Del. Education Secretary Dr. Susan Bunting To Step Down In Dec.

Delaware Secretary of Education Dr. Susan Bunting, former Superintendent of the Indian River School District, plans to step down in December.

Governor John Carney appointed Bunting shortly after he took office in 2017. A successor to Bunting as Education Secretary has not been named. The Governor’s office said she intends to stay involved in educator training and development, but she has not announced her next steps..

“Dr. Bunting is respected across our state, and no one was better suited to lead the Department of Education over these past five years,” Carney said. “Susan has spent a lifetime dedicated to public education in Delaware, and the people of our state have been lucky to have her at the helm. No one has made a bigger impact than Susan on preparing the next generation of Delaware educators and helping them grow into effective teacher-leaders. Most importantly, I want to thank Susan for her tireless dedication to Delaware’s students, especially those most in need. Her public service and dedication to the success of all Delaware children is unmatched.”

The Governor’s office provided additional biographical information about Dr. Susan Bunting below:

During her tenure at the Department of Education, Secretary Bunting oversaw the creation and expansion of Opportunity Funding, Delaware’s first weighted student funding program. The program targets support for low-income and English learner students.

She transformed the Department of Education into an agency focused on supporting educators and schools. Over the past 19 months, she oversaw the Department’s efforts to vaccinate thousands of educators and child care providers, while helping districts and charter schools continue to educate children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before her confirmation in 2017, Dr. Bunting led Indian River School district, one of the state’s largest school districts, serving more than 11,000 students. After teaching in Maryland for several years, she joined Indian River in 1977 as a middle school language arts teacher.

Secretary Bunting was named Indian River’s Teacher of the Year in 1985. She served as Supervisor of Elementary Instruction and later as Director of Instruction before being named Superintendent in 2006. As Delaware’s 2012 Superintendent of the Year, Secretary Bunting was one of four finalists for the American Association of School Administrators’ National Superintendent of the Year award.