ABOUT ME

 We must do more to advance equity and prepare ALL Brandywine students for graduation and whatever they choose to do next. That means preserving IEPs for the students who count on them, while connecting more kids with job training and tuition-free college opportunities.

• Brandywine is a well-funded district, but that funding hasn’t always led to better outcomes. At the last school board meeting, a report showed that students  fall further and further behind after third grade. I believe the School Board should do more to partner with education policymakers in further understanding:
  • Are these tests providing valuable feedback?
  • Have educators been consulted on the test’s content as it compares to lesson plans?
• Brandywine School District offers an excellent International Baccalaureate program, as well as a variety of AP courses for the high school students who want to continue their education after high school, while Mt. Pleasant High School offers an Army JROTC program for those students who are considering entering military service. But the District must do more for kids who have other goals. This includes making high school students aware of all the opportunities in the workforce by actually bringing members into the classrooms, particularly representatives of our trade unions.
• We must do more to prepare ALL Brandywine students for graduation, including helping kids in foster care access tuition-free opportunities at our colleges and universities, and doing more to holistically support kids experiencing homelessness with continuity of support. 
• We must be prepared to reckon with a reality where the federal government has abandoned its role as the guarantor of equal protection in exchange for one that is adversarial toward public education. Those threats include:
  • Dismantling the Department of Education
  • A loss of federal funding for programs benefiting special needs children*
  • Funding cuts that jeopardize school meals
  • Threats to schools involving removing Black history and other diverse histories from the curriculum 
  • Using federal law enforcement to intimidate immigrant communities in our schools

*A lawsuit threatens the availability of 504 accommodations and IEP, which gives Brandywine School District an opportunity to set policy that preserves the existing state of the law and invites educators to offer enhancements.

 Everyone should feel safe at school. I support common sense gun violence prevention measures, sensible school resource officer policies, and protections for our immigrant communities.

• Brandywine has not made public its plan regarding the threat of immigration enforcement - without a warrant or a subpoena - on our school campuses, but this guidance is necessary to alleviate concerns among immigrant communities sending kids to our schools
• SROs can play a unique and important role as long as federal law enforcement remains a threat to students, and can contribute positively to our kids’ learning environments, provided they are:
  • Trained in de-escalation 
  • Facilitate age appropriate resolutions
  • Have a blemish-free work record
• Brandywine should work with the General Assembly to implement a program using school bus cameras to increase enforcement of drivers who ignore school bus stop signals. Red Clay is currently piloting this program, and the Brandywine School Board should advocate for expansion to our district.

 Our educators and school staff should be treated with dignity and paid accordingly. I’m proud to have the support of the teachers’ union, the Brandywine Education Association. 

• Delaware’s efforts to raise starting salaries for educators to $60,000 by 2028 is a good start, but that is a statewide retention strategy that is long overdue. Brandywine must have its own plan to retain and develop, or deploy strategies to retain and attract quality educators across our district.
• It’s important that we balance professional development with giving educators enough time (i.e. planning periods and grading days) to complete all of their work. 
• School climate is more important than ever. We must be sure to support our educators in the classroom when it comes to student discipline.