A potpourri of miscellaneous news SCRIBBLED IN A REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK

Superintendent Bruce Harter will recommend on Nov. 21 that the Brandywine School Board exempt all district primary schools from the state law which caps their class size at 22 pupils.

Information obtained on Nov. 18 in response to a Delaforum inquiry revealed that 48 of 136 kindergarten-through-third-grade classes are oversize. That compares to 11 of 137 classes last year. The district did not reveal which or how many schools are affected. Last year, only two -- Mount Pleasant Elementary and Carrcroft -- exceeded the limit and were granted waivers from the law. The district did say that if pupils in 11 in the larger classes were moved into classes that had room for them under the limit, those classes would meet the quota. Educators resist moving children, especially younger ones, into new environments with different teachers after the academic year begins.

Data prepared for the board meeting shows that average class size in the four primary grades has been inching up since hitting a low of 20.2 pupils in 1999. It now stands at 21.6, up from 21.1 a year ago. Average class size tops the limit of 22 by nearly a full unit in third grade; it is under the limit in the other grades. There are 3,112 of Brandywine's 10,999 students in the district's eight primary schools, the kindergarten center in Wilmington and the Bush Early Learning Center. This article is the first public disclosure of the enrollment information, despite the fact that the district advertised from Nov. 1 through 14 for public comment on the matter at or before the board meeting. (See previous Delaforum article.)

Although Harter will recommend that all schools also be granted a waiver from the requirement that at least 98% of state-authorized teachers be assigned to schools which generate those authorizations, the data released by the district seems to indicate that only Bush failed to receive its full teacher allotment and the difference there was more than made up by teachers financed by other sources.

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GIVEBACK WILL IMPACT SCHOOLS: "Some program cuts are inevitable" as the Brandywine School District seeks to come up with $925,799 from an already tight budget as its share of the $10 million in state money Governor Ruth Ann Minner has asked public schools to 'voluntarily return' to help ease the state fiscal crisis, according to district public information officer Wendy Lapham. "We will work hard to minimize the impact on student services as much as we possibly cam." she said. Finance officer David Blowman told a committee meeting on Nov. 11 that Brandywine will claim credit for teacher positions not filled until October as part of its contribution. That "will take us a long way toward our target," Lapham said.

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HELP WANTED:  County Councilman Robert Weiner said he plans to introduce legislation that would direct Council to take out newspaper help-wanted advertisements any time it is unable to find a candidate to fill a vacancy on a board or commission within 60 days. As Delaforum previously reported, slightly more than half the seats on those bodies presently are vacant. Weiner said that hampers "the proper functioning of county government." Most of the positions are unpaid. Council has the responsibility for some of the appointments while the county administration, which would not be bound by the resolution, has responsibility for others.

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ROCKWOOD PARK BARN TO BECOME A VISITOR CENTER:  The planned $5.2 million three-story visitor and education center at Rockwood Park will be a combination of providing facilities for practical uses with historic preservation, Gary Rose, county government's chief of special projects, told the Nov. 14 meeting of the Council of Civic Organizations of Brandywine Hundred. The work will take about 18 months to complete and add about 8,000 square feet to the 9,000-square-foot barn and water tower on the former estate. "We will keep it as historically correct as we possibly can," he said. Classrooms in the center are expected to help attract more school classes to tour the county park's Victorian mansion.

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A letter from our mutual fund provider said we no doubt appreciate "the benefits of quality professional management" during these times of "market volatility." That sort of makes you wonder if passengers aboard R.M.S. Titanic were enthralled with the professional management that vessel enjoyed during its maiden voyage.

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LEFT TURNS MADE EASIER: Area residents have been wondering why a vividly-marked left-turn lane suddenly appeared on Grubb Road, after its recent resurfacing, at the entrance to only one suburban community along the way. That community happens to be Clair Manor and Clair Manor happens to be where re-elected state Representative Wayne Smith lives. Pure coincidence, said Delaware Department of Transportation spokesman Michael Williams. The lane "is new only in the sense that the striping provides for a left turn where the old striping allowed for by-pass traffic on an intermittent basis," he told Delaforum.

Providing room for the lane was  a condition for subdivision approval, a county process which occurred long before Smith, or anybody else, moved in. Regarding the absence of turn lanes elsewhere on Grubb Road, Williams said, "Widening to provide [them] would have impacted the project in a number of ways including additional construction costs, right-of-way acquisitions, ...  the need for storm water management, and generally more disturbance to the existing character of the road which the public seemed to want to preserve." One political pundit observed with regard to conservative Republican Smith that it is hoped that easier turns to the left will apply only when he's driving home and not while he's in Dover legislating.

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When 3:30 p.m., the scheduled time for a New Castle County Council executive committee meeting, arrived only two Council members were seated at the conference table --- newly elected Patty Powell and William Tansey. As is the common practice with most meetings, the one on Nov. 12 started fashionably late. The newcomers no doubt will learn the ropes soon enough.

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DIRE CONSEQUENCES:

		If that's what happens to the violators, think of all the bad things that might befall their cars in this parking lot at 10th and West Sts. in Wilmington.

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A feasibility study looking to the possibility of establishing a 'Nativity model' school in Wilmington is expected to be completed around the turn of the year. Such a school could open as soon as September, 2003.

 The schools are faith-based middle schools intended to motivate and prepare low-income children in urban areas to qualify for admission to and to succeed in the academic environment of private college-preparatory high schools, according to the Rev. Thomas Curran, president of Salesianum School. The model, which has proven successful in several cities, was devised by the Jesuit religious order, but over the past 30 years has been used by a variety of sectarian and non-sectarian sponsors. The tuition-free schools offer offer same-sex education to no more than 60 students in the fifth through eighth grades. Operated independently, they have an extended school day and Saturday and summer activities.

Brendan Kennealey is conducting the Casson Foundation-financed study to determine if there is a need for such a school here, are resources available to support it, and who is best able to conduct it.  A graduate of Salesianum and Boston College, he taught in such a school and, at age 26, was founding principal of the one in New Bedford, Mass. Curran said that, if it decided to go ahead with the project, it most likely would involve the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, who own and operate Salesianum. It is not intended, however, to compete with any existing or planned school.  (Click here to access additional information about the model and to read about some of the schools.)

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Results of the Wilmington Area Planning Council's study of a possible monorail or automated guideway transit system for northern New Castle County will not be available until at least early December. "It has taken longer than anticipated to get the needed data." Heather Dunigan, the council's senior planner, said.

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