WEDNESDAY: Application deadline for school choice

Parents have until 11:59 p.m. Wednesday to submit applications for their child to attend a school outside their residential district for the 2025-2026 academic year.

If history holds true, the state is likely to see about 25,000 applications from parents wanting to switch this year.

“Delaware is unique, but it’s more about understanding that our children are unique,” said Kendall Massett, executive director of the Delaware Charter Schools Network. “Every child learns differently.”

Delaware is one of the 13 states in America that permits children to attend any public school – district or charter – rather than sending them to an assigned school dictated by their address.

The school choice option was put into Delaware law in 1995. 

“I’m really hopeful for our parents that know about school choice, and hopeful that they know they have the opportunity to find what’s the best fit for their child,” Massett said.

She added that the best choice for some could be to stick to their feeder school (the school based on their residence). 

“Just because we have a choice doesn’t mean you have to choice out –  it is a choice to stay in your feeder school too, and that’s okay if it’s the right fit for your child,” she said. 

Sen. Eric Buckson, R-Dover and member of the Senate Education Committee, points out that applying to a school outside the feeder school doesn’t guarantee admission. 

“There has to be capacity and availability for your child to be able to get in, and you to be able to get your child there,” he said.

Some charters use bus hubs, a central point like a park or a shopping center where parents have to take students to be picked up by a bus, rather than the students picked up in their neighborhood.  

Districts and charter schools also have unique preferences for their applicants, and many also have waitlists or random lotteries if there’s more applicants than seats available. 

While the order of preferences might differ, most schools and districts are inclined to accept students whose siblings are already attending, students applying to a specific program, and some prefer students within a five-mile radius of the school.

Red Clay Consolidated School District’s order of preference, for example, is:

1. Returning students
2. Students applying for a program who live within the school’s attendance zone
3. In-district siblings of returning in-district students
4. In-district students
5. Out-of-district siblings of returning out-of-district students
6. Out-of-district students

“It is fantastic that we are a fully school choice state to give all of those options to parents,” said Britney Mumford, executive director of DelawareCAN, a state educational advocacy group. “However, we don’t make it super easy for parents to understand those options, so it’s really important for parents when they’re able to dig in and get all of the information about the options available that they can and that’s why that school choice window is so important.”

The choice window opened Nov. 4, 2024, and in the time since then, districts and charters hold “school choice nights” to showcase their unique programs and offering, and to allow parents to meet staff and ask questions.

“I know that we’re closing in on the deadline for this year, but if parents are looking at applications for next year, it’s probably getting close to time to start their research even for next year as well,” Mumford said. “The closing of this year’s window is a good reminder that next year’s window is right around the corner.”

Mumford hopes by March, DelawareCAN will launch its new interactive online school proficiency and demographic map, which can help parents pick the best school for their child when the next school choice window opens. 

The map will have all of the most recent school report card data listed by district and by individual school, and it will also have the demographic data. 

“It’s a hover map, so parents can basically look where their feeder pattern is, and they’ll be able to see in real time, all the other options geographically near it, and hover over those schools and get information about that as well,” Mumford said. “They click the school, they’ll see the school profile. They’ll be able to get the proficiency and demographic data, but also administrator data like staffing data and links to the school website as well.”

Buckson said it’s not apples to apples, and some schools might have many more open slots than others.

For example, Sussex Central Middle School in Indian River is “open,” Carrie Downie Elementary in Colonial is “open for possible lottery selection,” Cab Calloway School of the Arts in Red Clay is “near capacity with a likely waitlist,” and Milford High School in Milford is “at capacity with an expected waitlist.”

The school choice portal does not allow the public to see exactly how many seats are open. 

“The challenge is centered around, how do you enable folks to truly choice into another school that’s performing better given the challenges that that school may have in accepting their students?” Buckson said. 

He cited New Castle County, where he said those that can choice out have choiced out, and what’s left are underperforming schools in very challenging settings.

“If we’re going to continue with the school choice the way we are, I think it’s important for the state to figure out how to better serve those schools that are left behind when it comes to making sure they have high-quality teachers, and they have the state-of-the-art technology available to those students,” he said. 

He said school choice allows the parent to be very active in the child’s education. Still, in Delaware’s current format, the state has to take a look back at the schools where the students are leaving and ensure that those children that remain, who maybe cannot leave, have the resources they need, so that they can succeed with or without school choice.

School choice applications

To apply to a district or charter school, visit the state’s school choice portal here and follow these steps:

1. Register a student in the school of residence, which is where a student attends based on their home address, using the school locator map.
2. Visit school websites and attend school-choice meetings to learn more about available programs, upcoming informational meetings and application requirements.
3. Complete the standard application form here. This link will also show families if a school has spots available or if its near capacity, at capacity, has a lottery or has a waitlist.
4. Choice selection: After the choice window closes, families will be notified of their application status by Friday, Feb. 28.

Friday, March 21, is the final day for parents to notify districts or charters of an acceptance decision. 

“It’s important for parents to know that there are a lot of options out there and not to let themselves feel pressured one way or another,” Mumford said. “It’s important that they pick the school that’s best for their child and their family, whether that’s a feeder pattern, a charter, a private, they just have to find the right fit.”