Sussex P&Z recommends school approval

School districts have many hurdles to clear to get a new school constructed.

The Cape Henlopen School District has cleared its next-to-last hurdle as it moves toward building a new Sussex Consortium. At its Jan. 26 meeting, the Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of a conditional-use application required to build the school.

Sussex County Council will hold a public hearing at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7, and have the final vote on the application.

A conditional use is required because the proposed 25-acre parcel of land for the school along Sweetbriar Road near Lewes is zoned AR-1, agricultural-residential.

Jim Fuqua, the attorney representing the district, said one of the key reasons the site was selected was that it provides easier and quicker access to students from other areas of the county who come daily by bus. As a school for special needs students, it serves all districts in Sussex County.

He said enrollment at the school is increasing and has grown from 95 students in 2003 to more than 280 students in 2017.

The Sussex Consortium – starting as a pilot program in 1975 – serves students ages 3 to 21 and is open all year. Over the years, the school has developed into an award-winning program.

“We are fortunate to have this program in Sussex County,” Fuqua said.

Fuqua said at build-out, the school would be 98,000 square feet, about the size of the new Love Creek Elementary School currently under construction. The first phase would include more than 60,000 square feet of space with more than 30,000 square feet added in the future if funding were available. Fuqua said at full build out, the school would serve 410 students.

Covering 100 percent of the cost, the state has agreed to fund $1.8 million for land purchase and $22 million for a 67,000-square-foot school.

During the Jan. 26 public hearing, 20-year-old student Ginger Shaud thanked her teachers and said she is looking forward to graduation, getting a job and volunteering at the school. “I hope you get a new school,” she said.

“The school has always been retrofitted to different spaces in the district, and we've made it work,” said Principal Vivian Bush. “This school will be fit to our students to help them grow and learn.”