Indian River School District creating community advisory board
SELBYVILLE, Del. – The Indian River School District is creating a community advisory board after a civil rights lawsuit. District officials believe this board will help them to understand the needs of their students better moving forward. “At the forefront of our minds is all of her children and their well-being across all communities in the Indian River school District,” said Judith Brittingham, director of special education for the district.
The creation of the board was something that was agreed upon as a result of the federal lawsuit. District officials say the board will be made up of community members matching all demographics of the district. “Local business owners, people that work at outside agencies, people that have students in the district. Anybody that is part of the Indian River school District at large,” said Brittingham.
The district’s assistant superindenent says the board will help the district move forward. Jay Owens says quote, “We are excited to form the Indian River School District’s Community Advisory Board. It is our hope that this group will help to strengthen our understanding of the needs of our students and help shape further programming within our district.”
Brittingham says people wanting to be part of the board can apply online. “Anybody that’s interested would fill out the application and all of that information is coming into myself, or assistant superintendent Dr. Jay Owens, and the special master who was appointed by the court to oversee this consent order,” said Brittingham.
Once the board is complete, the district says it will take a needs survey of all community members. After that, people selected to be on the board will meet to give input on how schools can serve their students better. “It’s always beneficial as a school district administrator to hear perspectives from the diverse members of our community to ensure that we’re reaching all pockets of children,” said Brittingham.
The school district says they plan to have a meeting about the board by the end of April, but they say it might be remote if Governor Carney’s stay at home order is still in place. If you’d like to apply to be a board member, click here.
