Delaware Department of Education

Reorganization Plan
December 18, 2015
Colleagues,
As we look toward 2016, I want to share with you some changes
planned for our Department that will help us continue to strongly
support our schools, students, and educators.
As many of you know, several key leaders are leaving the
Department for new opportunities. While we will miss their
contributions immensely, the transition gives us an opportunity to
make some organizational changes to ensure that we maintain
the momentum of our work in the year ahead.
In addition to those changes, I am delighted to announce that the
Office of Early Learning has officially moved to DOE from the
Department of Services for Youth, Children, and their Families.
Help me welcome Director Susan Perry-Manning and her team
and recognize the exciting opportunity this provides to emphasize
that our Department, and the state, are committed to making
high-quality early learning an essential part of the educational
continuum for all of Delawares children.
I greatly appreciate the thoughtful feedback I have received from
Leadership Team members and others as we have discussed the
best way to organize the Department going forward. As most of
you are aware, two of our departing colleagues are from the
Assessment, Accountability, Performance Management and
Evaluation (AAPME) Branch: Associate Secretary Penny Schwinn
and Ryan Reyna, who leads the Data Management workgroup. In
addition, Shana Young, who served as the Departments chief of
staff, left us on December 11.
Our most important goal is to ensure that the important work of
the AAPME branch will continue as seamlessly as possible and the
amazing team in that branch and across the Department is
supported in its efforts. After many conversations, we believe

that the best way to accomplish these goals is to divide work

responsibilities among the other branches in the Department that
can best compliment and support them. We also have
determined that, although we do not plan to fill the chief of staff
position, we are fortunate that Susan Haberstroh, Alison May, and
Candice Brooks have agreed to take on additional responsibilities,
with Susan assuming a major role. Additionally, we are creating a
Policy and Communications Team that will include Lindsay OMara,
the Governors education policy advisor, who many of you work
with already. Lindsay will work in our Dover office several days a
week to lead and support the Policy Communications Team.
In addition to filling the vacancies, we also are committed to
maximizing the contributions of our existing leadership team by
taking advantage of their strengths and prioritizing the major
policy initiatives we are trying to accomplish over the next year.
To that end, I have asked David Blowman to take a step back from
day-to-day managerial responsibilities to focus on leading some of
the administrations key external education priorities
specifically, the Wilmington redistricting efforts and the work of
the Education Funding Improvement Commission. To do this, he
will step down as Deputy Secretary, but continue to lead the
finance work of the Department, and be an integral part of the
policy and data management teams.
We are also excited to announce that Karen Field Rogers, with her
strong managerial and operational background, has agreed to
serve as the Deputy Secretary. Her responsibilities will include
day-to-day management of the Department as well as supervisory
responsibility for Human Resources, a cross-branch Data
Management/Research team, Capital Projects, and Performance
Management. With Department-wide representation, the Data
Management/Research Team will centralize, coordinate, and
communicate all aspects of data and research through a team
approach.
Finally, we are thrilled to announce an exciting addition to our
team: Amelia Hodges will rejoin the department as an Associate

Secretary to take many of Karens current responsibilities and

lead the Adult and School Supports Branch. Dr. Hodges previously
spent 12 years at the Department, where she advanced from
supervisor to director and ultimately to the position of associate
secretary. She spent the last four years as a supervisor of
instruction in the Sussex Technical School District.
With the Office of Early Learnings move to DOE, the departments
Early Development & Learning Resources Workgroup and OEL
have consolidated into one office within our department. I am
excited that this change will allow us to coordinate better our
early learning and K-12 efforts as we work together to ensure
every child enters our schools ready to succeed and graduates
from our system prepared for success after high school. Youll find
additional details related to this move below.
While we are excited to announce these changes, we understand
that transition can be difficult. However, we hope that these
changes will help us build on extraordinary work that has been
happening over the past few years, and provide opportunities
across the Department for our team members to take on new,
exciting roles and responsibilities.
As we continue to work to improve our internal communications
and coordination, we will work hard to make these transitions as
smooth and efficient as possible. We will begin the transition
shortly after the new year, and plan for the organizational
changes to take effect on Monday, January 25th. We greatly
appreciate your ideas, help, and support as we make this
transition together. Thank you and please do not hesitate to
contact me if you have questions.
Best wishes to you and your families this holiday season.
Sincerely,
Steve Godowsky
Office of Early Learning move

The OEL staff have relocated from the Carvel State Office Building
in Wilmington to the first floor of the Townsend Building. This
move brings several logistical changes you should note. Office of
Early Learning staff members phone numbers have changed to
Dover numbers, and they have switched their email addresses to
the K12 network.
The office space in Carvel has been converted to computer work
stations on the K12 network to allow department staff with
meetings or school visits to work from that space when work
requires them to be in Wilmington. Such arrangements must be
approved by employees supervisors. Leadership Team members
and directors will have access via their key cards to the office.
Other employees needing access may sign out a temporary
access card from the Human Resource Office. Everyone who
works from the office will need to sign in when they are there.