Wicomico Board of Education hosts first State of the Schools Luncheon

On Monday, Wicomico Schools Superintendent Dr. Donna Hanlin teamed up with the Chamber of Commerce to host the first ever State of the Schools luncheon At Parkside High School.

At the inaugural event, the Superintendent identified her top three priorities for Wicomico Schools moving forward.

Bill Chambers, the CEO of Salisbury Chamber of Commerce said, "Well this is the first ever, and it will be an annual event and it is important for the business community and the community at large to hear from the Superintendent."

Superintendent Hanlin kicked off the luncheon by engaging the audience in a unique quiz based on Wicomico Schools statistics.

The quiz educated the audience about Wicomico Schools' strengths and weaknesses.

Chambers said, "I think the information the superintendent shared with everyone is frightening in some respects, enlightening in others."

Following the quiz, Dr. Hanlin announced her three main priorities for Wicomico Schools moving forward.

First, she says she wants to ensure that all kindergarten students enter school ready to learn.

Currently, only about 47% of Wicomico County students are prepared for kindergarten according to recent data, a number that Dr. Hanlin believes could be improved with more pre-k enrollment.

Dr. Hanlin said, "I want to see us implement universal prekindergarten. So I announced today that pending budget approval, we would begin phase 1 of universal kindergarten across all students in Wicomico County."

Her second priority is improving Wicomico Schools' graduation rates.

The Superintendent said, "The second priority is an increased graduation rate. That gets to all the things that happen in our schools between instructionally and through curriculum between pre kindergarten and graduation."

The current rate is estimated to be around just 82%, which is one percent below the national average according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Dr. Hanlin says she hopes to improve this rate by looking at non-traditional pathways to graduation such as online classes as well as implementing a new program for middle schoolers.

Finally, Dr. Hanlin says she wants to address the Wicomico Schools work force.

"We are addressing the importance of a high performing work force by examining salaries, examining benefits in the support that we provide teachers, because that's really the foundation for the first two priorities we have to have a strong teaching force," Dr. Hanlin said.

The superintendent hopes to receive adequate funding to help makes these dreams reality in the near future.