Why Should Delaware Care?
A state task force charged with reworking school district boundaries in Wilmington will vote on a redistricting plan on Tuesday. Its decision will be the latest in decades of such adjustments to Wilmington schools. If adopted by lawmakers, the potential redistricting plan will impact all four districts that currently serve Wilmington’s students.
Five years of discussions about where Wilmington kids should go to school will come to a close Tuesday when a state task force, called the Redding Consortium, issues recommendations to lawmakers about where school district lines should be drawn in Delaware’s largest city.
But already a backlash has emerged featuring suburban residents who live north of Wilmington pushing back against proposals that would combine their Brandywine School District with portions of central Wilmington.
In response, some in the city have characterized criticisms as being tinged with racism, especially claims from one school board member that combining districts would upset the “values” of Brandywine.
📍 Get Involved: The Redding Consortium for Educational Equity will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the West Conference Center at Del Tech’s Wilmington campus, located at 300 N. Orange St. For more information, including about virtual attendance, click here.
At the core of the tension are plans to remove about 1,600 Wilmington students from the Christina School District and move them to districts with high schools that sit closer to the city. The Christina School District’s boundaries are centered around Newark but also contain a noncontiguous island in central Wilmington.
Amid the tensions, legislative leaders, who will direct any final decision about redistricting, are not making any bold declarations.
Asked whether redistricting Wilmington schools will be a priority in Dover, a spokeswoman for the Senate Democrats said Senate Pro Tem Dave Sokola and Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend will defer to their colleague and Majority Whip, Sen. Elizabeth “Tizzy” Lockman (D-Wilmington).
In a statement, Lockman, who serves as a co-chair of the Redding Consortium, said the Senate Democratic Caucus is “dedicated to ensuring that all students have access to the highest quality educational experiences possible.”
Separately, House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown told Spotlight Delaware in a statement that legislators do not yet know what the final proposal looks like, and so it is “too early to say where our members may ultimately land on it.”
She also noted that several steps must be taken before any proposal to redistrict Wilmington schools could reach lawmakers.
“What we know for sure is that a recommendation is forthcoming, and we look forward to reviewing the proposal and hearing feedback from our constituents once it’s released,” Minor-Brown said.
The options
The Redding Consortium – the task force that will make recommendations to the legislature – previously announced that it is considering three ways to redistrict Wilmington schools.
One involves creating a metropolitan Wilmington school district that would combine the Brandywine and Red Clay Consolidated school districts, as well as all students in Wilmington, into one district.
A second option would divide Wilmington students between Brandywine and Red Clay.
The third option would consolidate all four districts that serve Wilmington students — Brandywine, Red Clay, Christina, and Colonial — into one large district.
A recent study about the potential costs of district consolidation found that combining districts would be “unlikely to yield cost savings.”
The backlash to the proposal was clear during a Brandywine Board of Education meeting earlier this month that featured a presentation from the Redding Consortium. Fifty-one people signed up for public comment during the meeting.
Brandywine parent Keith Frankel said he does not believe that shuffling students living in “underprivileged neighborhoods” from one district to another, and said the kids are “a product of the area that they live, their parents, their neighborhoods.”
“No way, no way. Not mine,” another community said as Frankel was cut off by fellow community members.
Frankel reiterated that his comment was based on students’ surroundings and said, “There’s no racism in that.”
But not all families were reassured.
“I’m hearing a lot of unfortunate racism come out in this room, and it’s being broadcasted by very cute terms, by even some of the parents,” said Melissa Williams, another Brandywine parent.
What do Wilmington parents say?
Amid the debate, Spotlight Delaware spoke with parents of Christina School District students who live in Wilmington, and learned that some preferred their district despite the often long commutes to faraway schools
Wilmington resident Antayshia Samuel, a parent of a fifth grader in the Christina School District, said that while she is not aware of the Redding Consortium, she doesn’t mind her daughter going to a high school in Newark, or one in Wilmington.
“As long as she gets a good education, really, that’s all that matters to me,” Samuel said.
Samuel and her daughter each said they have enjoyed the Christina School District because of the programs it offers, such as its Freedom Schools summer program – an academic program that focuses on civic engagement and mental health.
“They’re trying to show that they care for the kids, and they want the community to come together as one,” Samuel said.
