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Approval of Christiana School District's referendum offers good news for next school year

Delaware Public Media

The Christina School District’s referendum passed easily Tuesday with over 65 percent support from voters in the district.

And Christina’s outgoing superintendent is pleased with that result.

 

Richard Gregg, who steps down as superintendent  at the end of the month, says the biggest difference parents will see this fall is in class sizes.

"We will not have to request a waiver again for classes for K-3 this year. We had to request and have the board approve a waiver for class sizes because we had reductions in staffing, and I think that's what people will notice the most this year," said Gregg.

And Gregg notes that avoiding another $10 million in cuts means 67 jobs - mostly teachers - are saved, while funding created by the tax increase approved means the district will keep all its sports, music, and extracurricular programs and the Chinese Immersion program, as well as the gifted and talented program for children.

"The thing people will be the most excited about is the programs they care about, and the programs students care about are going to be still available," Gregg said.

Gregg adds that laying out the potential cuts wasn’t meant to be a scare tactic, but concedes it likely helped turnout votes for the referendum.

"It was the reality of the situation when you're unable to provide the resources because you don't have the revenue to provide those resources in programs then it's a reality check. This is what happens if we don't have the funding to provide those very important programs to the students."

The referenendum victory also allows Christina to add a new English Language Arts curriculum to its elementary schools and fund capital improvement projects at six buildings - including renovations at Newark and Christiana high schools and Downes, Marshall and Leasure elementary schools

Joe brings over 20 years of experience in news and radio to Delaware Public Media and the All Things Considered host position. He joined DPM in November 2019 as a reporter and fill-in ATC host after six years as a reporter and anchor at commercial radio stations in New Castle and Sussex Counties.
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