Back in January, Janelle Gasaway was sworn in as the newest member of the Delaware City School Board. Her election ushered a fresh viewpoint into the previously elected board.
“I have lived in Delaware my whole life,” Gasaway said. “I went to Woodward for preschool, Carlisle for elementary, then Willis and finally Hayes. My husband and I lived in Hillard for just a couple of years but we ended up moving back to Delaware where our kids go to Delaware schools now.”
As a lifelong Delawarian, Gasaway has seen Delaware City Schools from a variety of perspectives.
“I was a student here,” Gasaway said. “I am now a parent here. I am a small business owner here. I am a taxpayer here.”
Starting a new chapter in Delaware as an elected official, Gasaway said she has one simple goal.
“I want to be present for all stakeholders in the district,” Gasaway said. “I want to always consider what’s the majority opinion and what’s the minority opinion. We’re not going to make everyone happy, it just won’t happen, but we have to listen.”
Gasaway said she also wants to be present for students’ concerns in the district.
“I want students to be able to see me at school and say ‘Mrs. Gassaway, she’s here,’” Gasaway said. “‘She’s not just listening to what others said, she actually came here.’”
While listening to her constituents, she said she also plans on tackling pressing issues.
In recent years, an issue on students’ and parents’ minds is the perpetual overcrowding of Hayes High School.
Gasaway acknowledges the issue, commenting on the increased class sizes and the crowding in hallways.
“We have facilities that are not up to par,” Gasaway said. “We know that class sizes are not small and we know that there is a residential boom coming our way within the next 10 years.”
Gasaway said she hopes to continue to problem solve and learn more about this issue.
“There’s a lot at play and it’s not an easy thing,” Gasaway said. “It’s on my radar and I’m always open to hearing feedback.”
Another controversial issue in recent years has been Hayes’ implementation of mastery scale grading, with hundreds of students signing a petition urging the administration to remove the policy.
“It’s hard for me to have some kind of hard line opinion on it because I myself have not experienced it,” Gasaway said. “I can see some merit to mastery. Do I think that it’s perfect—I personally don’t.”
Gasway said she is open to learning and growing with this topic.
“I am currently asking a lot of questions and then going forward,” Gasaway said. “I am going to be right there with everybody else.”
Especially during Covid, banning books became a contentious topic among most school board meetings with the validity of titles such as “Gender Queer” and “Unwind” put on the chopping block.
“The big issue with [Gender Queer], in an apparent sense, is questionable pornographic images,” Gasaway said. “I think the message of the book is absolutely fine but the parents should have a say in what their children do have access to and the flip side of that is that the school district should always be respectful of listening to that opinion. So that’s where it’s not black and white.”
However, Gasaway wanted to emphasize the importance of other issues.
“Our school board has larger issues that it needs to be working on; we have much bigger fish to fry than combing the library,” Gasaway said.
Even with the numerous list of issues to face in her new role, Gasaway said she is optimistic for the future of the district.
“My goal is approachable for everyone,” Gasaway said. “I am so excited and I am trying to work as hard as I can.”
