|
|
|
|
|
July, 2007 |
PARTICIPATION SOUGHT: Brandywine School District is inviting residents to join the committee charged with recommending a plan for closing some school buildings. "The district must make the closures in a responsible, well-studied way and must involve community members and parents in the development of a plan," superintendent James Scanlon said in a public statement. The committee will convene on Sept. 4 and is due to report in May, 2008. The district has room in its schools for about 1,400 children, but enrollment is just over 10,000 and expected to decline to about 9,600 by 2014, he said. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
¨ ¨ ¨
FINAL SAY: Delaware Supreme Court evidently has closed the book on the saga of the stone wall. It ruled that the Board of Adjustment had proper jurisdiction when it overturned an order by land use general manager Charles Baker directing Edgewood Village l.l.c., an affiliate of Pettinaro Construction, to restore the wall in the Paladin Club condominium community it partly demolished in early 2005. Baker said the wall was historic although the department's historic preservation section earlier had decided it wasn't. The court ruled against a group of residents who said the appeal should have been made to the Planning Board. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
¨ ¨ ¨
County Council by its narrowest margin enacted an ordinance eliminating the requirement that the Department of Land Use advertise public hearings in community newspapers.
Joseph Amon, publisher of Community News, testified before the seven-to-six vote on July 24 that the move would deprive "close to 200,000 readers," who depend upon the publication's five zoned editions as their best source for "fair and balanced" local news, of information that is important to them. He implied that the ordinance was one of "many attempts to influence the printed word." Councilman George Smiley, who sponsored the ordinance, replied that it "is not retaliatory legislation in any way." He said that its intent is to save county government $172,000 a year in light of its budget problems.
He said he was not against press coverage. "As much as I hate to say it, we'll still support the News Journal," he said. State law requires that paid-for legal notices be published in a newspaper of general circulation. Councilman Bill Bell said he was surprised to learn that the department did not provide for that spending in its fiscal 2008 budget. "If it's not in their budget, haven't they already decided it" before Council acted, he said. Smiley said the money was not budgeted because the county administration assumed that since Council had cut its own legal-notices requirements "we would not be doing less" for the department. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
Voting in favor of the ordinance were: Smiley, Council president Paul Clark, Penrose Hollins, Joseph Reda, Timothy Sheldon, Jea Street and David Tackett. Opposed were: Bell, John Cartier, Stephanie McClellan, William Powers, William Tansey and Robert Weiner.
¨ ¨ ¨
PLAN APPROVED: County Council on July 24 unanimously approved an updated comprehensive plan which significantly changes the approach to land use and development in New Castle County during at least the next five years. "It's a vision. The next step is crafting implementation strategy to make it a reality," said Council president Paul Clark. Councilman Robert Weiner described the plan represents "a transition from a sprawl comprehensive plan to a smart-growth comprehensive plan." David Tackett called it "the most scrutinized document ever to go through any Council." (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
¨ ¨ ¨
REZONING SOUGHT: Legislation to rezone the 17-acre Holy Rosary church and school campus to permit American College to develop a portion of it was introduced into County Council by Councilman John Cartier on July 24. Council will vote on it after the Planning Board holds a public hearing and makes a recommendation. In another matter involving Claymont, Council unanimously approved a measure appropriating $60,000 received from the Delaware Land & Water Conservation Fund to finance improvements to the driveway, signage and landscaping at Woodshaven-Kruse park. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
¨ ¨ ¨
The state's student-testing program is meant to measure students' performance against standards, not against their counterparts in other districts, James Scanlon said.
Commenting on just-published 2007 results, the Brandywine superintendent told the school board that they show continuation of measurable progress during the past six years. "It doesn't matter what other school districts are doing; it matters what we're doing here in Brandywine," he said at the board meeting on July 23. "The big challenge now is how do we get to the next level." Third- and fifth-grade scores "started high [in 2002] and have stayed high," Scanlon said. Middle schools are "relatively high ... with modest gains" over that time period. High-school scores "started out at a low point and have made significant gains."
He said the annual testing produces objective data with which to measure both trends and individual performance. "We have to make sure we're using the data to make individual students grow," he said. "We have to believe that all kids can learn. We have to set high expectations for all students if we want our kids to meet high standards. ... We need to provide professional development for our teachers to make that happen." Noting that Brandywine originally outpaced state averages on the tests, board member Debra Heffernan said that shows "the [rest of the] state has caught up with Brandywine." (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
¨ ¨ ¨
CONTROVERSIAL TRANSFER: Over the vehement objections of several Harlan Intermediate School teachers and some parents, the Brandywine school board confirmed the appointment of Lincoln Hohler to be principal of P.S. du Pont Intermediate. Former Harlan principal Anita Thorpe was brought out of retirement to succeed Hohler in that position in an acting capacity while a permanent successor is sought. The moves were necessitated by the unexpected resignation of P.S. principal Kenneth Goodwin. The Harlan delegation argued that 14 years as a popular teacher and administrator has made Hohler a virtual fixture at that school.
Although he said he appreciated their sentiments, James Scanlon said that "as superintendent, I'm looking out for the entire school system." With P.S. about the spend the coming academic year in the Burnett building while its north Wilmington building is renovated, there is need for "a strong leader to help us with that [and] Linc Hohler is the best person to do that." As spokesperson for the delegation, Leeanne Henretty, a parent, protested against the board's accepting Scanlon's recommendation without open discussion and evidently agreeing to it during a closed-door executive session before the public meeting.
¨ ¨ ¨
REJECTION: Delaware Department of Transportation has rejected a proposal to designate Philadelphia Pike as an historic highway, Delaforum has learned. In a previously unpublicized early-June letter to County Executive Christopher Coons, Maria Andaya, manager of DelDOT's scenic and historic highways program, said that, although the road has retained its original alignment since colonial days, it lacks "a special intrinsic quality" deemed necessary "to provide a [sic] unique travel experience to residents and visitors." The decision, she said, "proved to be difficult," requiring more than two hours of discussion by the evaluation committee.
¨ ¨ ¨
REPORT CARD: Brandywine results generally followed the pattern of other school districts in this year's state assessment testing with a slight gain in reading, a decline in mathematics and significant improvement in writing. In reading, 79.9% of Brandywine students in grades two through 10 met or exceeded state standards, up from 79.2% last year. The proportion in math fell from 71.4% in 2006 to 71%. The bigger gain was in writing, where 70.6% came up to the standards this year, compared to 66.8% last year. Statewide, 80.5% met or exceeded standards in reading; 69.3% in math; and 65.7% in writing.
Percentage of Brandywine district students meeting or exceeding state standards:
| Reading | Mathematics | Writing | |||||||||
| Grades | 2007 | 2006 |
Pct change |
2007 | 2006 |
Pct. Change |
2007 | 2006 | Pct. Change | ||
| 2 | 82.76 | 83.26 | -0.6% | 86.66 | 86.94 | -0.3% | |||||
| 3 | 81.56 | 81.99 | -0.5% | 76.36 | 77.33 | -1.3% | 69.07 | 65.64 | 5.2% | ||
| 4 | 78.29 | 75.73 | 3.4% | 73.23 | 76.17 | -3.9% | 54.47 | 68.61 | -20.6% | ||
| 5 | 82.97 | 82.09 | 1.1% | 78.19 | 75.57 | 3.5% | 67.47 | 53.78 | 25.5% | ||
| 6 | 77.20 | 80.25 | -3.8% | 69.55 | 72.37 | -3.9% | 73.59 | 51.10 | 44.0% | ||
| 7 | 86.14 | 80.28 | 7.3% | 72.47 | 68.88 | 5.2% | 68.38 | 61.21 | 11.7% | ||
| 8 | 79.71 | 82.63 | -3.5% | 68.99 | 69.28 | -0.4% | 81.99 | 78.11 | 5.0% | ||
| 9 | 72.89 | 73.81 | -1.2% | 52.00 | 56.30 | -7.6% | 75.30 | 75.72 | -0.6% | ||
| 10 | 77.79 | 72.62 | 7.1% | 61.49 | 59.79 | 2.8% | 74.27 | 80.24 | -7.4% | ||
|
2-10 |
79.92 | 79.18 | 0.9% | 70.99 | 71.40 | -0.6% | 70.57 | 66.80 | 5.6% | ||
|
SOURCE: Delaware Department of Education |
|||||||||||
How schools fared in their respective key grades:
|
Schools |
2007 | 2006 |
Pct. |
Schools |
2007 | 2006 |
Pct. |
Schools |
2007 | 2006 |
Pct. |
||
|
3rd grade reading |
3rd grade mathematics |
3rd grade writing | |||||||||||
| Lombardy | 92.11 | > 95.0 | Lombardy | 83.91 | 90.36 | -7.1% | Lancashire | 82.42 | 77.38 | 6.5% | |||
| Brandywood | 88.24 | 88.79 | -0.6% | Lancashire | 83.52 | 82.14 | 1.7% | Brandywood | 74.07 | 75.83 | -2.3% | ||
| Lancashire | 87.64 | 93.83 | -6.6% | Carrcroft | 80.58 | 76.79 | 4.9% | Mt. Pleasant | 71.43 | 66.96 | 6.7% | ||
| Mt. Pleasant | 82.47 | 80.37 | 2.6% | Brandywood | 77.98 | 87.70 | -11.1% | Lombardy | 71.26 | 85.37 | -16.5% | ||
| DISTRICT | 81.56 | 81.99 | -0.5% | DISTRICT | 76.36 | 77.33 | -1.3% | DISTRICT | 69.07 | 65.64 | 5.2% | ||
| Carrcroft | 80.81 | 85.32 | -5.3% | Mt. Pleasant | 75.78 | 72.17 | 5.0% | Carrcroft | 64.08 | 67.86 | -5.6% | ||
| Maple Lane | |||||||||||||