‘Disheartening and frustrating’: Del. education secretary pleads with Christina school board to focus on students amid controversies

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This story was supported by a statehouse coverage grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Christina School District’s board approved an interim superintendent Tuesday night during a meeting filled with acrimony, division and grievance.

Former Christina Superintendent Robert Andrzejewski was hired as the interim in a 4-3 vote, with no explanation of his salary or when he would start.

The meeting included a presentation by Delaware Department of Education Secretary Mark Holodick, who expressed “grave concerns” about some of the things happening in the district.

“Think of the children,” he said.

The meeting began with a 4-3 vote to remove items from the agenda, including some having to do with board member Naveed Baqir. Baqir and the private school he co-founded are under scrutiny concerning invoices submitted to the school district.

The items, if approved, would have referred questions about his residency in the district and financial dealings with it to the Public Integrity Commission for an opinion. The other items would have required a vote on reinstating Superintendent Dan Shelton, who was placed on indefinite leave in July.

Baqir, along with board members Alethea Smith-Tucker, YF Lou and board President Don Patton, voted to remove the items added by fellow board member Monica Moriak. Moriak, along with Doug Manley and Amy Trauth, voted against the measure to remove the items.

Members of the public were not allowed to comment before the vote. Patton and the district did not respond to a request for comment about why Baqir did not recuse himself from voting on agenda items that concerned him.

The Tarbiyah School, a private school founded by Baqir, has been the subject of a federal grand jury probe into about $11 million the school received in federal funding to serve meals during COVID. At at least one member of the state DOE was subpoenaed to testify, according to documents obtained by WHYY News. The status of the investigation or exactly what concerns there may be with the funding is unclear.

Questions have also been raised about shell companies created by Baqir or that share an address with him that invoiced the district while he was a member of the Christina Citizens Budget Oversight Committee. Patton declined to comment earlier this month when offered a list of the transactions and memos raising concerns about his relationship to the vendors.

Members of the board and Newark community have questioned Baqir’s residency because he has been living abroad since January. Other board members say he is living in Pakistan.

Mark Holodick, who discussed the support the Wilmington Learning Collaborative could provide the district amid recommendations that more Wilmington students move from Christina to the Red Clay School District, asked the board to stay focused on helping students learn.

“We have very consistent concerns with what has been shared in your public comments,” he said. “I would be remiss not to mention it’s hard to recruit and retain great educators, teachers, parents and leaders when this current environment with the board exists.”

After Holodick’s plea, the board moved back to arguing over controversies regarding Baqir as he publicly addressed his residency during the superintendent’s report for the first time. He argued that while he is living outside of the U.S. to care for elderly relatives, attend school and help his daughter with her study abroad program, he was still a Delaware resident. He did not address the grand jury probe or money he billed the school district.

“It’s disheartening and frustrating that we gave our presentation in order to recenter [the board] and then they go back to this,” Holodick said. “They need to focus on the children.”

With countless calls that speakers were “out of order,” Patton moved during the meeting to quash dissent on the board and with members of the public. Speakers during public comments complained about a lack of transparency and a reluctance to support next year’s referendum.

Kyle Lynch, vice president of Christina’s paraprofessionals union, said the union plans to take a “no confidence” vote in the board.

“Transparency and understanding are necessary to the relationship between the board, the district staff and the citizens who live in and attend our schools,” he said. “The relationship is critical to the success of the Christina School District.”

Outgoing Newark state Rep. Paul Baumbach compared the situation to the sinking of the Titanic.

“You spent over a year destroying any confidence the district residents have in your leadership of this school district,” the Newark Democrat said. “You have failed 14,000 children, and we don’t have enough life rafts.”

Patton stopped Baumbach partway into his remarks to warn him to be more respectful.

“You will not address your comments in a negative, derogatory way to any board member sitting here or anyone sitting working in our district,” he said. “So please, you can continue, but your respect needs to be cleaned up a little bit.”

Patton also asked Deputy Superintendent Deirdra Joyner to take down the names of Christina staff members at the meeting who yelled out during the meeting.

“I want their names so we can make sure they have a disciplinary action,” he said. “They can’t do this.”

Patton and the district did not respond to a question about what kind of punishment Christina staff could face.

Joyner appears to have been passed over for the interim superintendent position. Andrzejewski’s name was not listed on the agenda, which the board never approved.

In documents obtained by WHYY News, the district’s current lawyer, who is leaving the district, has told the board that members could be personally liable if ousted superintendent Shelton files a lawsuit against them since there is not adequate justification.

Andrzejewski retired from the Red Clay Consolidated School District and served as temporary superintendent of Christina in 2016. It’s not exactly clear why the current Superintendent Dan Shelton has been put on indefinite leave. Board President Donald Patton said during the July meeting he had a list of reasons for suspending Shelton but declined to share them publicly.

Earlier this year, the General Assembly mandated that the Delaware Department of Justice monitor the board over the next year because of the board’s violation of the Freedom of Information Act in public meetings. At least one person was denied the opportunity to speak at the meeting Tuesday night because he was not a Delaware resident.