again I've had signed affection. So our working conditions are our students learning conditions. So I appreciate your time. >> Thank you, Mr. Thenthal. Okay. Now, approval of the minutes. Is there a motion to approve the minutes from the executive session on January 21st, 2026? >> So moved. Jose Matthews. >> Second. Susan Sander. >> It has been properly moved and second. Sorry. Uh any discussion? >> Thank you, Maria. >> All in favor? I >>
021I >> the minutes are approved. Is there a motion to approve the minutes from the regular session held on January 21st, 2026? >> So move Matthews >> second. English. >> It's been promptly moved and seconded to approve the minutes from the regular session January 21st. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Opposed? >> I. >> Motion passes. Thank you. Okay. Uh, we have a second special session, right? >> We have special session 13. >> Uh, is there a motion to approve the minutes from the special executive session January 13, 2026? >> Matthews. >> Is there a second? Was there one or no? >> You approved that last >> point of order. I don't see that on the board docs. >> Sorry, my bad. >> They approved it last month. >> Okay. Thank you. >> All right,
022superintendent report and uh Dr. Green. >> Good evening. Thank you, Mr. President. Leonard, uh members of the public, those who are joining us both here in Richardson Park auditorium as well as those who are online. Uh we have the fortune this evening to have Isabella Lemon, senior from Alexa Dupont High School, here to present as a student representative to the board. Isabella, the floor is yours. >> Is it on? >> It is on. >> Okay. bring a little bit closer. Hi everyone, my name is Isabelle Lemon and I am beyond thrilled to be speaking with you all this evening. And a little bit about me is I have been actually I was previously in the Brandy Wine School District from my from kindergarten to 8th grade. My dad got remarried and he moved houses. So,
023it just so happened that I was now in the Red Clay School District where that meant that Alexis I Dupont High School was going to be where I was going to continue my academic career. And to be honest, starting there, I had nobody like at all. Like I didn't like it was hard for me to like find my people. I really didn't know anybody and it was a new district and it was it was intense. But overall um I quickly realized how important community and tradition are. Uh these this played a huge role in shaping what became four incredibly positive and meaningful years. So as >> they'll follow your lead. So you just go ahead through your presentation and they'll follow your lead. Do you want to school community? Go >> ahead. >> Okay. So,
024as you can see here, like >> she's on school communities and traditions. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Yes. Those fabulous photos. Um, so as you can see here, we held a senior sunrise, which a lot of schools do this. You basically wake up at a very early hour and very too much for me. I'm not a morning person at all, but you we have actually cut out these little poster boards and put all these little decorations. Essentially, it's a big photo op. And I don't mind. I love it, honestly. And then also, we have our senior bonfire. And this photo is not doing that fire justice. It was massive and just insane. But moving on, we have our Paul Al Porets tribute. >> And I just wanted to include this story. Um, the AI
025legend himself, Paul Al Prett, who sadly passed away in recent years, uh, left behind an incredible legacy. uh to honor his memory, our AI alumni uh came together to commemorate him the best way they knew how. And that was by reuniting and performing um as a band in his honor. And when I say that I was just in absolute awe watching this, like like I've heard the stories, but like experiencing it firsthand was just incredible. and seeing them perform together truly brought those stories just to life and it just blew my mind. And um really show how shown they shown how powerful and unbreakable a community can be when people come together for something just bigger than themselves. And that kind of unity also comes within, especially during one of my favorite weeks, spirit week.
026Spirit week is just a way to keep things light and fun and allowing everyone to showcase their creativity and school spirit. And frankly, I just love seeing all the teachers embarrass themselves, but willingly, too. And then also we have our student leadership and voice. So at AI we offer NHS also known as national honors society and we are also we also offer um student government where that consists of each grade level getting a elected a president, vice president, um secretary and treasurer for each grade level. And then also I wanted to add in uh the newest addition of voice we have at AI, the SBA, also known as student voice advisory. And I did steal these photos from Red Clay's page, so sorry about that. >> And then moving on to the fun stuff, we
027have uh clubs and student involvement. Um, so something very unique about AI is we have an esports lounge. And honestly, I don't know much about it besides them being able to play video games on a competitive level, but the boys love it and it seems to be a big attraction. So, um, and then also we have a our own greenhouse. So, um, it ju it just recently kind of became a new evolving club. Um, but I asked around about it and apparently they meet every Wednesday and they plant crops and stuff. But yeah, >> and then also um Oh, also I wanted to include a emerging program, Girls Flag Football, which I was happy to be a part of this year. and we played against a couple of schools and I'm hoping that this program
028can become bigger in the near future, but I'm sure it will. And it was overall just a fun time. And then also we have our our two other clubs. We have uh BSU and then also we have Latinos, Unidos. Gosh, I'm horrible. I'm butchering that and I'm Mexican. I know it's bad. Uh we also and then um uh but you can join these clubs uh no matter your ethnicity. Um really anybody can join and these clubs just highlight the diversity at AI and how we create spaces where students can be can stay connected and learn about different cultures and support one another. And then also boring stuff. Okay. Academics and college readiness. So at AI we offer um a dual enrollment uh opportunities uh that are linked to go beam and the University of Delaware.
029So whichever course you take, you can earn up to three college credits. And then we also have our ECA, our early college early college academy. And if you start this your freshman year, you can actually earn up to 30 college credits, which is like amazing. >> And then we just have our general AP classes. Um, we have our AP US history, statistics, AP seminar, AP research, and it's just a good way to just get ahead. And then we also have our reality fair. Okay. So, I am currently in uh financial literacy, which as you guys might know, uh it's going to be required as of I guess next year. It's not required yet, but and I was actually at the the law passing of it and it was actually pretty cool. But um one of
030our staff um Kylie Holidayiday, she does a beautiful job every year um um helping organize it. And basically, if you're not familiar of what a reality fair is, uh it is set up with different the different stations uh that represent real life expenses, both needs and wants. So for example, you might have like the budget to pay your electricity bill or transportation or groceries or furnishing your house, like really whatever. And in the beginning, you're given a like fake persona of what you're how much you make, also like if you have children or not, if you have a spouse or not, all the factors that play into your near financial future. And when I actually attended the reality fair, I'm pretty sure I had three. No, I had like four children and it was like
031really bad. And you're just And you're just trying to The goal is not to go bankrupt and I didn't. So >> yeah. So kudos to me. Oh, and then also kudos to our staff, our lovely SNAP staff staff. um they are truly the heart and soul of AI and a very big part on why I go there and I haven't like our staff has been so helpful and overall just they care about their students and I've just thank you to my staff if you're listening. Well, not my staff but you guys know what I mean. Um, and then yes, lastly, we have our school slogan, which is earn our stripes together, which a very someone was very eager that I add this in here, aka my principal. And you're welcome if you're watching. But yeah,
032that's it. >> Thank you, Isabella. Any questions from the board? >> Yeah, Isabella, you're bringing back. I'm sorry. Go ahead. Being a teacher at AI High for over 20 years, uh it brings back a lot of memories here. >> Yeah. >> Uh my classroom used to be a join to the greenhouse and we grew a lot of vegetables there. >> You have to join. >> Yep. >> I mean, I'm too busy with golf. >> Well, you also you shouldn't. It's it's good club. >> Okay. >> Uh and also, uh we have an observatory, one of two observatories in Newcastle County at AI and there was astronomy club. I think they're going to start that up again. So, thank you for presenting AI in that light. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> Um, and I I
033have a similar spill. Um, as an AI alum, I appreciated the presentation. So, it was nice. It was nice to see all of the new things that everyone's doing since I graduated. I won't say what year. Um, also I appreciated the tribute um to Mr. Paul El Perets as a previous >> palm. Um I had a similar >> thought process uh coming into AI as as a freshman getting the opportunity to watch the marching band. >> Um and they it it is in fact and has always been legendary. Um so I I appreciate I actually was here this day. >> Um so but yeah, I I really appreciated the um presentation. I love that you guys are uh implementing financial literacy. I think that that is awesome. >> Yes. I'm a big advocate for that.
034Yes. Um, >> do you know you said you're a senior this year? >> Yes. >> You know where you're going after after not yet. I'm still waiting on a couple other schools to get back to me, but hopefully I know. >> Well, well, we'll love to love to hear where you where what your plans are after this. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Miss English was one of my uh students at one time in science. >> Yes, I was. [laughter] >> And you want a teacher? Yes. >> Oh, >> environmental science. >> Retired teacher. He used to teach. >> Mr. Leonard is going to date us all. >> Mr. Henson. >> Oh, yeah. I I have four kids that graduated from AI. I have uh >> I had two of them. >> Deon. >> I have
035little Devon, Aaliyah, Dion, and Da all graduated from AI High. So, >> you you made me proud coming out here representing AI, right? But I did want to know, were you guys the flag football team? Are y'all any good? >> Okay, so long story long story. It it was so they started it last year and I it wasn't really a big thing like they scheduled a couple games and they played against like a couple of people and then this year we did it again and we played Oh my god, this is so embarrassing. Okay. So, we like played against like it was like um I think it was like boys and girls club. So, there were like kids younger than us, not high schoolers. >> And we still got whooped. Yeah. It was bad. It
036was bad. >> All right. Well, congratulations. You did a good job. >> Thank you. >> So, the um girls flag football is an emerging high school sport. Yes. Um that actually the NFL is if you you'll see it um that the NFL is actually behind it. Uh last year wrestling was one of the fastest growing in inner uh intercolastic sports and now flag football is there. So you're starting out as clubs. Many schools have started clubs. We have several teams across Red Clay and some neighboring districts um with the goal of establishing at least 12 competitive teams across the state to have it actually as a sanctioned sport. So it's good to see that our female student athletes um are expressing interest in that. and principal downs, you are welcome because Isabella delivered on the
037mission of earning your stripes together, which again is the AI slogan. Um, so job well done, Isabella. Appreciate it. >> Thank you so much. >> And before we go, Isabelle, I just wanted to congratulate you on all your success. You did such a great job highlighting this is >> really a highlight for the board, having student reps on the board, um, and also demonstrating to the community, you know, your leadership, um, you know, as a student and as a Latina, as a Hispanic. So that really is really well done. So we really appreciate you being here tonight. >> Thank you so much. >> Much exact. >> Thank you, Isabella. >> All right, y'all. Peace out. >> Peace out. >> No, it was did a good job. >> Thank you. Either way, Either way you want
038to go. So again, kudos to Isabella and it's good to see a lot of those anchor programs um you know taking hold at AI and as we can talk about expansion looking at providing those experiences to other students things such as the gaming lab which we were fortunate enough to be able to start in place there which is actually tied to 30 other industries. So, it's just not about gaming. Um, it's actually about, you know, work-based learning and a couple of other opportunities and partnering with uh organizations like Future First Gaming. Um, actually, our lab serve as one of the state models. So, the state department of education continues to hold that up as a um a banner esports lab in terms of um the work that they're doing. Um, and several of our other
039schools, Conrad has one. I know McCain has started a club as well. Um, so that's something that's popular as a lot of universities continue to um look at opportunities for students to earn scholarship um through esports. >> So, I'm going to cover picture. I want to give a shout out to Skyline Middle School boys basketball team. They are the middle school champs this year. Uh thank you to all of the coaches across all of our middle schools, athletic directors. Um, you know, we did have some inclement weather that kind of delayed the the showcase at um, Goldie Beacum where we normally host that. So, they normally our host site. Um, but the championship this year was at the John Dickson school where against Skyline boys. Uh, be Conrad and Conrad girls are the uh, middle
040school girls champion. Um, as they defeated uh, Alexis Dupon Middle School. Um, so winter sports in terms of championships, um, McCain, uh, boys wrestling or flight B champs, uh, they actually wrestled this evening against Indian River. Um, I think they placed fifth and I know, uh, Delaware Military Academy is a top ranked school and they're actually wrestling at this moment. So, Mr. Leonard is actually chomping at the bit to hope >> he can catch a batch >> across the street. And we did have the middle school's um wrestling event tournament at Conrad Schools of Science yesterday. So all of our middle school um again thank you to the athletic directors, coaches, staff, families um you know in this day and age. I think sports provides so many um leadership, team building activities and opportunities for
041our students, but it also requires them to not only balance athletics but their academics. Um, and with everything being so specialized nowadays, um, it takes a lot for our student athletes. So, again, kudos to our athletic directors, coaches, staff members who are supporting our athletes across the district. I know um, we likely will have a workshop for the board to go a little bit more in depth around um, a lot of the the achievement um, growth and things that we're experiencing in the district. But I did want to highlight a couple of things as we talk about our instructional framework. Um, you know, red clay is is we outline our goals within our strategic plan. Um, and so as we continue to focus on the process of continuous school improvement, um, our focus areas are
042aligning leadership, professional learning, classroom practice, using our instructional framework. Um, looking at content strategies and system alignment and seeing those things get rooted in the district. Um when we talk about um designing rigorous lessons um using our high-quality instructional materials, ensure that we're creating equitable classrooms, you know, facilitating authentic engagement for students so that they see themselves not only in the curriculum, but they can engage in that learning. Um not just for the sake of it's part of school, but because again they're they're getting that enjoyment. Um which ultimately leads up to our portrait of a graduate in terms of ensuring that our students are committed to people. They have an entrepreneurial spirit, a passion for learning, and can communicate on multiple levels. And we're really reflecting on again data systems and how those data
043systems align to be able to support learning across the district. A big part of that focus is the Delaware student success framework um which is a state accountability model. Uh and for academic achievements, it's in the areas of English and language arts 3rd through 8th grade. It's SAT for 11th grade. And I know um our board we're hearing conversations as I participate at the state level around what does SAT look like? Are there other measures of high school success? You know, most states will test anywhere from two to 3% of their high school students around the SAT where Delaware is really pretty much testing all of our 11th graders. So when we get those crossstate comparisons, it's not apples to apples because again many of our students are maybe going right into the workforce or
044choosing career um and and don't really have any value in the SAT. But unfortunately those scores still count against our schools. Even if you take it on a Saturday, for example, the school can't count that Saturday. So if I get a better score on a Saturday rather than the SAT day, that Saturday score does not count to support the school. So, there are a lot of little nuances um when people talk about our high school achievement rates that we got to look at relative to the SAT. There's also school quality success measures again on the slide. I'm not going to read through them all. Um but just a couple quick things to highlight. Um when we talk about aligning leadership vision with instructional practice and secondary literacy um so part of that was building instructional
045capacity across our content areas. Um so we had leadership development for assistant principles looking at a leadership uh literacy instructional walks um teacher professional learning focus on cross-disciplinary integration um the science of reading and phonics and then looking at a cohort of 20 um people educators across content areas including uh building and district level administrators participating in what's called CELA which is a secondary literacy leadership academy and so we're seeing um some growth um as it relates to those uh systems and things that we're putting in place in terms of proficiency growth. Um for our middle school, we're seeing upwards of 9% um growth in proficiency and a lot of that is through our traditional um you know middle schools who are you know really doing their due diligence to to go into those uh
046lesson internalization and those staff members are really working hard to look at that data. And on that slide, if you look at um just some cohort modeling in terms of the three years um for middle school, we went from 34.37% up to 43% um last year. And I do want to give a shout out to Dr. Corey Heck. Uh we actually had our principles today um really looking at a lot of those datas, pulling those reports and doing some data mining and she you know mentioned sometimes we feel like we're underwater and it gets hard to hold our breath but you know we we are really doing our due diligence to ensure that we're adapting and she used the analogy of an octopus to make sure that you know we're we're adapting to various situations
047you know cultures student needs staff needs and climate to ensure that these uh proficiency rates continue to increase. And similarly for math, um while those gains haven't been as as large, we're still seeing some proficiency growth in that area as well. And I won't go into a lot more detail, but we're looking forward during the month of March to hold a workshop for the board to really dig deeper into that data. Uh Isabella uh did share um student of voice advisory retreat. Um so last week we had the fortune of hosting um it was upwards of 75 um student leaders from across the district um to participate in um student voice um advisory retreat. And this is something that we're not only looking to build upon but um across all of our high schools. Um
048we partner with an organization called up for learning um where we had two student leaders from each of our high schools. Each student leader recruit rec recruited 12 to 15 of their peers. Um so when we talk about student voice uh in terms of their perspective and and their perspectives mattering. um that work really looked at how not only are we supporting them but giving them the agency um and the resources to be able to collaborate with the adults in their schools um as we look to build community um and so you know what does um partnership look like you know it's it's built on student and adult leadership structures that elevate diverse student voice what I've routinely heard as from my superintendent student advisory council is oftentimes We tap students like Isabella over and
049over again and and you know they're participating in things that she just said. You know, while she would love to join the um the club with the greenhouse, she's gearing up for golf because she's a student athlete. And they don't often times feel like they're capturing the voice of the voice list within their buildings. And so really working with up for learning to expand that capacity because again every student has the ability to be able to do it and inform us on a whole host of things as a district. So we're looking um forward and that work is being led by Miss Marquia Davis um through our office of strategic initiatives. And so we're we're looking to really go deep and build upon that. And it was exciting to see the students lead this retreat.
050So, this was a student led retreat with obviously adult support um and also them showing and being honest in that space about how they need support. Um while they feel a lot of their their adults hear them, they feel that sometimes the action to follow isn't always adequate. And so really engaging and digging deep with them through that process is something again that we're looking forward to um digging a little deeper on. um with regards to our student voice and kudos to all of the SVA leaders um the staff members across each of our high schools who are working with our students and our scholars um to be able to identify um you know again areas where we can continue to grow as a district. We are incredibly proud to s uh recognize and celebrate
051um three rec schools, but in particular um two of our elementary schools um that being Heritage Elementary and our early years uh preschool programming. Um they were recognized by the Delaware Department of Education as 2025 Delaware Recognition School Award winners for serving special populations. So kudos to principal Carrie Phillips, Adam Donssky, Emily Warren, and all the other administrators and staff related arts um related service support staff in those buildings um for a job well done and really working to close the achievement gap and support students um in our special populations uh for this. So this is a statewide recognition. Again a slide. February is a meaningful month for various observances. And so this month uh we recognize our school counselors, school resource officers. It is love the bus month and many other special days in
052our district. So we look forward to again celebrating. It's black history month as well. Um the diverse tapestry that makes up Red Clay um and all of the various stakeholder groups during the month of February. So, continue to be on the lookout on various social media platforms and channels as we uh support and recognize uh those across our community. And just for the board's edification before I conclude my report, um the proposed calendar, which you'll vote on next month, and um I know Mr. Fakathal briefly mentioned that um one of the challenges is again there aren't uh endless amount of days and times within the calendar. And so through the counter committee, one of the things that they proposed um and really looked at was to uh have additional time toward the end of the
053year, which you'll see there are three days on the end of the year to wrap up the year with with staff. Um we have been spoiled the past two years having two weeks of uh winter break. Um and one of the quests when he said 14 was to have the January 4th um date as an inservice day and we have to be mindful of you know ultimately what that means is family. So there are a lot of competing priorities and initiatives and while we don't this is year's calendar is probably the least number of student days um that we've actually had in our calendar and it's also difficult to cross compare across other districts because um some of our neighboring districts don't honor the same holidays that we may honor. Um so it it's not
054always apples to apples but again from the committee's perspective um if you have questions as it relates to that information item please reach out to Mr. Puit um who leads that calendar committee for any insight ahead of your vote next month. That concludes my report for this month. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Green. We look forward to that March workshop for student achievement and see how our students are are doing. We now have a several presentations. Our first be uh Dr. Ted Ammon on our fiscal year budget. Dr. Ammon, >> good evening. Seems like just yesterday you all uh voted on the preliminary budget. It was seven months ago and I think it was about 90 degrees. So I I am uh remembering that weather fondly. Anyway, um tonight I'm going to go through
055fairly quickly um the final budget because you know, as my kids used to tell me in the writing process, they talk about their their sloppy copy and then they talk about their final draft. And this budget really is the final draft because most of the the work that my staff does putting together this budget is in the summer. Um, this is a chance for us to tweak it based on things that we didn't know in the summer. For instance, um, in Delaware, we have the unit count that happens every September 30th. We don't know how that's going to fall out when we do the initial budget. So, this is our chance to pick up anything that we didn't know about or anything that changed between um, July and now. And we did talk uh quite
056a bit last night um, at our Seabach meeting. We went through in in much greater detail. Um, I know Vic did say there was a wrestling match tonight, so he asked me how long I would go. So, I think that was my cue to not not go in as much detail tonight. Um, so if we could go ahead to the next slide there. We'll start with our our changes on the revenue side. Uh, the most significant adjustments are here. Um, the state revenues. Our division one salary fund um is about 2 and a.5% higher and that's a result of additional units. our our unit count at the end of September was uh 27 teachers more than we had last year. We also earned a number of additional related services units. So that's all salary money
057that wasn't in our calculations in the summer. So this budget uh reflects that change. We also you'll see uh one of the significant changes is the state grants line item and that's a result mainly of uh WLC funding. when uh July when we did the budget in July, we had not yet received our WLC funding for the year. So I did not I don't until I see the money I don't count it and so we hadn't seen it yet and I didn't count it. So we've since received that money and so that's been reflected in there and these numbers don't really affect our bottom line. Uh one of the big reasons for the final budget is to look at where we're going to end up in June 30th because that's the key in terms of
058local funding uh to to get us into next year. These these funds come in and then they go right back out. For instance, division one funds, that's salary money the state provides for the state share of employee salaries and then it goes right back out on the expense side. So if that goes up as revenue, it doesn't mean we're going to end the year with more money. It means that we're spending more on those additional staff members that we earned going Oh, thanks Phil. You're reading my mind. Um, in terms of local revenues, um, again, a fairly, um, small change in terms of overall percentage, less than half a percent. Um, two main things. One on the on the I guess positive side, our choice income received. You'll be hearing a little bit more about
059choice from, uh, Sean Snyder after after my presentation, but every year we have to take a best guess of how that choice um, process is going to play out in June. And then once we get to the start of the year, we we go through a billing process around the state. And so the the money we receive from other districts in Red Clay, we're a net importer of students for choice. So we receive more money from other districts than we pay out for the students that leave Red Clay to go to uh Brandy Wine or Appointment Bank or or some other district. So this budget includes the final outcome of that which was about $486,000 uh more than we had budgeted and that was really a result of the the net difference between the kids
060that leave and the kids that come into Red Clay. was it was more either more students coming in or fewer students going out leads to that additional revenue and then probably the most significant number in in the budget is this decrease in interest. uh we earn interest on our local funds throughout the year because in a typical year most of our funds come by the end of October and November and we keep them in the bank so to speak until the end of the year as we we work our way through our budget because the um because of the reassessment and the delay in the the tax deadline it was moved to December 31st we um lost quite a bit of revenue from interest that we would normally have received. So that was about a
061million dollars that we were counting on back in July that we do not have as a result of um the tax deadline being um so much later this year. Then moving on to the expense side, uh again not a whole lot of changes. The um expenses that related to those state revenues I mentioned, those are increased because if if the state's providing that additional money, we are spending that money based on those programs. And then on the local side, there were some adjustments based on our our salary. We estimate what our local salaries will be in July. Um, not knowing exactly sure how many staff members we'll have or even at what point in there, especially with teachers with um, steps and lanes. If we have teachers that retire and we have new teachers that
062take the place of those previous teachers, we don't know exactly where they will fall on the pay scale. So, this this budget includes that. And so, the total change in terms of expenditures is 2.3%. And that's something at least I look at very carefully. I'm sure you do also because you would not want to see our expenditures throughout the year ex you know going up higher than we had predicted or told you they would be and um 2.3% is is higher than I would like to see but that most of that is that state money that is completely uh passed through when it comes into us and then goes right back out. We have um held our line to the the it was uh less than half a percent in terms of expenses on the
063local side. So, the final final impact of all this when when all those numbers get get reviewed, um our current year revenue over expenses is $77,000. And that means that we are spending less money than we're bringing in. Uh before the referendum, you heard me talk about deficit spending a number of years and the fact that we were spending down that balance of funds and we were it's considered deficit spending. We've turned that corner as a result of the referendum and those receipts that are coming in. So, we are bringing in more money than we are um spending. And our projected ending balance is $7.5 million the end of June, which is um a little bit higher than we had predicted in in um July. And our local balance will grow about 10% to what
064it was last year. So, we're in that mode as a result of the referendum where we're bringing in that additional money that we are not spending. And then over time, we'll we'll be spending that money. So the the two pieces that sort of are overlying this this final budget is reassessment. I know um I think it was Miss Tartis had asked in August if we would have information about how people are paying and all that type of um thing. Our receipts are pretty much exactly where we'd expect them to be two months after the deadline. The deadline was delayed till December 31st and we are right on track. So, um, one big concern we had was would we receive the revenue that we projected with all the confusion over, um, reassessment. And so far, it
065looks like we will end the year almost exactly where we had predicted. Um, I'd mentioned back in July there were quite a few appeals. There's about 5,000 appeals. So far, the county has finished um, 1780 of those appeals that are in the process. And that's not just Red Clay, that's Newcastle County in general. Um the vast majority of those 1780 um appeals went exactly the way the homeowner or the business owner had predicted. They felt that the reassessment was too high. They submitted the the form to the county. The county reviewed it and they have stipulated, meaning they didn't need to have a hearing. They looked at it and everyone agreed and signed off on the new value. And that process will continue obviously for quite a while. um they've only done well not quite
0662,000 of those appeals out of the 5,000 and they're already getting appeals for next year. So, this will be an ongoing process that that all of us throughout the state are watching to see how these appeals um play out. We're also working fairly closely with Newcastle County regarding changes due to errors. One of the big things that we've run into this year is that because the tax rates used to be a single rate whether you were residential or non-residential, there were miscodings in the properties where a parcel may have been listed as residential even though it was commercial or vice versa. Now that there's a different tax rate, people are noticing that and asking, well, gee, why did I get a commercial tax rate when I'm, you know, it's just a single family home? So,
067they're cleaning up those areas and we're working through um those things. And so we are tracking um our February through June receipts to see where we end up um based on some of those things. And then the last piece relating to reassessment is that those split rates that you voted on in August as a result of the shift in assessed value going to more of the non-res excuse me more of the residential properties that um authority that was given to school boards expires June 30th if there is not legislation to extend it. So there is currently legislation in the general assembly working its way through. If that passes, you will have the opportunity to vote on a split rate again in July. If that does not pass, you will not have that ability. So, it
068will go back to a single rate for all of our um property owners in the county. I believe there's a fair amount of interest in that that being continued. So, stay tuned. I I'll keep you updated on that. And the other thing we start looking at this year is next year. Um we aren't quite through this year and we're already starting to look at the budget for next year. Um the first step in that process really is the governor's recommended budget which was released I think it was during the snow he he he did that so I don't know if anyone was home on the weather and tuned in to listen to it but there were some changes um that will affect uh education. The first one here is there um his his recommendation and
069and it doesn't become the budget. The governor makes a recommended budget and then the general assembly deliberates between now and sometime in June, hopefully before the end of June, they pass final budget and then it goes back to the governor to to sign. But it is the first time we get to look at what might be changing for next year. The first change is there is a proposed cut to the Wilmington Learning Collaborative funds for next year. Um, however, the state has some leftover funds because WLC has been a year behind in terms of funding because the funding was allocated the first year, but theus hadn't been finalized. The WLC wasn't up and running. So, we've always been a year behind in that funding, which means that if that funding gets cut next year, they're
070talking about the the request was an $8 million cut to the WLC funding, which of course, you know, got my attention that we'd have to account for that. It's really a two-year problem because they have money for next year. So, that means we'd have a year to either figure out what to do with those um programs and staff that are no longer going to be funded or there will be a chance for the state to build that money back into the budget. So, that will be something we'll be um watching very carefully. In addition, the proposal is to get rid of the athletic trainer block grant. Um, and and this is one of those things that that often the governor talks about it as a savings, and I would characterize it more as a shift
071than a savings because athletic trainers are really not an option. You've heard a lot about our sports programs over the years. We we need to have athletic trainers for our schools. All high schools have athletic trainers in some fashion. So, the state had started to fund that and now they're proposing to eliminate that. So, it's really not a total savings. it's a savings to the state budget and then we'll have to figure out how to work that out in in our local budget. Another thing that they're proposing to I'll I'll say shift is that um a few years ago when the um state passed the paid parental leave program that allows parents to take 12 weeks of paid leave to be home with a new child or an an adopted child. They agreed to cover
072the cost of the substitutes for that and they are proposing to eliminate that program for next year which again is a shift because we don't have any choice. If a teacher is going to take 12 weeks off um as a result of of birth of a child, we would need to provide a substitute in that classroom. So that's that's another line item that we'll be looking to absorb into our existing funding for next year. And then the last one that's been proposed to cut is the building based substitute program. You've heard probably heard me talk about that before as well as others and certainly some principles have probably talked about it. Um probably about seven or eight years ago, the state realized that it made a lot of sense to have a ongoing presence in
073schools that were having trouble with substitutes. So the state provided funds to any of our schools that were at um 50% poverty where they provided funds so that we could have a permanent substitute in that school. Um, and that way it's the same person every day gets to know the kids. The kids get to know that that person and and they become not exactly the same as a traditional classroom teacher, but they're there every day. Um, the state has proposed the elimination of that program. So, that is certainly something that we'll be looking at. It currently funds seven full-time teachers in in our schools. So, we'll be keeping an eye on that throughout this this budget process. And again, the JFC hearings are happening now where the general assembly's um committees are looking at those
074budget recommendations and then they will have certainly their recommendations and then we will see by the end of June where all that plays out and then we will put together our proposal for next year's budget for all of you. >> And just for the board, the Department of Education's joint finance committee hearing is next um week on the 18th. >> Do you know what time? >> I don't. We'll make sure you get it though. >> Thank you. Okay. I just have uh as I promised uh >> I have questions too. >> Yeah. Last night, well, you have a budget question. >> Yeah, I have questions. >> Go ahead. Okay. So, I have a couple questions just because I wanted to clarify. So, the split rates, just so that everyone is clear, when you say that
075they expire on June 30th, and if there's no legislation brought forth that would allow school boards to vote again, our community members will be paying their original reassessment fee that they got the first time. Correct? >> Yes and no. How's that for an answer? Uh, what will happen is that if you recall when we did that split, it lowered residential bills about 12%. >> Right. by going back to a single rate that 12% would be erased. So their rate would go back up um and then I mean certain parts of the the the tax bill every year adjust based for major cap for instance but in terms of of the the rate it would go up for residential um >> property owners. >> All right. And then you also spoke about in the future for
076the looking ahead to fiscal year 2027 that the WLC funds are a year behind that there's a lag that we're really looking for two years out. But then you mentioned WLC funding earlier having an impact for next year. What's the difference? >> Well, we don't have any of that budget information yet. So, it's something we're watching. Um the the first indication was from a if you're cutting $8 million from that line item. I if you could go back Phil a couple of slides there where I showed currently WLC is is doing a lot of things in terms of programs but just in terms of staff it is funding 12 teachers and five par profofessionals in in the WLC schools. So when we first saw that recommendation that he was cutting it, the thought was where
077will we fund those teachers or will we be able to? And then what we found is that they're cutting it because they have these leftover funds that they'll be able to continue to fund WLC next year, but we have not yet seen what that budget number looks like. So we're watching it, but I don't I don't believe that we will see that much in terms of a cut for next year. And I don't know if Derel wants >> No. So it it's just a matter of anything. I think the challenge if you approach it as a grant and when you put staff into grant funding >> that funding ultimately has a season that could potentially sunset. And so I think because of the level of funding that the WLC has had and the fact that
078um the um planning year was kind of pushed back. So a lot of the programmatic things that were put in place delayed a year. So then they were asked or we I would say collectively the WLC was asked to spend down that budget and then not being able to spend down. So rather than allocate another year's worth of let's just say $10 million they're looking at spend down the current fiscal amount that's been granted to them and they're proposing rather than 10 million to allocate them with 2 million. So $8 million reduction. So that would mean going into next year we would have to have some different conversations around what does that level of support that we place in our schools and where will we find that additional funding to either be able to support
079it or rethink how we're structured as a part of the WLC. And then as we're talking about um staffing um as we're entering in negotiations uh for teacher contracts, can you help the board understand what the financial capacity is in the upcoming budget for long-term potential pay increases? >> I I can what I can certainly tell you right off the bat is if you look back at the that slide, that ending balance is $7.5 million. >> Yeah. >> Um >> which it has to be six, correct? They're like an amount what we have to do, we have to be able to cover our our payroll and our expenses throughout the summer and in through October. Um, and it's not just with those funds because there's some state funds that we get up front that we
080can use for for salary. So, that's a number that we're watching. The other number we'll be looking at when we start negotiations is what our revenue is going to be coming in based on reassessment. that's going to be this ongoing issue for the next couple of years because I mentioned the the appeals so far as we get you know as they trickle in every one of them is getting what close to what they asked for. Sometimes it's not exact but the appeals what what it shows me so far is that people were filing appeals and they were correct and the county's agreeing they were correct. Now we were able to account for that this year when we talked in July. I shared that all of the Newcastle County districts as well as Newcastle County itself
081made the assumption that all of those appeals would happen because you don't know what's going to happen. So, you have to make an assumption and the safer assumption is to assume that they will happen so that we will not get that revenue. We built that in and that's why our revenue um projection is right on because even as those appeals have been approved, it has not it has impacted the amount of revenue but down to what I was predicting. what we don't know about is next year because there were there were many people who said I didn't know I could appeal how do I appeal and unfortunately the answer was it's too late for this year but you can appeal next year next year we don't have the legal authority to make an assumption about
082those appeals so as we work through the spring with the general assembly and with the county and figure that all out there's going to be a number in terms of assessed value that we will lose based on appeals and that is money that we will not be able to make by adjusting the tax rate. So, that's something we're going to be watching very carefully throughout the spring to project um where we are and and obviously we cannot increase our current expenses without a referendum and and you know, we we certainly haven't talked about going to referendum and certainly the community has seen some some tax changes based on reassessment. So, I don't I can't give you an exact answer yet, but those are the types of things that we'll be looking at this spring. >>
083Thank you. Any other budget questions? >> I had a question. Um just uh procedure for the community and for the new board members once this gets approved. I know that there's a watermark on here um draft. Where is it going to be posted so the community can view the the final approval? >> It will um tomorrow morning the assuming you vote tonight the the word draft will be removed and it will be posted on our website under um departments finance and then there's a link that has uh budgets and it we have last I believe 10 years worth of budgets. We show both preliminary and final budgets just so that people can can track those changes. Great. >> And I'll add I had another question more about the SEO committee last night. That's a um
084committee that typically gets recorded and posted online for the committee for the community as well. Correct. >> It has not been recorded previously. Okay. Um we we certain we zoom it. So we we have uh remote members as well as public members that attend remotely but we have not been um recording it and posting it. But I know um Mr. Leonard did mention some discussion about that becoming a new a new I believe a new policy that that does not currently call for that. So certainly if the policy is that we do it we will do that. >> Okay. >> Any others? I just want to uh something that grabbed my attention last night, the Seabach meeting at the end, we were talking about uh renewable energy and I don't know if anybody's aware but
085today there was an executive order from our president that eliminated a lot of our carbon emission uh regulations and I learned that we have seven schools that have solar panels. >> I believe it's six >> six schools and these panels were through a state grant where there was zero cost. Is that correct? >> That is correct. Can you elaborate a little bit of that? You showed me the numbers today and I was very impressed what we're saving in electricity just solar panels. >> We have um six schools that have solar panels and and we chose those schools based on the the roofs and the direction of the roofs to get the most direct sun and all that. So, um, those six schools, I believe it's, um, HB, Cook, Telegraph Road, Richardson Park, >> Northstar, >>
086two others. Northstar, >> the Northstar, >> um, >> Northstar is definitely one. Yep. >> Right. I I can certainly get you that list. The last one's uh, escaping right now. >> It's also uh, Mr. Leonard, it's also in the facilities reports from our last couple because we go over those readouts and those numbers at our meetings there. >> Yes. And that was designed based on as many panels as could fit on the schools around the the ground mount where we had them. And the projection is that it would be about $240,000 a year in avoidance, electricity charge avoidance. Um that didn't cost us anything. Um so so far we, you know, last couple weeks we had some snow on those panels. So certainly it increased their uh production, but we we do have a a
087website where we're able to to kind of see a live uh production. and Cyberlink Train, one of our partners in this project, has been very anxious to work with our teaching and learning folks to to get some schools involved in seeing what's, you know, they see the panels on top of the building, but what it what is it doing? So, we'll be working on that. >> Sorry, >> I apologize. I just wanted to follow up on the ESCO funding for the solar panels. Going forward, the maintenance and update for those solar panels will then have to come out of division two. I believe we discussed because the federal money is no longer >> that there is there when you when you do solar panel projects, you usually pull funding from a number of different places.
088We had some state funding. We also had some federal funding that we are still scheduled to be getting next year. It was already approved from what we're being told that that has not been cut. It's still there. It's an IRS credit that we're able to get. So, we will get the states applying for it on our behalf and we will be um getting that by next December. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yeah. I wish there were more people here to hear this what we're doing uh in the district. I don't know how many other districts are doing it. Do you any idea? at this most recent round of solar that the state was providing the grant for. I believe we were the first um there were some cape pen and call um their CFO called
089me last week to hear a little bit about it and uh get our thoughts and they're they're planning to do it. I think some other districts are starting to to look at it. We jumped on it early just because we had had experience previously with solar panels and with our initial esco project. So >> congratulations. I love it. >> Yeah. Mr. Leonard, could I ask some questions about uh the budget to Dr. Yeah. Yeah, certainly. >> Hi. Um I would wanted to follow up a little bit more about um our teacher salaries and the upcoming contract negotiations. So I know that you know there are some uh constraints that can prevent offering higher compensation. Do you know what um what plan there is to address those moving forward? >> I mean, I think there's a
090number of pieces to that and that's really the the whole purpose behind the negotiations. We've been working with RCA and DSSEA on putting some schedules together for going into that process with a an open open mind and a collaborative approach to figure out, you know, what we can do. Obviously, we want to compensate our teachers as well as we can, but we also need to maintain that that bottom line. >> Okay. And um you know, if we you know, what do you how do you think that would be funded then if we are looking to um prioritize increasing uh teacher compensation in some way? Well, probably the most concrete piece I'd share is that if you recall the referendum had a three uh three phases and that third phase is coming up this year. It
091was a a relatively small piece compared to the first one. We frontloaded that. Um so that'll be another piece of that that once we have all those final numbers that will be what we're look we'll be looking at in terms of over the next couple of years. Right. Thank you. >> Any other discussion? Thank you Dr. Hammond. We will now hear from uh the school choice office, Mr. Sean Snyder. Mr. Snyder, good evening. >> Uh my colleague Elizabeth actually isn't feeling well this evening, but I did want her to present with me, but I would like to just acknowledge all of the work and time that Elizabeth put into putting all this together. Without her, I I might have like a blank packet right now. So, I'm very happy that she's been able to put
092this together for us. I will say that several of us have met with you and Elizabeth and I was very impressed with your office. >> Thank you. >> And the detail you guys went into to have such quality people here in Redcliffe. >> Um so the uh choice uh school choice summary uh invites to determine capacities then weight list all eligible applicants is basically how this works. There's a note there that CAB Callaway School of the Arts, Conrad School of Sciences and immersion applicants must meet the admission requirements to be considered eligible. Thank you, Jonathan. Appreciate I'm a little taller, I guess. All right. Our next slide shows application statistics. We are almost uh dead even from last year. We have 3,412 applications this year. Last year we had 3,414. So, we're down two total
093applications uh 05% decrease. um our break grades at 69th and then also kindergarten shows you what the level of increase and decrease is for each one of those. We are up in sixth grade. We are down in 9th grade and down in kindergarten, but kindergarten does not end. That continues. So we will continue to get kindergarten applications um the whole way up really until the first day of school. So um that is not a set number today. uh our trend data looking over the period of time. We have six years of data here going back to 21-22 and you can kind of see the level of growth over that time. Um as I said we're not at the absolute high point but we're very very close to um our maximum level of applications over the
094last six years. Our total invitations and weight list this year, 1885 total invitations will be sent out uh pending board approval. Uh 1361 are in district, 524 out of district, and then we have 2434 weight list placements. Now, don't add these up and and think, well, these don't add up correctly. Students can be on multiple weight lists. So there are going to be more in that plot that equal the sum on some of the other information that you have. And in the weight list, there's 976 in district and 1469 out of district. We'll invite from the weight list as space becomes available up until the first day of school. Uh in state law, the wait list exists until the first day of school. And then at that point, the weight list no longer exists. At
095that point, there has to be good cause or special permission to enter the schools through a choice policy. Um, our 95% or greater estimated enrollment this year, uh, these are our schools that are at capacity. Uh, Brandy Wine Springs is 99.7, HB Dupont 99.7, Northcar 97.1, Cab Callaway 96, Conrad 100, Dickinson and McCain are showing 100 on here. That's a data illusion in this set because we don't know the votech acceptance rate right now. That won't be a known number until midappril. That's a different process. It's not something we can see through the data sets that we have access to. So what I've presented to you is numbers that are what if votech didn't exist and we took everybody and that would push those capacities up to 100%. I don't anticipate those buildings to actually
096be at 100%. and and also we need to acknowledge that Dickinson has a middle school and McCain also has a special program Meadowwood there as well which increases the capacities of those buildings and the capacity levels uh were the board approved capacity levels that I believe Mr. Marsh brought uh Mr. Macowski brought to the board in November. Uh notifications of choice status will be emailed mailed within five business days of board actions. So within 5 days after uh a vote uh we are required by state law within that window to send out these notifications. Parents must accept the choice invitations uh by March 20th. Invitations not accepted by March 20th will be considered declined and applications for kindergarten remain open until the first day of school. >> It is a short and sweet presentation. Do
097you have any questions? >> I just like to say uh when I was in your office uh I focused more on the process itself than the numbers and uh I learned a lot from from you and Elizabeth and thank you for that. Hundreds of hours of work go into putting together the enclosure that you got today as board members and then also this presentation. Um specifically Elizabeth, I want to continue to make sure to acknowledge her work. She was working on the Monday that we were snowed out. She was working over the last two weekends, Saturday and Sunday, to make sure this is the most accurate data possible for this decision. >> Yep. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Okay. Action items. >> All right. So, action items
098again, um, action items C and D were removed. So, we're at action item A, FY26, final budget. It is the recommendation that the Red Clay Board of Education approve the FY26 final budget as submitted. >> Okay. Uh there's a motion to approve the re recommendation. Is there a motion? >> Is there moved? >> I make a motion to approve. Motion to approve as presented. Second. Yeah. >> Okay. We have a second. >> Second. Susan S. It's been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? >> I do have a question. So, I um work in a school and I did not have the ability to look at the full draft of the report when it was posted today until this afternoon. So, I know I personally need a little bit more time to look at
099the full draft and I am wondering if the board is open to uh maybe doing this vote next month um for that. Would you like to propose a motion that we postpone this till next month? >> Okay. So, I want to amend my motion to uh make the vote to approve next year's budget next month's board meeting. >> Okay. Motion in >> it would be the final budget. >> I got it. Gotcha. >> So, in essence, you're delaying the vote until March. So, motion is to delay the approval of the final budget as presented until the March meeting. >> Right. Is there a second? >> Second. [clears throat] >> It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? >> Do we need a roll? >> I would um could I jump in? >>
100Yes. >> So I I'm in a similar boat with Beth. I teach during the day and I have later start times. So um any I I would appreciate actually just any future action items or any documents you know once we have that planning meeting set on and we know what's going to be on the agenda if documents can just be posted then so that we have the week to review that would be much appreciated. Um, I spent two hours last night with my son working on civics and econ homework. Um, so you know, even like 24 hours isn't really enough either. Like a full week to really give this board the time to dive into um the information and uh so that we're making informed decisions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, >> Dr. Ammon.
101Uh I know in the past we've had some deadlines where we had to uh vote on this. Can can you uh tell us uh now is things have changed where certainly March is is fine for that. Uh we have historically it doesn't mean we have to continue doing it that way but we historically have done the the final budget right up because I take the February 6th payroll which was Friday night and use that in terms of some of that and then present it to you print. We held the seabbach last night, so it was before the the board and then the board um we posted it last night or I emailed it to you last night. We posted it first thing this morning, but you can certainly take the month to review it. Um
102>> yeah, I definitely appreciate the work that you do with Sebach and going in great detail. It just wasn't enough time for me to >> That's there's there's really no harm. I mean that that we're already in motion with this budget. There aren't, as you saw, there weren't any significant changes. Certainly not any that we can't get back the interest that we didn't receive. So there's really nothing no impact. March is fine. >> Thank you for that. >> There is a motion that we it's on to postpone this till next month. And we second it uh and discussion. Is it a vote now? >> Yep. All those in favor. >> Okay. So Miss Stevens, can you call the vote? >> Miss English? >> Yes. >> Mr. Henson? >> Yes. >> Miss Landis? Naj Melandis. Yes.
103>> Mr. Matthews, >> yes. >> Miss Sander, >> yes. >> Miss Tortois, >> yes. >> Mr. Leonard, >> yes. >> Unanimous. Motion carries. >> Thank you. >> So, point of order. >> Amendment. >> That was the amendment. >> Yep. That was the amendment. And then now we have to take a vote on um the amended action item as submitted. >> Okay. There's a motion. Is there a motion to approve the uh recommended >> amendment? >> Amended action item. >> No, it's already on the table. >> Have to vote for it. >> All right, Miss Stevens, can you take the vote, please? Sorry. >> What are we voting for now? >> Now you're just voting on the amended action item, which basically means you're codifying that you're going to approve the budget next month. So you
104just voted on the motion, now you're voting on the actual action item, which is to approve the budget during the March meeting. So you had to approve the amendment. Now you're actually approving the action. >> Okay. >> So you're basically vote for it. >> So we're not approving the budget. >> No, you're voting it in in March. >> Ready? Miss English? >> Yes. >> Mr. Henson? >> Yes. >> Miss Landis. >> Naj Mandis? Yes, >> Mr. Matthews. >> Yes, >> Miss Sander. >> Yes, >> Miss Toris. >> Yes, >> Mr. Leonard. >> Yes. >> Unanimous. Motion carries. >> Thank you. >> Action item B is a recommendation that the Red Clay Board of Education approve the school choice recommendations for 2627 school year submitted. >> Is there a motion to approve the recommendation? >> So
105moved. Susan Sander. >> Is there a second? >> Second. English. >> Thank you. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Miss Stevens, please call the vote. >> Miss English, >> yes. >> Mr. Henson, >> yes. >> Miss Landis, >> Najolandis, yes. >> Mr. Matthews, >> yes. >> Miss Sander, >> yes. >> Miss Toris, >> yes. >> Mr. Leonard, >> yes. >> Unanimous. Motion carries. >> Action item C. It is the recommendation that the board of education approve an anonymous donation in the amount of $2,000 to Richie Elementary School. >> So moved. English >> Nelandis second. >> Probably moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? >> Thank you to the donor. >> Yes. Thank you. Uh Miss Stevens, call a vote, please. >> Miss English. >> Yes. >> Mr. Henson. >> Yes.
106>> Miss Landis. >> Naj Melandis. Yes. >> Mr. Matthews. >> Yes. Thank you. >> S S Miss Miss Sander. >> Yes. >> Miss Tortis. >> Yes. >> Mr. Leonard. >> Yes. >> Unanimous. Motion carries. >> Thank you. Now, our consent action items. Does anything need to be removed from the consent action items before we move on them? Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So moved, Jose Matthews. Second, >> Susan Sander. >> Thank you. It's been properly moved and a second to approve the consent agenda. All in favor? >> I. >> Motion carries. All right. School board committee reports. We'll start with the attendance zone and restructure review committee which met on February 5th. >> Hi. >> Sanders. I I can give that report. Um this was our initial meeting. As you
107know, this committee was um approved of just recently. So uh we had our initial meeting. We went over meeting norms. Um basically be respectful of everybody's uh points of view, be respectful of time. We went over the committee's charge from the board uh which Mr. Puit reviewed. Uh we went over the history of how we got to this point which was um appreciated by a lot of people who were on the committee just to have a refresher on the entire history of this attendance zone um restructuring uh committee. Uh we then went over uh the team and the topics and I believe the steering committee information can be found on the website so I'm not going to go into a lot of detail on that. Um, and we did go over the calendar and I
108do want to bring that up to the the board. It was proposed that we have a meeting uh March 5th. >> Did you lose it? >> I must have lost my >> Oh, it's blinking red. It's blinking green. I'm fine. Never mind. Uh March 25th, which is a Wednesday. The reasoning for the days of the week is though that we would not be heavily concentrating our time on just one day of the week in case that was a conflict for parents and administrators and people that serve on the board. So we have a Wednesday, March 25th. We'll go over communications, student services, the Meadowwood program, attendance zones, and school choice. May 28th is the next scheduled meeting. Thursday and that will go over finance, facilities, transportation and um staffing. August 25th, which is a Tuesday,
109we will go over professional learning, the my to skyline program, nutrition, and state community supports. last meeting is scheduled for October 28th, which is a Wednesday, um when we will go over the McCain Innovation Center rollout and student life activities and athletics. And the one of the reasonings for these dates is going to also coincide with board meetings. So, we will do every other month uh that we that the board will be meeting. >> Thank you, Miss Sander. uh Seabbach, Citizens Budget Oversight Committee that we met yesterday. >> Well, I'm up again. Hello. Um I am uh going to start by making this a very brief report uh largely because most of what we discussed last night we've just presented in the slides. We did go over some uh new business of the monthly expenditure
110reports. Very few changes from last month's report. Um, so we are currently, uh, according to Dr. Ammon, um, we are currently at where we would normally be in December for our revenue, uh, largely because of the tax receipts. Um, uh, and so there's very little change from our monthly expenditure reports. Uh, new business is everything Dr. Ammon presented. I have very little to add other than um the changes to the state budget are a little bit alarming. So if anybody has any concerns, I suggest you contact your state legislature and um voice your concerns. >> Thank you again, Miss Soner. >> Delaware School Board Association, uh Matt on 24. Who is our rep on that one? >> That would be me. Um I I was not able to make the meeting, but I do have
111the notes and I uploaded them to or I sent an email out for everybody to receive. Um there was 37 bills I believe that they supported statewide and I think they opposed like 22. The next meeting is April 22nd and that's my birthday. So I'm not going to be there for that meeting either. somebody else wants to volunteer. They also discussed um something about the the SATs there. >> So the um there >> well I wasn't there but I meet with Dr. Mr. Tol who is the >> he meets with us and so that was part of what I shared on my report around the state looking at legislation um to not have SAT as the sole um academic measure for our high schools. And so really looking at um proposed legislation, there is a
112work group working with a couple of legislators to look at what other kinds of assessments can we have at high school besides a single test which is the SAT for academic metrics for our high schools. >> Mr. Henson, when's the next meeting? >> It's April 22nd, 6 o'clock. >> And you won't be able to make that. Is that correct? >> At uh Gray Fox Grill. Correct. 140 South State Street. Do Delaware. >> Okay. Uh I am the owner, so I I'll try to make that meeting. It is Earth Day. >> Okay. [snorts] Oh, and they also discussed uh educator recruitment, retention, energy funding. They might have to talk to Ted because we got solar panels this June. And then um that was it. That was about it. >> Okay. Uh the the posting from Mr.
113Tall is on board docs if anyone correctly those. >> All right. Thank you. Uh Red Clay Education Foundation met on 210. >> So the foundation met yesterday. Um the um agenda just covered um our school nurses um presented a proposal um to for the foundation to support our third annual um health and wellness fair. So in the past two years we've hosted a health and wellness fair um in the city. Um you know we have our block party. Um, previous years it was at Stanton. This past year it was at the John Dickson School and then we alternate and actually have our community um, health and wellness fair at Warner. Uh, last year expanded beyond Warner into um the the community. [clears throat] Um, and so there was a proposal and the foundation approved a
114support uh, for the health and wellness fair again this year. Um they also discussed um finances, where to invest finances um and looking at establishing various committees within the foundation. Um the golf outing um this year will be June 18th, which is the Thursday um the day before uh Junth. Um and so more to come on the um annual golf outing which is a good event um that raises money uh and supports our um unhoused students and families um under the McKenna Vento working with Miss April Anderson and our federal program. So that was the the gist of the meeting. >> Thank you Dr. Green. And last one Learning Collab met on 24. >> Yes. So, I did not put my reports in there because they were extremely brief. Um, uh, so we had two
115meetings. There was one that took, it was a special meeting on January 28th where we voted on a facilitator for the council retreat, um, which we approved and the, uh, facilitator will be Encore. Um, and then another area of focus will be the council retreat, which now we're realizing that the council retreat was planned for the same day as the hearing um in Dover for the WLC. So, that is something that I plan to sort out after this meeting. Um, and aside from that, the focus has just been the strategic plan. So, nothing has really changed since the last time I gave a report. We're kind of focusing on those same core uh areas until um the retreat happens and we continue to build from there and then iron out the details for the strategic
116plan. Um and then as Dr. Ammon stated about what's going on with the funding based on the proposed recommendations from the governor. Um we uh will continue to to plan according accordingly as as things begin to unfold. So we'll make sure to keep uh the board a breast of that. So that's all I have. >> Well, thank you. I I do believe next month are we going to get a report from Dr. Bergos uh on WLC? >> Yeah, as again as Miss English said, we we are actually the host site for the retreat. Um so it'll be a lot of we just actually met as a leadership team with WLC leadership team. Today's Wednesday. I believe it was Monday. Was it Monday when we met? Yeah, we met with the WLC leadership team. Um we
117looked at programmatic things. We looked at budget. We looked at alignment of programming um as we head into the summer. Um so again, we we will make sure that the board um gets a formal uh briefing, but just know that we're working collaboratively um as a district with the WLC, Dr. Ammon's uh presentation just in terms of the the level of support that we're getting from them um that's helping advance the systems and things that we're putting in place as a district. So again, we met on Monday and we'll make sure that when we have board planning, plan enough ahead of time that you get a WLC update. >> Excellent. Thank you. Any questions on any >> I I just had a comment overall um just public service announcement for the committees. This is always
118a reminder to the community um that our committee meetings are open to the public and we encourage um participation. I know that um and I will the reason I mentioned this specifically um I know that there's been concern about the amount of what's being referenced at least community engagement for um the McCain Innovation Center. We had um the AI task force which is open and available to to the community. We had the a committee and now we have this committee. Um so I just want to reiterate and I can't stress enough that everyone's welcome. Um but looking at the minutes uh I can't tell how many people were in attendance from the public but there were only two public comment so um >> in person we had I believe two adults and two children on
119Zoom I cannot I don't have that information >> right so I just want to stress you know if the concern is that there isn't ample opportunity for engagement um I I just I can't stress enough that this is your opportunity this is your this is your chance to engage and and participate um and have your voice heard. Um so I just want to just stress our welcome for those who would like to participate. >> I I did want to note though that remember we had a disagreement about what role the community can play in those committees and it was decided that those are justformational sessions where they don't really get an opportunity to participate. Bishop, I I I I hear you, but the way that it's set up now is that they don't have that
120opportunity >> with the with the public comment. >> The public comment and discussion is allowed definitely. We're we're not putting the any holds on discussion. I believe questions can be asked to the committee. Uh the committee members are able to respond. So I don't believe that >> I also just I was I was one of the people that was online. and I was able to join virtually and I really appreciate I had some questions going into it and they were actually answered. >> Oh, good. >> Through the presentation, the spreadsheet was really helpful as far as like the questions of is the district thinking of having shared that screenshot of the spreadsheet. Yes, the district is thinking of like that was really helpful to be engaging. Um, and even though I didn't give public comment
121or I wasn't there in person, that information is being shared and I think that's what Mr. Matthews is getting to is that that is a way that that information is out there for um our community members. >> Am I imagining that we had this discussion the previous month? Do I do I have to go back and pull the tape that am I imagining that? Do you think? >> No, I don't think anyone's sharing that. I this discussion is more so to reinforce that the meetings are happening. They are public. People are welcome to attend. I think we would have to repackage the ask because previously it was understood that there wasn't an opportunity for engagement. >> So what I'm saying is if we're saying now we do want you to come, we do want you
122to engage, we do want you to participate, then that's a new ask. >> If it wasn't stressed before, I'm I'm I'm making the stress now to make it. >> Yeah. And the next meeting is March 25th. >> Will you be available on March 25th? You're on that committee, right? >> On what? The >> Yes. >> Oh, yeah. Absolutely. If the community is allowed to engage. Absolutely. >> Yeah. You weren't at the last one, right? The first one. >> Because the community was allowed to engage. Let me be clear. >> If community our position now as a board is that the community is allowed to engage, I would be more than happy to participate. Okay, thank you all. Now, information items. We have one, two, three, four, five. Uh, can I have a motion that we
123pass the five? >> Yeah, you don't need to >> don't need it. Okay. >> For information items and then do I have a motion to adjurnn? >> Again, if you have questions, board members, regarding recommended calendar, as you said, you need time. Please review it. Because [clears throat] again, this just isn't like this is for our community, >> right? And so we got to take into context staff, holidays, families, schedules. We just came off a week of snow that thankfully our calendar allows us to bank those days. So we got to be mindful of that. So if you have questions, please reach out to Mr. Puit or myself directly um relative to the proposed calendar. That's an information item. >> Okay. Any other discussion? Uh, is there a motion to adjurnn? So move to Jose
124Massie. Second evidence. >> All in favor? >> I have a good next meeting is February. Thank you. >> When is next? It >> is the bitching part.