Brandywine board divided over Reading Consortium vote; many urge abstention or recusal

Board members on the Brandywine School District Board of Education spent much of their December meeting debating what instruction, if any, to give Superintendent Lawson ahead of a Reading Consortium vote scheduled for the next day.

Several board members urged Lawson to abstain or recuse herself from the consortium vote, citing what they called insufficient planning and unclear financial and logistical implications. "There is no plan," said Board member (Speaker 11), criticizing the absence of concrete details about how any chosen model would be implemented. Other members warned the consortiumoptions could risk resegregating schools and that the consortium's governing mix includes legislators and interest groups whose incentives may differ from local school boards.

At the meeting, Board member (Speaker 17) recommended an abstention for lack of information and noted concerns about the consortium voting process and potential conflicts of interest among voting members. Another board member recommended choosing a model the district would like to monitor for data rather than refusing to participate, saying in part that selecting an option could give the district a seat at the table to see follow-up results.

The board did not take a formal vote instructing the superintendent; President Heller and others concluded that Doctor Lawson will need to exercise her discretion at the consortium meeting depending on how motions are brought forward. "I feel comfortable that hopefully she's heard enough information that she's just gonna have to make a game time decision based on the situation that's at hand," said the Presiding Officer (Speaker 1).

What happens next: The Reading Consortium votes the following day on which model will move forward; board members said they expect to receive subsequent data on whichever model advances and reserve the right to press for changes or further information once implementation details are developed.