The Delaware City Schools Board of Education held its September meeting Monday and discussed the upcoming State Report Card, attendance, and potential changes to the pick-up and drop-off zones at Smith Elementary.
The meeting began with a discussion of the locations currently being used by parents to pick up and drop off their kids at Smith. Director of Facilities and Transportation Jason Sherman said the layout was changed over the summer to accommodate the gas line replacement that was being done on Heffner Street and said the buses have temporarily been using Mason Avenue with parent pickup happening on Liberty Street.
Sherman said after nearly a month of school, the district believes the buses being loaded on Mason has helped with traffic flow and said they are “seriously considering” making that change permanent and moving parent pickup and dropoff to Liberty and Heffner streets.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Misty Swanger then discussed the district’s State Report Card, which will be released this week. Swanger said the district is predicted to remain at 4.5 stars out of 5, as it was last year, and she added the district got 5 stars in Gap Closing and Progress. Swanger called those two metrics “significant,” and they don’t gauge where a student starts, but instead measures if the district met students where they were and helped them grow each year.
Swanger said the district is projected to earn 4 stars on Graduation Rate and 3 stars on Early Literacy. Swanger said she expects the district grade in early literacy to improve in the coming years as a result of programs and changes that were implemented after the data for the report card was collected, but she added there is still “room for improvement.”
Swanger said addressing chronic absenteeism is another goal for the district.
On the subject of attendance, Superintendent Heidi Kegley said September is Attendance Awareness Month and attendance in the district is “still an area of struggle.”
“(Attendance) continues to be a focus for us,” Kegley said. “It takes partnership with our students, families and staff. Every absence matters … each of those add up and when you miss 10 or more days, you have reached chronically absent. We need to be intervening and educating and make sure that school is a priority for our families and our students. Every minute counts. That all adds up.”
The board approved a number a staffing changes, including approving the retirement of Dempsey Middle School Band Director Alan Notestine.
The board also approved the resignations of Jenny Artemus, an educational assistant at Conger Elementary School; Rachel Geske, an educational assistant at Schultz Elementary; and Kathy Patterson, a cook/cashier at Conger.
Additionally, the board approved the employments of Jessica Ayala, an educational assistant at Conger; Nathan Birchfield, a bus driver; Elisabeth Kelley, a bus driver; Mena Murfield, an educational assistant at Hayes High School; Jose Perez, an educational assistant at Hayes; DeVesta Petty, an educational assistant at Dempsey; Shelby Salyer, a bus driver; and Tabitha VanSickle, a SACC program assistant.
The board also approved a change order with McHugh Construction LLC, deducting $330.76 from the contract amount for the Carlisle Restroom Renovation Project. Sherman explained the funds were unused contingency funds.
The board will met next on Oct. 7.
Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903.
