Parents, staff call for Southeast Delco superintendent to resign amid violence and issues at schools
SHARON HILL, Pa. - Rowdy brawls, students bringing loaded guns to school and staffing issues drove parents out on a rainy Thursday night to see what the Southeast Delco School district is going to do about it.
So many people were anticipated to show up that they moved the meeting to Academy Park High School.
Many of the public speakers not only calling not to approve a contract extension for the superintendent, they want her to put in her notice and resign.
Kate McCauley was a teacher in the district for years and said she quit because of the direction the district is going.
"It’s absurd to think there’s a possibility of five more years under Dr. Wynder’s leadership," McCauley said. "I’m not sure if we will make it to June without a fatality, let alone five more years."
Ed McBride, a former school board member, said parents need to teach their kids better and not push all the blame to the district.
"Stop pointing the fingers at the board, stop pointing the fingers at the administration. We need to point the fingers at the kids that are doing this," said McBride.
This comes as the board voted to table a five-year contract worth more than $207,000 a year for Superintendent Dr. Brenda G. Wynder.
Board members said they received the contract yesterday and that it doesn’t have up-to-date performance information for Wynder.
Wynder is adding two additional weapon detectors for Academy Park High School and Knight Academy.
The district’s plan is to hire two assistant principals to help with disciplinary actions.
"We wanted to make sure everyone was on board," Wynder said. "We set up protocols to be more proactive instead of reactive. We discussed the strengths and the details of the reactions. We are going to organize a parent volunteer group."
School staff said violence is affecting kids ability to learn, with one teacher saying a student brought a loaded gun to school last week.
"They are carrying weapons because they are struggling with things that we, their teachers, who love them deeply, can’t help them with. We need more counselors, we need more social school psychologists."
The chair of the board said are in the process of hiring more school psychologists.