Updated schedule and information available at de.gov/budgetreset

DOVER, Del. – Governor Carney will continue to talk to Delawareans about his state budget proposal, with a town hall event scheduled at 7:30 p.m. at Delmar Fire Hall on Wednesday night, hosted by Senator Bryant Richardson and Representative Tim Dukes.

Since January, Governor Carney has held more than a dozen Budget Reset Community Conversations, hosted by more than two dozen members of the General Assembly at coffee shops, restaurants and in town hall settings.

The updated schedule of budget events is available below.

“These are important conversations, with Delawareans and members of the General Assembly, about building a long-term, sustainable plan to address the financial challenges we face as a state,” said Governor John Carney. “Thank you to all of the legislators who are hosting these events, including Senator Richardson and Representative Dukes, and to all Delawareans for all your feedback on this important issue.”

Governor Carney presented a long-term financial plan in March to address a nearly $400 million budget shortfall, and will work with legislators through June 30 on a balanced budget solution.

For additional details:

Budget Reset Schedule and Overview
Budget Reset Presentation
Governor Carney’s Budget Proposal
Summary of Governor Carney’s Proposal

Upcoming schedule:

7:30 p.m. – May 10 – Delmar Fire Hall, Delmar, hosted by Senator Bryant Richardson and Representative Tim Dukes
7:00 p.m. – May 22 – Elsmere Fire Hall, Elsmere, hosted by Representative Larry Mitchell and Senator Anthony Delcollo
6:30 p.m. – May 24 – Delaware State Police: Troop 2, Newark, hosted by Senators Nicole Poore and Stephanie Hansen and Representative Earl Jaques
7:00 p.m. – May 31 – Sussex Central High School, Georgetown, hosted by Senators Brian Pettyjohn and Gerald Hocker, and Representatives Ruth Briggs-King, Richard Collins, and Ronald Gray
7:00 p.m. – June 12 – Talley Middle School, North Wilmington, hosted by Senator Cathy Cloutier and Representative Sean Matthews

###

Grant targets early learning opportunities for children from low-income families

WILMINGTON, Del. – A $7.65 million federal grant will help Delaware expand high quality early childhood education to more of the state’s youngest learners over the next five years.

This new Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership grant follows a $7.24 million grant the state received in January 2015. Both grants target early learning opportunities for children from low-income families. While the first grant supported such placements statewide, this new grant will continue the expansion with a focus on high quality care options in Kent and Sussex counties, areas with continued need for high quality infant and toddler care and holistic services, such as health and nutrition.

Governor John Carney, joined by Secretary of Education Susan Bunting, announced the new award today during a visit to the Latin American Community Center’s early childhood center in Wilmington. The LACC is one of participants in the 2015 grant.

“A high quality early learning experience is important for all children, and research shows this is especially true for our children from low-income families. High quality early learning yields substantial benefits for these children,” said Governor Carney, noting a 39 percent reduction in special education placements, 30 percent increase in high school graduation, 50 percent increase in college attendance and 20 percent reduction in the likelihood of serving time in jail. “Thanks to this grant, all children in these centers’ classrooms will benefit from teachers with higher education and classrooms with higher quality materials and structural supports.”

The Early Head Start-Child Care partnership integrates the financial and program support of three programs – Delaware Stars, federal Early Head Start, and Delaware’s Purchase of Care program – to raise the quality of infant and toddler child care with more stabilized funding and by paying for teacher education, infant-toddler classroom materials and playground equipment. The program also provides wraparound health and parent services for children from low-income families, such as developmental, nutrition and dental assessments, referrals to services, home visits and help accessing housing, food and job supports.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Early Head Start-Child Care program “brings together the strengths of child care and EHS programs. Child care centers and family child care providers respond to the needs of working families by offering flexible and convenient full-day/full-year services. In addition, child care providers have experience providing care that is strongly grounded in the cultural, linguistic, and social needs of the families and their local communities.”

The grants support children from birth to age 3 years and their families being served in highly-rated Delaware Stars programs. The Delaware Department of Education is partnering with the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services to support the work.

The state has made significant investments and progress in raising the quality of early learning in the state in recent years, and ensuring every child arrives in kindergarten ready to learn is a priority of Governor Carney’s administration. Investments include increased professional learning for early childhood educators, onsite support and classroom materials for early learning programs, and developmental screenings and mental health consultants to detect and address physical and mental health issues.

The percent of low-income children enrolled in a highly rated Stars program increased from 5 percent in 2011 to 76 percent of children 0-5 and 78 percent of all children in 2016. And the number of 5-star programs statewide increased from 24 in 2012 to 203 as of January.

But more need exists, particularly in Kent and Sussex counties, where the newest grant will target its supports.

“Families want high quality early care and learning opportunities for their children.  However, in some areas of our state there are few, if any, available options. This grant will provide more infants and toddlers in some of our neediest areas the chance to have the best possible start,” said Bunting.

###

DOVER – After investigating recent complaints made to DNREC’s Office of Community Services, Natural Resources Police Environmental Crimes Unit recently charged two Sussex men with an array of trash dumping violations – with one of the men arrested for operating an illegal dump site on a 19-acre parcel near Frankford.

Danny L. Averitt, 44, of Frankford was charged with operating an unpermitted solid waste facility business. Natural Resources Police ECU officers arrested Averitt after learning that he was charging local residents and businesses a fee to dump trash on the property where they found the illegal dump site. He was arraigned in Sussex County Court of Common Pleas and given a later court date.

In conjunction with the charges against Averitt, Natural Resources Police ECU officers also arrested Perry A. Townsend, 55, of Dagsboro and charged him with illegally collecting and transporting trash in the area, then dumping the refuse on the same property Averitt was using as an illegal dump site. During their investigation, Natural Resource Police officers learned that Townsend was also involved in other illegal dumping activity near Dagsboro.

Townsend was charged with and pled guilty to two counts of discharge of solid waste (dumping), and to a single count of transportation, collection, and storage of solid waste without a permit. He was given a $1,900 fine at Justice of the Peace Court 3 in Georgetown, ordered to clean the trash west of Dagsboro that he pled guilty to dumping, and placed on probation.

Media contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 47, No. 78

-30-

Plan would improve Delaware’s efforts to connect educators and employers, and expand work-based learning

WILMINGTON, Del. – The Delaware Pathways Steering Committee presented its Strategic Plan to Governor John Carney on Wednesday – including priorities designed to more effectively connect Delaware educators and employers, create additional work-based learning opportunities for Delaware middle and high school students and better prepare Delaware students to enter college or a career in a high-growth industry.

Governor Carney is committed to expanding work-based learning opportunities for Delaware students, and is reviewing the Committee’s plan.

“Delaware’s economy remains in a period of significant transition, and we should ensure our schools are teaching the skills that employers demand,” said Governor Carney. “That means connecting Delaware’s educators with our employers, allowing our students to gain practical, work-based experience and retooling our workforce development programs to help students and employers succeed. Thank you to the members of the Steering Committee for producing this Strategic Plan, which will help us prepare Delaware’s students to succeed in jobs of the future.”

Governor Carney will speak at 1:45 p.m. Wednesday to the Third Annual Delaware Pathways Conference at the Chase Center on the Riverfront in Wilmington.

Delaware launched its Pathways to Prosperity initiative in 2015 to establish partnerships between Delaware employers and educators, and better prepare Delaware’s students for college or a career. Governor Jack Markell signed Executive Order 61 last year, creating the Steering Committee to expand the Pathways program.

The Strategic Plan released on Wednesday includes five core priorities:

• Build a comprehensive system of career preparation that aligns with the state and regional economies;
• Scale and sustain meaningful work-based learning experiences for students in grades 7-14;
• Integrate our education and workforce development efforts and data systems;
• Coordinate financial support for Delaware Pathways;
• And engage employers, educators, and service providers to support Delaware Pathways.

The Steering Committee includes representatives from the Delaware Departments of Education and Labor, the Delaware Economic Development Office, the Delaware Workforce Development Board, Delaware Technical Community College, United Way of Delaware, the Delaware Business Roundtable Education Committee, the Rodel Foundation, Capital One, and Delmarva Power.

“The Steering Committee is proud of the report and very pleased that these recommendations will add a level of continuity to the great work already being done in our state to provide middle and high school students career awareness and work-based learning experiences,” said Mark Brainard, President of Delaware Technical Community College, who Chairs the Steering Committee. “Governor Carney’s support of Pathways demonstrates his commitment to building Delaware’s talent pipeline for the future by engaging all of our high school students in comprehensive college and career readiness programs.”

“As the Chair of the Workforce Development Board for Delaware and President of one of the largest businesses in the State, I see the Pathways effort as a critical transformation of how we approach workforce development in the future, and the Strategic Plan represents a significant collaboration across all stakeholders that clearly defines the steps to success,” said Gary Stockbridge, President, Delmarva Power Region for Pepco Holdings, Inc. “I look forward to helping execute this plan and creating a workforce that keeps Delaware competitive and the place to thrive for the business community.”

Click here to read the full report.

###

Krzanowski to begin April

DOVER, Del. – Governor John Carney announced today Kimberly Krzanowski, a long-time leader and advocate for early learning in the state, as the new executive director of the Delaware Department of Education’s Office of Early Learning.

Krzanowski has more than 16 years of experience in early learning as a former early childhood teacher, center administrator and higher education faculty member, most recently as instructional director/Education Department chair at Delaware Technical Community College.

“We must ensure all children get to kindergarten ready to learn. Kim is the right leader to help us do this,” said Governor John Carney. “Kim will help our state build stronger connections between early learning and our K-12 schools.”

Krzanowski will join the Office of Early Learning on April 3.

As executive director of the Office of Early Learning, Krzanowski also will maintain support for Delaware Stars, the state’s quality rating system for early childhood centers, and help Delaware provide children and families with the early intervention and coaching they need to ensure the children are ready for school.

“Kim has dedicated her career to advocating for our youngest learners, ensuring they receive access to high quality care and education. I am excited to welcome her to the Delaware Department of Education,” said Secretary of Education Susan Bunting.

Krzanowski also has served on numerous advisory boards and statewide committees to implement policy changes that are needed to ensure all children have a strong foundation from the beginning. These committees include T.E.A.C.H® Early Childhood Delaware, Delaware Association for the Education of Young Children Professional Development, New Castle County Vocational School District Early Childhood Career Program and the Delaware Early Childhood Professional Development Strategic Planning Committee.

As instructional director for Education Programs at Delaware Technical Community College, Krzanowski has collaborated with community stakeholders to develop partnerships amongst numerous school districts and early learning organizations. Additionally, she has provided executive leadership to faculty, students and a nationally accredited child development lab school.

Krzanowski holds a Bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Delaware, a Master’s degree in instruction from Wilmington University and is currently working toward her Doctorate degree in educational leadership with a concentration on the early childhood workforce at Wilmington University.

###