Cape considers Milton consolidation

Cape Henlopen district officials are revisiting the possibility of reorganizing Milton and H.O. Brittingham elementary schools.

It's a touchy subject fraught with emotion that has been brought up by previous school boards. Boards in 2003 and again in 2008 both failed to make a decision about reorganizing the two schools which lie less than a mile apart in Milton.

"The goal is to take the emotion out of this," said Sara Wilkinson, president of the Cape Henlopen Board of Education. "It's been brought up before, but if we're looking at what's best for our students and community, it's something we have to look into."

Board member Noble Prettyman was a proponent for change in 2003 and said he didn't understand why a decision couldn't be made then.

"I still have a problem with the two schools teaching the same thing. Putting students under one roof would help prepare them," he said during the Oct. 13 school board meeting. "Our money in the district could go further."

Both schools serve students in kindergarten through fifth grade. The board discussed the possibility of making H.O. Brittingham a kindergarten through second-grade school serving all students in the area, and sending all the area third- to fifth-graders to Milton Elementary.

School board member Spencer Brittingham said it seems natural to break up grades in that order based on the school facilities. H.O. Brittingham is laid out for younger kids, while Milton is meant to house older students, he said.

Brittingham also said the stigma attached to H.O. Brittingham through the school choice program needs to end.

"It's time for us to put our students on the same playing field," he said. "Why is there a question of choice if they're both the same?" he said, referring to the fact that both schools received superior rankings this year from the state Department of Education.

Racial and socio-economic differences at the two schools, however, paint a different picture.

Based on 2010-11 school year statistics gathered by the state Department of Education, 75 percent of students at H.O. Brittingham are low income and 43 percent are white. Those numbers are flip-flopped at Milton Elementary where students are 40 percent low income and 72 percent white.

H.O. Brittingham parent Lisa Howard said she and her husband tried to choice their child into Milton Elementary two years ago but were denied. They sent their child to H.O.B. instead, and she said she is happy they did.

"There's never been a problem," Howard said.

She said the teachers and students are great, and she's glad to be part of the school. Neither of the schools' demographic percentages accurately reflects the Milton community, and the community needs a school representative of it, she said.

"There's a definite social issue that excludes a lot of children," Howard said, referring to the existing school choice program.

Milton Elementary parent Chris Adamcik said his wife had heard a lot of rumors about reconfiguring the schools, and he attended the meeting to find what was going on.

"Any teacher that she spoke to was against this idea," he said.

Better sooner than later

Both Brittingham and Prettyman said they would like a decision on reorganizing the schools soon, possibly in December.

"Just talking, talking, talking about it ¬– it's not serving our students, it's not serving our community, it's not serving anyone," Brittingham said.

Other board members wanted to make sure the pros and cons of reorganizing the schools is thoroughly researched and discussed before a decision is made.

Board member Camilla Conlon questioned breaking up the existing K-5 structure at the schools for K-2 and 3-5 configurations.

"This takes time. A K-5 school is a culture," she said. "It is about academics, but beyond that it's social, it's culture."

Superintendent Kevin Carson said he's already begun to field phone calls from parents asking "Why now?"

That question is always going to be asked when big changes are under consideration, said board member Andy Lewis. What better time to consider merging the schools when they've both received superior state ratings, he said.

From an engineering standpoint, Lewis said, it appears inefficient to operate two similar schools within such close proximity. "It doesn't seem like this is ideal," he said.

In the long term, the district's elementary schools are in line for renovations now that the middle schools and high school have been renovated and updated.

Moving forward, the board charged Carson with the job of researching the possibility of reconfiguring the schools and creating a plan.

The issue will continue to be a discussion item on future board agendas.

"We just need to do it and take the time to do it correctly," said board member Roni Posner.