The Redding Consortium delayed its decision on how to redistrict northern New Castle County schools until next month.
They pushed the decision back to Dec. 16. Co-chair Matt Denn said Consortium members don’t have enough information to make a decision now.
“In terms of voting on December 16, speaking for myself, I think that the Consortium members should have at least rough estimates of the state cost of each of the three options before they're asked to choose between them,” Denn said.
Consortium vice-chair Sen. Elizabeth Lockman said the previously agreed upon timeline was more expedited and has already been altered a couple times to give people time to consider the options.
“I think we are doing our best to balance urgency and being deliberative and making sure people have the space that they need to fully consider all the ideas,” Lockman said.
Wilmington Mayor John Carney said the one month delay makes him nervous; the State Board of Education was expected to have a final plan by the end of this year.
“Just a concern as to whether or not it leaves enough time for the General Assembly,” Carney said. “It just seems awful tight for a product that's going to be dropped, what, early June or late May? It's not very clear.”
Consortium members and politicians remain divided on the best approach – splitting Wilmington students between Red Clay and Brandywine school districts; consolidating Brandywine, Red Clay and the City of Wilmington into one district or combining all four northern New Castle County districts into one.
Gov. Matt Meyer wants to see the third option put in place.
"I like to say, if you ask every human being on Earth to draw a school district map of Northern New Castle County, I don't think a single human being would draw it the way it's actually drawn," said Meyer on the Oct. 23 edition of DPM/WHYY's Ask Gov Meyer. "i think there needs to be a single district for Northern New Castle County, which I think wourl enable us to put more money where t belongs, in the class room."
Once the consortium settles on an option, a draft plan will be delivered in January, followed by public hearings in February and a State Board of Education review from March to May. It then heads to state lawmakers for approval.
That timeline means the General Assembly would have a month or less to consider that decision during its 2026 legislative session.
