Save the date: Delaware school board elections on May 13

Delawareans throughout the state will have the opportunity to vote next week for board of education members at their local school districts.

Those public officials are responsible for a variety of governance tasks, such as hiring – or firing – a superintendent, as well as approving budgets and curriculum priorities.

The election will take place on May 13, from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Races where there is more than one candidate for an open seat will occur in 11 of Delaware’s 19 districts. Below we’ll focus on races in the Christina, Appoquinimink, Indian River and Brandywine school districts.

Competitive races will also occur in the Red Clay Consolidated, Smyrna, Caesar Rodney, Capital, Lake Forest, Woodbridge, and Cape Henlopen school districts.

According to the Delaware Department of Elections, the state does not hold an election when there is only one filed candidate for a school board seat. Instead, elections officials declare the candidate elected.

To find polling locations, go to Delaware’s school board elections website, and then click on the desired school district. A new page will open with additional details about that district’s election, including where to vote.

Christina School District

The Christina School Board could be shaken up most after the May election. A four-member alliance, which typically votes as a bloc, on the embattled seven-person board could lose one member, and consequently its majority.

Alethea Smith-Tucker, who is part of the voting bloc, opted not to run for reelection.

In her place, Janiene Campbell and Shannon Troncoso are vying for the Wilmington-area seat.

Troncoso, a criminal defense lawyer, said she did not know the depth of the “toxicity” of the board before filing as a candidate. She said that one of the district’s biggest challenges is rebuilding trust with the community after ongoing controversies, including one that led to a lawsuit from former-Superintendent Dan Shelton.

Campbell, a former substitute at the district, said she is not worried about being a potential tie-breaker for the board. She said her top priorities include student safety, nutrition, and literacy scores. She also said she has heard from residents who shared concerns about the current board’s transparency. Finally, Campbell said that if elected she would hold “listening sessions in the community.”  

Appoquinimink School District

Chuck Boyce, Tim Higgins, and Sandhya Celestin-Brown are the candidates for Appoquinimink’s board of education.

If elected, one of Boyce’s top priorities would be to focus on transparency and fiscal responsibility, he said in a written response to a survey sent out by First State Educate.

Boyce, an entrepreneur, said in a statement to Spotlight Delaware that he would like to “re-prioritize” spending away from administrative overhead and towards “the classroom first, teachers, students, and learning tools.”

Appoquinimink has been named as one of the state’s best school districts in recent years, and attracting and retaining high-quality educators is a top priority for Higgins.

A restaurant owner, Higgins said his family received support from the district and its educators when his son was diagnosed with leukemia. But in the 10 years since his son’s diagnosis, Higgins said he has seen the same educators leave the district because of behavioral issues in the classroom.

One of the issues that Celestin-Brown is focusing her campaign on is mental health.

As a clinical therapist and social worker, Celestin-Brown believes the district can do a better job of addressing students with a more holistic approach by figuring out why a student may be acting a certain way before addressing their behavior. She said hungry students struggle to concentrate, and anxious students may be concerned about where they may sleep that night.

Indian River School District

Last year, Kelly Kline and Lisa Hudson Briggs filled the short-term vacancies for the Indian River School District’s Board of Education members representing District 1. Now the two are running against each other in this year’s election, and are joined by Dereck Booth. 

Hudson Briggs did not respond to Spotlight Delaware’s interview request. She also did not respond to First State Educate’s survey or the ACLU of Delaware’s survey.

When asked about his top priorities, Booth said in a statement to Spotlight Delaware that the district should “guide students to the general labor force even more so than college.”

As an example, Booth pointed to the Sussex County Vocational Technical High School, which he believes prepares students for “real careers.” 

If elected, Kline, a public library director, would use her second year on the board to focus on financial accountability within the district and to hopefully pass a referendum in June.

In April, the Indian River Board of Education made the decision to hold a referendum, just weeks after a similar request of residents to raise more than $22 million was rejected.    

Kline said that the district could potentially lose newer educators if the second referendum fails, saying “they would potentially not have placement within the district, and that’s just because they’re newer.”

Brandywine School District

Former President of New Castle County Council Karen Hartley-Nagle is running for Brandywine’s Nominating District B seat against Brian Jordan.

Hartley-Nagle, who lost the September primary election against Marcus Henry for New Castle County executive, wrote in her First State Educate survey response that her top priorities would be to expand early childhood education in the district, enhance school safety, and support educators.

In her response, Hartley-Nagle also wrote that she would push for “comprehensive equity audits” to assess where there are inequities in the district, like outdated facilities.

Jordan, a practicing attorney, wrote that if elected, his priorities would primarily focus on finding opportunities to replace federal funding if it is withheld, and developing a program that helps the district attract and retain educators. 

Jordan also wrote about equitable opportunities in his response, and said that he would want to learn more about the district’s plan to make extracurricular activities more equitable for all students to participate in.