Sussex Tech bill aims to remove enrollment limits

A bill to remove student population limits previously placed on Sussex Tech High School was introduced Dec. 19.

House Bill 28, sponsored by Rep. Danny Short, R-Seaford, with support from Sen. Russ Huxtable, D-Lewes, Sen. Brian Pettyjohn, R-Georgetown, and Rep. Jeff Hilovsky, R-Millsboro, among others, would remove limitations that for years have been placed on Sussex Tech’s student population.

Under the bill, Sussex Tech High School in Georgetown would have the same rights and privileges as Polytech High School in Kent County and New Castle County Vo-Tech high schools.

The tax rate would be held to its current level of 29.5 cents per $100 of assessed property.

Sussex Tech came under fire over administrative salaries and spending in 2014-15, resulting in legislation to decrease the vocational-technical school’s population from 1,550 to 1,250 by the 2017-18 school year. The tax rate also decreased to 23.5 cents per $100 of assessed property by 2017-18.

A follow-up bill signed into law in 2021 limited the student population to 1,450 for the 2024-25 school year and thereafter. It also limited the tax rate to 29.5 cents for 2024 and after.

The latest bill eliminates all enrollment restrictions on Sussex Tech, including student admission preferences, which had been limited to only siblings of currently enrolled students, and children of permanent employees.

The bill also would remove previous prohibitions against denying applicants whose GPA falls below the 70th percentile, or who failed any eighth-grade course. The school would also be able to remove a student for disciplinary reasons without the consent of the student’s parents/guardian or the student’s home school district.

The bill awaits action in the House Education Committee.