Literally hundreds of Southern Delaware School of the Arts (SDSA) supporters packed the Indian River High School cafeteria. Others were diverted toward the auditorium, to catch Indian River School District (IRSD) School Board proceedings over a video feed, after the cafeteria filled up.
And the SDSA Honor Society sang and flashed placards detailing the school’s accomplishments — while others juggled, one young lady danced and twirled, and another student dashed out a fine painting in minutes flat.
If board members were considering program cuts at the SDSA this budget cycle, they heard another resounding opinion from the public at the Jan. 24 school board meeting.
JROTC supporters offered similarly passionate support for their program at last month’s meeting, but the district still slightly slimmed JROTC, down to 11 months from 12 months. Where, if anywhere, they plan to tighten the belt at SDSA remains to be seen.
Everything the finance committee discusses during budget-cutting sessions seems to make its way to the public (with the subject matter typically amplified to grave proportions, but people do hear about it). Regardless of the mechanism for the information, the thing seems clear — board members are not considering budget cuts in a vacuum.
Board President Charles Bireley offered a disclaimer at the outset that the SDSA wasn’t up for discussion on Jan. 24. “It’s not intent of the board to close SDSA,” he insisted. “And there’s nothing on tonight’s agenda about the SDSA.”
Agenda or not, this was the time and place for SDSA supporters. The Honor Society offered the biggest splash, concluding with a call for hands — and receiving unanimous consent from the audience.
Individual teachers and students stepped to the podium as well, offering further support. Tracy Elmore disabused board members of the misconception that SDSA was an “elite” school. “In reality, half of the parents told me their children were struggling at their home school before they found their wings at SDSA,” she said. “And just to clarify, my kids qualify for school lunch.”
Sports aren’t for everyone, Elmore added, but SDSA is good at what it did — she applauded the school for stocking nearly 10 percent of the 150-student all-state chorus this year.
Lichell Malabet and Josè Quiñones offered a little elite-busting testimony as well.
Malabet credited the SDSA for her children’s successful advancement to college. If there were concerns about the ethnic mix, she suggested the district look at ways to encourage minority attendance, rather than simply dismiss the school as elitist.
Quiñones, a single father of three, reminded the board that they’d made a “commitment to our children” when they opened the school, and he expressed his hope that the commitment would not falter.
Students spoke of finding a “connection through the arts” and a school where they’d finally found it possible to “fit in,” and parents applauded the groundwork laid by former Principal Tim Fannin (who retired last year). All were hopeful SDSA will stay off the chopping block as the financially strapped school district considers where to trim its budget.
In other business, the school board settled on a replacement for former Board Member Greg Hastings, who stepped down last month to join the state Board of Ed.
Maj. Randall Hughes of the Delaware State Police will take his place, and the board approved his appointment unanimously. “I was amazed to see so many people come out for my swearing-in,” he quipped, drawing a laugh from the unusually large crowd.
Hughes lives in Millsboro and serves as Kent/Sussex field operations officer for the DSP, providing oversight for Delaware State Police Troops 3, 4, 5 and 7, headquarters and traffic sections.
A Sussex Central High School (and University of Delaware) graduate, he has two children in district schools. He’s served with the district’s Building & Grounds committee, and on a taskforce studying the middle schools.
“I wanted to be more involved,” Hughes noted. “I’m a product of public education, and I want to see it thrive.”
He gave a “hats off” to the others who’d offered candidacy and applauded the passion evidenced by the SDSA supporters. “It’s great to see that,” Hughes pointed out, saying he planned to bring similar passion to his work on the school board.