Redding Consortium preparing to pick redistricting model next month
The Redding Consortium is nearing a decision on its recommended model for reshaping public school district boundaries in New Castle County.
Six years after its first meeting in 2019, the Redding Consortium is now scheduled to vote on Dec. 16 on which of three plans to begin shaping a plan to present to the state Department of Education and legislators.
After starting with 9, they have paired the options down to three:
- Metropolitan Wilmington District - This would consolidate the Brandywine and Red Clay School Districts into one, adding in the entire City of Wilmington, including the portions currently served by Christina and Colonial.
- Brandywine and Red Clay - Similar to the prior proposal, but Brandywine and Red Clay would remain separate, but split the City of Wilmington, with Colonial and Christina removed.
- Northern New Castle County Consolidated District - The four primary above-the-canal public school districts -- Brandywine, Colonial, Christina, and Red Clay, would be consolidated into one district.
The consortium plans to hold its own community discussion session at a time and place to be announced, ahead of the Dec. 16 vote.
They also plan to make presentations at the four December school board meetings, allowing for public comment and input from school board leaders.
Once the model is selected, the full plan will be drafted out for meetings with the public and consortium in February, with at least one public hearing in each of the school districts that would be affected, with at least two in the City of Wilmington.
Wilmington Mayor John Carney said the December meetings will be crucial to suggest which plan could help bring more money into the city to help with struggling schools.
"That big question around financing and cost, particularly in this crazy context about the property tax mess."
Co-Chair State Sen. "Tizzy" Lockman (D - Newport/West Wilmington) said the long process has been necessary, and the final stages will be crucial.
"We are doing our best to balance urgency and being deliberative in making sure people have the space that they need to really consider the ideas."
The Redding Consortium voted in 2024 to exclude Christina from any future proposals, noting that 41% of their potential 4,407 Wilmington students were electing to go to Christina's public schools.
Having Brandywine and Red Clay involved in the city could be key towards creating more schools in the district, as both house the only schools that could be easily transferred back into traditional public high schools, with Brandywine's P.S. duPont Middle School, which was a high school until 1978, and Red Clay's Charter School of Wilmington and Cab Calloway School of the Arts, on the site of the former Wilmington High School.
Right now, there are no traditional public high schools in the city, with the largest non-private school being Howard, which has 913 students.
The Charter School of Wilmington has 966 students, with Cab Calloway holding an additional 848.
Aside from a few other relatively small charters, most Wilmington high school students are being bused to the suburbs, as far away as Glasgow High School, which had a first bell of 7:05 a.m. in the 2022-23 school year.
Even if the Redding Consortium's plans are accepted, they would not be expected to be implemented for another three to five years, once the new boundaries and rules are codified.
The Consortium also heard from its Discretionary Recommendations Committee, which has suggested more research into creating salary enhancements for qualified teachers selecting to work at selected schools, generally aimed at poor test-performing schools.
They also want a cost estimate for "graduation coaches," with an instructor for each 500 students living in the city, with the hope of expanding the service to over 2,000 students
