Wilmington school redistricting group picked
August 18, 2015
Matthew Albright – The News Journal
A coalition of 23 teachers, students, parents, school leaders, advocates, and state and city officials has been given the monumental task of mapping out how the Red Clay Consolidated School District can smoothly take over most of Wilmington’s schools.
The new Wilmington Education Improvement Commission, whose membership was announced Tuesday, starts with broad support for its mandate to find a way to remove the Christina and Colonial school districts from the city and give their urban schools and students to Red Clay school district.
Most agree that the city’s four-district setup fragments leadership and squelches parent participation.
The commission has been charged with answering thorny questions over how to improve the system by the end of the year. Its plan will then be given to the State Board of Education, which has been given authority to redraw the boundaries, and must be approved by the General Assembly.
“This is crunch time,” said Elizabeth Lockman, a Wilmington parent and vice chair of the committee. “These are some tough questions, and there are going to be some uncomfortable questions that need to happen. As long as that’s productive, that’s OK.”
