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Teachers and nutrition staff press Brandywine board on overcrowding and low pay
Summary
A Delaware Teacher of the Year urged the district to address middle-school overcrowding and scheduling for students needing interventions; school nutrition workers warned a proposed one‑year contract extension and a 10‑cent/hour offer are inadequate and would harm service to more than 10,000 students.
Two public commenters used the board’s public-comment period to press the Brandywine School District on separate operational concerns.
Jenna Delotario, introduced as the 2026 Delaware State Teacher of the Year and a reading specialist at Tally Middle School, told the board her school is overcrowded and that the issue affects safety and daily operations. "Tally Middle School is overcrowded," she said, and she urged the board and district leadership to convene a middle-school task force to explore scheduling models that preserve interventions while protecting access to electives for students with the greatest learning needs.
Bonnie Hayes, president of the Brandywine School Nutrition Association, said the district requested a one-year extension of the current two-year nutrition contract rather than negotiating a new agreement. She criticized the administration’s proposed 10‑cent-per-hour increase as insufficient: "10 cents an hour works out to an extra three to seven dollars per paycheck. That doesn't even cover the increased cost of gas, work, never mind groceries, rent..." Hayes said the combination of inadequate pay and proposed cuts to hours and substitutes would make serving safe, healthy meals to more than 10,000 students each day "virtually impossible."
Both speakers asked for district action: Delotario sought a cross-stakeholder scheduling review; Hayes urged the board to negotiate a fairer contract and consider the practical staffing impacts. The board listened and indicated its members would receive commenters’ contact information for follow-up.
