LEWES, Del. - The Cape Henlopen School District Board of Education held a workshop Thursday night in which it voted to move forward with another referendum in May 21. This time, the pool will not be part of the debt service portion.
Superintendent Bob Fulton says without a pool, the debt service request has gone down to $0.08 from the previous $0.20 that was called for in the failed March 2024 referendum.
The district decreased what it was seeking for current operating expenses from $0.335 to $0.305 per $100 of assessed property value. This would fund a total of $4,575,000 in operating expenses. Fulton says 90 percent of the money generated is for safety and security expenses, as well as to pay school staff salaries and energy costs. According to the district, the increased current expense for a property assessed at $28,006 would cost the owner $85.42 annually.
As for major capital projects, the district wants to raise $42,974,605 to pay for the purchase of about 102 acres of land off Cedar Grove Road, relocating the district office and construction of a bus maintenance facility. The district would not levy a tax increase of 2.3 cents per $100 of assessed property value until July 2025. Then it goes up to 6.3 cents July 2026.
Concerns were raised by members of the public over how big the land is that's being purchased. The district says over 2,000 kids are currently enrolled at Cape Henlopen High School and it needs to plan for future growth in the area.
"It's hard to understand," Fulton says. "We have so many families that just want to be here, people who don't live here that say they do... because they know what we do here is better than other places."
Fulton says more voting locations and voting machines will be added for the May referendum. The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the following locations:
- Cape Henlopen High School
- Mariner Middle School
- Rehoboth Elm. School
- Beacon Middle School
- Lewes Public Library