Red Clay board creates Thomas McCain Innovation Center working group and requires public meetings

The Red Clay Consolidated School District Board of Education voted unanimously Oct. 15 to form a Thomas McCain Innovation Center working group and to make that group’s meetings open to the public and available via Zoom.

The amendment, proposed by board member Devin Hinson and seconded by Susan Sander, changed the original motion from a standing “committee” to a “working group” to allow for more real-time public information and flexible subgroups. The board approved both the amendment and the underlying motion with unanimous roll-call votes.

District staff described the work as multi-year and time‑bound, with a target launch of new programming in August 2027. District leader Devin Pruitt said the district already has an internal steering committee of 12 district administrators and plans 16 time‑bound subgroups to handle tasks such as adult education relocation, communications, facilities, athletics/extracurriculars, and funding. “We began with an internal steering committee made up of 12 district administrators,” Pruitt said. He added that each subgroup’s makeup will differ depending on the work required and that many items will require daytime coordination with external partners.

Pruitt listed organizations the district has engaged or invited to join an overarching advisory work group, including the Department of Labor, Goldey‑Beacom College, the University of Delaware demography department, ChristianaCare, Delaware Technical Community College, the Delaware Department of Education, the Rodel Foundation, Wilmington University and Emerging Delaware. He said the district will provide bimonthly updates to the school board and that public comment periods will be available at working‑group meetings.

Board members said they wanted visibility for families and staff as the project proceeds. The amendment’s sponsor, Hinson, said the change was intended to “get information to families, educators, the community in general about the proposed McCain Innovation Center” in real time rather than routing all information through a standing committee process.

The board also discussed the practicalities of meeting times and noted that some advisory conversations with external partners (for example, negotiating clinical placements or apprenticeship agreements) may occur during daytime work hours, while public briefings and progress reports would be scheduled in the evening and made accessible via Zoom.

The motion to create the working group was moved by Jose Matthews and seconded by Susan Sander; the amendment was moved by Devin Hinson and seconded by Susan Sander. Roll‑call votes were recorded as unanimous for both the amendment and the final motion.

District staff said next steps include finalizing benchmarks mapped back from August 2027, forming subgroups to carry out the benchmarks, convening advisory partners, and scheduling the working‑group meetings with public access. The board directed staff to provide periodic updates as work progresses.