Staff and families urge Red Clay board to pause McCain Innovation Center and boundary changes

Board meeting: Nov. 19, 2025 — Red Clay Consolidated School District

A broad coalition of McCain High School staff, parents and community members urged the Red Clay Board of Education on Nov. 19 to delay a plan to convert McCain to an Innovation Center and to rethink related attendance‑zone and high‑school programming changes.

Those who spoke at public comment described multiple concerns about the plan’s pace, transparency and impacts on vulnerable students. ‘‘77% of our staff oppose it, with 60% being strongly opposed,’’ said Morgan Dukes, a McCain staff member, summarizing results of a committee survey and asking the board to "pause, reassess, and truly engage the families and staff who will live with the results of this decision." Dukes said staff worry the proposal "puts" special‑education and disability services at risk because the plan could disrupt continuity and proximity to services.

Parent Jessica Schroeder told the board the committee recommendation approved July 9, 2025, would relocate the NYP community and pre‑IB programming, and she said families "had no way to anticipate this when making life‑altering decisions like buying a house." Schroeder said the district survey reached only "about 3 percent of Red Clay families," and asked the board to delay implementation so transitions could be planned with more community input.

Several speakers raised transportation and equity as core issues. Secora Irving said the committee previously removed a goal of "equitable choice busing" on May 1 because the district could not fund it, and asked, "If we can't fund transportation of choice students now, how can the district justify moving entire neighborhoods between schools without a fully funded transportation plan? Transportation is equity." Jenny Howard warned that assigning many Wilmington and Meadowood students to a single campus could "concentrate poverty, disability, and city enrollment in one school, creating de facto segregation," and recommended alternatives such as making multiple high schools district‑wide magnets with choice busing.

Steven Fackenthal, president of the Red Clay Education Association and a McCain music teacher, thanked staff for speaking out and urged continued engagement with the district on the project’s details and staffing implications.

Why it matters: Board members heard consistent claims about process and potential student harm from educators and parents who said they want more time, clarity on capacity and staffing, and a funded transportation solution before major boundary and program changes proceed.

What the board said: Superintendent Dr. Darryl Greene described an open call for community participation on a restructuring and attendance‑zone review committee and encouraged stakeholders to apply. The district has posted choice information and scheduled committee and board review dates; policy and process updates were described elsewhere in the meeting.

Next steps: Multiple public commenters asked the board to delay implementation. The district’s slide deck and the policy review committee schedule (Dec. 3 meeting; second reading at the December board meeting) were cited as ongoing places for public input.

Ending: Speakers asked the board to center the voices of staff and families before formal changes take effect; the board did not announce a formal pause during the Nov. 19 session.