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TEACHER-OF-THE-YEAR: Mary
Pinkston, who teaches mathematics at Brandywine High, was named
teacher-of-the-year by the state Department of Education. She was the
seventh Brandywine School District teacher to receive the award in the
46-year history of the annual recognition program. Pinkston has spent
all of her teaching career in the district. It began in 1992 at Mount
Pleasant High. She graduated cum laude from the University of Delaware
in that year and since has earned a masters degree from the university.
The award includes a $5,000 state grant to be used for the educational
benefit of her students and two personal grants totaling the same
amount. The selection process included classroom observations, portfolio
reviews and consideration by a representative panel.
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Half of Brandywine School District's
16 buildings have experienced double-digit percentage increases in
enrollment as the result of closing two buildings and realigning grade
structures.
Data made available to Delaforum at a
meeting of the school board on Oct. 26 showed that Springer Middle,
which was reopened following a year-long renovation, had the largest
increase -- 61.8% -- over the number of its students housed in the
high-rise Burnett building in north Wilmington during the 2008-09
academic year. Tally Middle's enrollment increased 43.7%, Carrcroft
Elementary's 41.7% and Brandywood Elementary's 40.3%. Harlan, which was
converted from an intermediate school to an elementary school, saw a 22%
decrease in its student population and Claymont, which went from an
intermediate to a middle school, 'lost' 19.9%. Requested information
about the buildings' rated capacity was not provided.
Despite an expected move away from
non-public schools as a result of the recession, districtwide enrollment
increased only three-tenths of 1% to 10,366. The data was not presented
to the board at the public meeting, but had been distributed to board
members in advance of the meeting. None had any comment. Other
buildings with enrollment increases were elementary schools -- Lombardy,
28.9%; Lancashire, 27.3%; Mount Pleasant, 24.5%; and Forwood, 22.2%.
Enrollment declines occurred at P.S. du Pont Middle, 2.9% and Maple Lane
Elementary, 4.1%. Among the high schools, which weren't realigned,
Concord's enrollment grew by 1.1% while Mt. Pleasant 'lost' 7.9% and
Brandywine declined 2.2%. Bush Early Education Center has 6.9% fewer
students this year than last. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
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VACCINE
COMING: School children throughout Delaware will receive,
free of charge, a vaccination against swine flu if their parents or
guardians approve. Superintendent Mark Holodick confirmed that the
Brandywine district will participate in the Division of Public Health
program, but said that, as yet, no timetable for giving the shots has
been issued.
He advised families to speak with their
pediatrician and-or primary-care physician to determine whether or not
they should participate. School nurses will be the point persons
for questions about the vaccination process at any school. Kumba
Academy, a charter school in Wilmington, closed for several days as the
result of having several flu cases among its students. Other schools
have been experiencing higher-than-usual absenteeism.
A
responder at the Division of Public Health said the program is being
arranged by the state Department of Education. Ron Gough, official
spokesman for the department, did not reply to a Delaforum request for
information. As a result, it could not be determined if other than
public schools will be included in the program. Nor could its cost and
the source of financing be learned. The going rate for shots to guard
against regular flu is $25 a dose. According to published reports,
national distribution of the H-1-N-1 vaccine is lagging.
Officials at the federal Centers for
Disease Control & Prevention had expected about 40 million doses to be
distributed by the end of October, but it looks now as though a maximum
of 28 million to 30 million doses will actually be shipped.
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ADS BILL
TABLED: Some County Council members thought it might be a good idea,
but with several unsure about the groundrules president Paul Clark
postponed action on his proposed ordinance to authorize county
government to sell advertising. Amid inevitable stabs at humor -- "Are
we going to put bail-bond ads on police cars?" -- members at a budget
committee meeting on Oct. 13 raised several constitutional and ethical
issues. Nicole Majeski, County Executive Christopher Coons's chief of
staff, said the measure "just allows us to move ahead" and promised that
Council will be able to weigh in on rules now being drafted. The Ethics
Commission, she said, has declined to pass judgment on what is and what
is not appropriate until the administration has specific authority to
proceed.
Robert Weiner, who is a lawyer, said
free-speech rights could preclude discriminating against promoting
undesirable products -- tobacco of alcohol ads in county libraries, for
instance. John Cartier and William Bell both said they would be adamant
in opposing any advertising on public safety vehicles. On the other
hand, Lisa Diller said that "there are other places that have been doing
this and it has been successful." But David Tackett countered by saying
he has "huge reservations about hanging up a 'for sale' sign on New
Castle County." And Jea Street added, "I don't think that we're that
broke." County attorney Gregg Wilson offered to "brief Council in
executive session" before the administration submits proposed guidelines
for an ethics review. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
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DEVELOPMENT PROCESS CHANGED: With a nine-to-two vote, County
Council approved condensing the review process for rezonings and major
development plans. Before the vote, David Culver, general manager of the
Department of Land Use, testified that the change was intended "to make
people as comfortable with our planning process as we can." Nothing in
the ordinance changes the criteria by which development proposals will
be considered, he maintained. Council president Paul Clark chided
the Civic League for New Castle County for allegedly employing "scare
tactics" by basing its public objections to the measure on points other
than what is actually stated in the ordinance. Voting against the
ordinance were William Powers and Jea Street. William Bell abstained
from voting.
In another significant matter having to
do with land use and development, Council on Oct. 13 approved a
replacement for the never-used 'village and hamlet" section of the
Unified Development Code. It would enable a developer to provide for a
variety of uses and construct residences and commercial buildings with
varying density on large tracts. That is now referred to as 'smart
growth'. Although co-sponsored by John Cartier and Robert Weiner, who
represent Brandywine Hundred, the development option will be available
only in the 'growth zone' south of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. Lisa
Diller and David Tackett joined Powers in voting against that measure. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
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LEASES APPROVED: Boys & Girls
Clubs of Claymont will pay $1,000 a month
for the former Darley Road School site under terms of a 10-year lease
with Brandywine School District. The money will go into a reserve fund
to assure the property is properly maintained. When the fund reaches
$100,000, rent will drop to $1 a month. The agreement approved
unanimously without discussion at a school board meeting on Oct. 12
permits the district to use the building to house an
'alternative-to-suspension' disciplinary program during the hours its
schools are in session. If neither party opts out, the lease will
automatically renew for 10 years on Sept. 30, 2019 and 2029. A separate
lease gives Claymont Little League use of the Dyer Field baseball
complex on the property for $1 a year for the same terms. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
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With County Council poised to enact a
sweeping change in how rezonings and major
land-use plans are approved, there is a split among major civic
organizations which traditionally have been most heavily involved in the
process.
At issue is a measure, sponsored by
Councilman George Smiley, which would delay the initial opportunity for
civic associations and individual members of the public to formally
express views on such proposals until after the Department of Land Use
and state agencies concerned with their various aspects have had an
opportunity to work with developers to massage the plans. As things
stand now, the initial Planning Board hearing occurs at the exploratory
stage. David Culver, general manager of the department, which is
advocating the change, said it permits affected parties to provide
'input' "far enough along [in the approval process] that you know what
you're going to run into, but no so far along that you can't [bring
about] a change."
Culver announced at a meeting of officers
of areawide civic groups on Oct. 7 that the proposed ordinance has
backing from Council of Civic Organizations of Brandywine Hundred and
Seven & 40 Alliance among others. He did so in the face of strenuous
opposition from the Civic League for New Castle County which argues that
it diminishes the public's ability to influence land-use decisions by
accelerating the process to benefit developers. Prologue of the proposed
ordinance says it will "simplify" the process by substituting a two-step
review process for the three-step process used since the Uniform
Development Code was enacted nearly 11 years ago. An 'executive summary'
prepared by the department said that will "promote economic development
by reducing total review times."
Council at its meeting on Oct. 13 is
expected to also enact a new 'smart growth' development option to
replace the code's 'village and hamlet' provision, which has never been
used.
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Hundreds of Brandywine Hundred
householders may be in for an unpleasant
surprise when county government completes work on a plan to
drastically reduce the amount of 'clean water' infiltrating into the
sanitary sewer system.
Mike Svaby, general manager of the
Department of Special Services, told a County Council committee that
there are more than 3,600 illegal hookups -- primarily from sump pumps
and basement floor drains -- most of which are in the northernmost
hundred. He said they can pour as much as 28.5 million gallons of rain
water into the system during a "storm event." County government is under
an Environmental Protection Agency order to either come up with a way to
keep the unwanted liquid out or construct a treatment facility capable
of processing it by the end of December, 2010. Although the problem has
been recognized for some time, the deadline has placed it squarely on
the front burner.
The administration is "analyzing our
alternatives," Svaby said at the committee meeting on Oct. 6, but he did
not not indicate what they are. "We're a couple of weeks away from
providing a solid recommendation," he said. The basic question obviously
is who pays for a solution. Since connecting the pumps to the sewer,
instead of having them discharge outside, and providing drains to get
rid of basement water was a generally accepted -- and apparently legal
-- building practice when the northern suburbs were built, homeowners
can argue they are 'grandfathered' against any new law. Council
president Paul Clark suggested that metering future sewer flow and
basing sewer fees on the volume could be a way to cover long-term
financing of a government-sponsored solution.
Other Council members pointed out that
simply requiring converting present systems to ones that provide
external discharge could in many cases increase run-off flows to an
extent that would exceed the capacity of storm sewers.
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LEASE SIGNED:
Brandywine School District has signed a lease with the Claymont Boys &
Girls Clubs for use of the former Darley Road School property. Acting
superintendent Andy Brandenberger confirmed that a vague reference to
the lease on the posted agenda for the 'action' segment of a school
board meeting scheduled for Oct. 12 was intended to satisfy the legal
requirement for advance public notice of a board vote to approve the
lease. He did not disclose its terms or say whether they will be
discussed in public at the meeting. Also scheduled for Oct. 12 is a
'workshop' session having to do with the district's recently completed
realignment. Darley Road was one of two schools closed in that process.
As previously reported, the school board
in July turned down an appeal by Odyssey Charter School of its decision
to lease the closed building and at least a portion of the property to
the nonprofit youth organization. Odyssey, the other applicant to use
the property, claimed that, as a public school, it had a right of first
refusal under the state law covering disposal of surplus property. The
charter school has since appealed to the state Board of Education. A
state board hearing examiner took testimony on the matter on Sept. 23
prior to making a recommendation to the board. As far as Delaforum can
determine, that recommendation is still pending. No official will say
what effect a state board decision favoring Odyssey would have on a duly
executed lease agreement. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
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HORSES TO STAY:
County mounties will continue to stable
their mounts at Carousel Park. Upon reconsideration of a decision to
re-locate them to a private facility it was determined that the cost of
staying put would range between $75,000 and $80,000, compared to between
$105,000 and $135,000, the lowest outside bids received, according to
Mike Svaby, general manager of the Department of Special Services.
Although there apparently was no plan to eliminate the mounted unit,
some people interpreted moving its horses as an indication that was in
the offing. The unit will be reduced from eight to six with the
retirement of two of the horses. "The mounted patrol is valuable. Once
we loose [the horses], we'll never get them back," Councilman David
Tackett said at a committee meeting on Oct. 6.
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DETAILS
DISCLOSED: Like their public safety colleagues, county police
officers, paramedics and 9-1-1 operators escaped the 5% pay cuts that
most other county government employees have taken this fiscal year.
Instead, they'll kick in and additional $100 a month toward the cost of
health insurance and, as a group, forego some overtime opportunities.
County spokesman C.R. McLeod told Delaforum that and other terms of the
recently negotiated contract with their union were an equivalent cost
reduction. While releasing details of the agreement at Delaforum's
request, he said paramedic trainees laid off last spring will not be
rehired -- "per the request of the union" -- but will have a right of
first refusal to take positions which open up because of retirements. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
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AGREEMENT REACHED:
County Executive
Christopher Coons's office announced approval of a two-year
labor contract with the union representing 160 paramedics and 9-1-1
operators. A terse press statement issued on Oct. 1 said the agreement,
ratified by union members on Sept. 30, provides for $610,000 in
'givebacks', but provided only a sketchy explanation of how that was
calculated. It said the administration has pledged there will be no
layoffs during the life of the contract, which expires on June 30, 2011,
but does not address the status of nine paramedic trainees laid off last
spring when the union balked at 5% pay cuts which other county
employees, except police, took. County spokesman C.R. McLeod did not
respond to a Delaforum request for clarifications. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
Last updated on October 28, 2009
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