Council committee releases ordinance to create Office of Educational Advocacy and schedules council vote

The Wilmington City Council Education, Youth and Family Services Committee on June 11 voted to release an ordinance that would create an Office of Educational Advocacy as a division within City Council and to send the measure to full council for consideration.

Council President Trippie Congo introduced the measure, saying the office would fill a gap by providing a consistent, Wilmington-focused voice on education. "We have been trying to have a... voice in the way our children are educated for several years now, and this is just one of us that's gonna officially introduce our office of educational advocacy," Congo said.

Dr. O, the office's director, told the committee the office is in a listening-and-engagement phase and offered a 90-day, phase-one plan that emphasizes empowering families to advocate, engaging legislative processes and convening strategy-driven coalitions. "Part of this is where we are based off the conversations that we've already had, which have been about, I don't know, about 20 stakeholders already," Dr. O said. She said the office will create parent-facing advocacy guides, build a platform for family feedback and host interagency gatherings to coordinate city and community groups.

After discussion, Committee Chair Leticia Bracey took a motion to release the ordinance; the committee signified passage with recorded "aye" responses and the chair said the ordinance will appear on the next council meeting agenda. Several members — including Councilwoman Michelle Harley, Councilwoman Yolanda McCoy and Councilman Coby Owens — asked to be added as cosponsors during committee discussion.

Ending: The committee released the ordinance for full council consideration and Dr. O said the office will focus first on family empowerment, legislative engagement and coalition building; no final budget or full implementation plan was approved at committee.