Community meetings scheduled for upcoming referendum
Cape Henlopen School District will hold a series of community meetings to inform the public about the district's upcoming referendum to pay for improvements to its four elementary schools.
Set for Wednesday, March 23, the referendum seeks approval to build new elementary schools to replace Rehoboth and H.O. Brittingham elementaries and for renovations at Milton Elementary and the Lewes School, which will replace Shields Elementary at a total cost of $121 million, plus another $22 million fully funded by the state for Sussex Consortium.
“The main reason we're doing this is because we're growing,” said Superintendent Robert Fulton.
Enrollment has steadily grown by about 100 students a year, and improvements to the elementaries will provide enough capacity for the next 20 years, Fulton said.
The state has agreed to pay 60 percent of the total cost for the schools, leaving residents to pay about $48 million. The costs would require about $74 more a year in property taxes for a home assessed at $22,508 – a $250,000 home.
As an added benefit to Cape Henlopen School District, the state agreed to pay 100 percent for a new Sussex Consortium to be built on Sweetbriar Road. The state will also pay for nine additional consortium classrooms at both HOB and Rehoboth Elementary. Cape runs the Sussex Consortium, which provides an autistic program for about 275 Sussex County students. A new Sussex Consortium will move forward regardless of the outcome of the elementary school referendum.
The total cost of the project is $154 million with the state committed to paying more than $100 million of the total – a great investment, school officials say.
“It's the perfect window of opportunity,” said Brian Bassett, director of administrative services for Cape Henlopen School District.
Moving the Sussex Consortium out of the Lewes School is key to renovating the building for Shields Elementary students, he said.
The original brick structure of Milton Elementary also will be preserved and renovated with new additions along the side or rear, he said.
New, state-of-the-art schools will be built to replace Rehoboth Elementary and H.O. Brittingham elementaries. The design will be similar to the design of the new elementary school to be built on Route 24.
“The state is letting us build each one a little bigger to keep up with elementary growth that's coming,” Bassett said.
Community meetings will all begin at 6:30 p.m. on the following dates and locations: Wednesday, Feb. 24, Rehoboth Elementary School; Wednesday, March 2, H.O. Brittingham Elementary School; Tuesday, March 8, Lewes School; Monday, March 14, Milton Elementary School; and Monday, March 21, Cape Henlopen High School.
A presentation on the proposed plan will be shown followed by a question-and-answer session.
