DAPHNE, Ala. — Supporting Educ-ational Enrichment in Daphne’s Schools board members, librarians, school principals, reading specialists and PTA representatives met Friday to discuss the state of Daphne schools, which apparently face several challenges.

Challenges facing principals

Daphne High School Principal Don Blanchard, W.J. Carroll Intermediate Principal Dana Horst, Christ the King Catholic school board President Jan Finney, Daphne East Elementary Principal Bethany Johnston and

state Rep. Randy Davis sat in a round-table discussion that identified seven challenges in today’s schools.   

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“The cuts from the state budget means a lot of the jobs once funded by Baldwin County schools have been cut,”

D’Oliveira said. “It affects how many classes can be offered and how many students are in each class.”

What parents want to know

The same group of school officials identified, what they believe were, four key issues for parents.

A coalition meeting has been set for Nov. 14 to continue the discussion of improving reading in Daphne schools.

Residents—even those without children in school—who want to help promote benefits associated with reading can attend the SEEDS summit, set for 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 18 in Daphne High School’s Trojan Hall. Principals will present examples of progress and challenges at their schools; community feedback is expected.

The summit discussion will focus on reading—particularly, how to get students more involved at school and how to encourage them to read.

The Team Up for Academic Excellence Coalition—which meets three times a year—began three years ago to gather Daphne educators and talk about how school principals can support each other.