Why Should Delaware Care?
In recent months, the Red Clay Consolidated School District revealed plans to transform McKean High School into an “innovation campus,” which would have a focus on career and technical education, along with early college credit opportunities. But families who have children with intellectual and developmental disabilities enrolled in the school’s Meadowood program have expressed concerns over the program’s future.
The Red Clay Consolidated Board of Education voted to postpone the transformation of one of its high schools into an “innovation campus” last Wednesday, following months of pushback from community members concerned about the future of a program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Nearly three hours into its meeting, board members voted 6-1 to indefinitely pause the transition of Thomas McKean High School into a drop-in building focused on career and technical education programs and early college credit opportunities.
Susan Sander was the only board member to vote against postponing the transition.
The McKean innovation center would have opened in August 2027, reducing the number of traditional high schools in the district from three to two, and increasing enrollment numbers at Alexis I. duPont High School and The John Dickinson School.
The plan would also have moved the district’s Meadowood program for students with intellectual or developmental disabilities from kindergarten through age 22, from McKean to A.I. duPont.
Some parents, however, have voiced their concerns for months to district leaders about the program’s future, saying they feel Meadowood has been an “afterthought.”
Parents with students in the program have said Meadowood helps their children work on social skills, such as conversation starters, and learn how to do tasks like washing dishes.
Mark Pruitt, the director of secondary schools at Red Clay, said the success of the Meadowood program will remain a priority as the district navigates its next steps.
“We need to make sure that we’re meeting the needs of our Meadowood students,” Pruitt said. “Not only those current students who would be changing in the middle of a grade band, but also future students of the Meadowood program.”
During the Wednesday meeting, board member Najma Landis said that while the plan is postponed, the district should look to create and publish a clear transition plan for students, establish a comprehensive communication plan, and directly engage with community members, among other points.
“I feel that we need to take a step back and hear from our community and help them shape any major changes that happen,” Landis said.
What led to the board’s decision to postpone the transition?
Last summer, the board’s A-Z & Programming Committee announced the decision to transform McKean High School into an innovation center.
By November, Red Clay community members created a petition to save McKean.
The proposed closure “not only disrupts the educational journey of hundreds of students but also threatens the identity and community spirit of our area,” the petition said.
The petition has garnered more than 2,600 signatures since it was created.
Multiple parents spoke out against the innovation center during November and December board meetings, as reported by The News Journal.
Parents continued to voice concerns during a March board committee meeting, with some expressing concerns about the lack of certainty surrounding the future Meadwood program.
“The whole special education [program] has been an afterthought since the innovation center idea was introduced and ultimately voted upon,” one parent said during the public comment session of the March committee meeting.
Similar sentiments were expressed during the public comment session of Wednesday’s board of education meeting, as some parents expressed concerns about whether A.I. duPont would be physically able to take on the Meadowood program.
Meanwhile, A.I. has plummeted in its enrollment over the last 14 years. Today it is the smallest traditional high school by enrollment in the state.
Community members in the district believe there are a variety of reasons for the enrollment decline, like limiting the number of school choice applicants selected, ending the busing system for students who choiced into the school, and the increased presence of charter and private schools.
But the high school’s graduates have strengthened their alumni group, Friends of A.I., with the goal of rebuilding the school and supporting the students currently attending.
Although the district has said the decision would help boost enrollment at their alma mater, Friends of A.I. members have supported McKean families over what they say has been a lack of transparency and effective communication from the district, especially surrounding the future of the Meadowood program.
“We have to be in this together to get [the Red Clay Consolidated School District] to change how they’re doing communication, but also to get us immediate information,” said Jared Obstfeld, a member of Friends of A.I.
Deputy Editor Tim Carlin contributed to this report.
