By Mike McClure
While the date and amount has not yet been set, the Delmar School District is planning to hold a referendum to increase the current expense tax rates to fund school operations. This comes after the state of Delaware denied the district’s Certificate of Necessity (CN) request for the second straight year. The CN would have allowed the district to hold a major capital expense referendum for a proposed new intermediate school, to alleviate crowding at the middle/high school, with the state providing matching funds.
With the CN once again off the table, the school district is looking to hold a school operating referendum. The board was given an update during a special meeting last Wednesday night.
“This is not a decision we take lightly,” said Delmar Superintendent Dr. Andy O’Neal. “We are now at a point where we cannot continue to meet our students’ needs without additional support from our community.”
Delmar Middle and Senior High School
Key factors in the district’s current situation include: overcrowding, space constraints, teacher and staff salaries and retention pressures, technology needs and infrastructure maintenance, inflation, rising costs and operational costs, and the state giveback in 2018 that cost Delmar School District over $200,000.
The money raised from the proposed tax increase in the future current expense referendum, expected to take place in early 2026, will help with the following: recruitment of staff, increased operational costs, curriculum, to prepare for inflation and transportation growth, safety and security investments, one-to-one technology and adding additional space due to the lack of a CN.
“We are proud of the educational opportunities that we provide but we are at risk of losing valuable programs and staff due to ongoing budget constraints. State and federal funding has not kept up pace with inflation or enrollment trends and operational costs have continued to rise,” O’Neal said.
A successful referendum will help the district maintain class size and keep quality teachers, among other things. If it does not pass, then the district will face difficult decisions including reducing staff, cutting programs, and postponing essential repairs, O’Neal said.
During a past referendum special meeting, the idea of putting temporary classroom trailers on the school’s front lawn was discussed in an effort to address overcrowding (until a new school is built).
“I believe in our students, I believe in our educators and I believe in this community,” added O’Neal.
Chief Operating Officer Monet Smith said the Delmar School District faces challenges that other school districts don’t have. It has been 11 years since the last current expense referendum. The goals, with a successful referendum, are to invest in teacher salaries to compete with neighboring school districts, lower class sizes (especially at the middle school), invest in student technology, and expand on space.
Smith said another challenge is to get to an amount of money that is palatable for the community on the heels of reassessment while the district faces constant proposed reduction to its funding.
“We’re not in a position where we can simply just ask for what we need because any ask will cost Delmar taxpayers more out of pocket money to raise less total funds than any district in the state,” she said.
Smith said Delmar has the smallest per penny value in the state. A one penny increase in Delmar would raise just over $105,000 while a penny increase in the Seaford School District would raise over $345,000 and a penny increase in the Indian River School District would raise over $4 million.
“Delmar has always done more with less but we’re at the point where we making due is no longer enough,” Smith said.
A full break down of the Delmar School District tax rates are on the district’s website.
Smith said the district can no longer wait more than 10 years to hold current expense referendums due to rising costs in education and less state and federal funding.
The district will have to wait a minimum of 90 days before it can hold a referendum.
