As Christina School District students begin the school year, Deirdra Joyner is starting her first school year as superintendent of the district.
Joyner, who started the role in July, took the helm of Christina during a tumultuous time for the district. Her predecessor and former boss, Dan Shelton, was controversially ousted last summer and is suing the district for wrongful termination. The school board that hired Joyner in a contentious 4-3 vote has been plagued by turmoil and infighting for the past two years. The first two months of her tenure has been dominated by public anger over the effect property reassessment had on school taxes.
Joyner would be the first to acknowledge that Christina faces challenges. Graduation rates and performance on the Smarter Balanced testing lag behind the state average. The district’s facilities are aging and many are in dire need of repair. On the horizon is a potential redistricting of Wilmington that would take away Christina’s city schools and have cascading effects through the suburban portion of the district…