LEWES — Due to the state by the end of August, a board of education’s Certificate of Necessity is a request by local officials to state officials for permission to pursue funding for certain projects.
If the state gives the green light, the local board can then develop a funding request containing any or all of the submitted options, which is then passed on to its constituents and voted upon in a referendum.
After two failed votes in 2024 for projects needed to expand the high school, the Cape Henlopen School Board took a look at the staff draft of its 2025 proposal during its regular Aug. 22 meeting in a presentation delivered by Dr. Jason Hale, director of operations.
“The purpose of the Certificate of Necessity is to ask the state permission to move forward with the planning process making determinations on which projects we wish to move forward with,” he said. “This is not a request that all of these items move forward. What we’re looking for is the opportunity to spend the next six or seven months reviewing all the information then providing it to the board to make a recommendation.”
The district is planning on submitting two certificate requests this year for approval by the State of Delaware, which adds a specific high school expansion request, and splits off requests from earlier this year.
The first request is focused on improvements to the existing Cape Henlopen High School, including additional classroom and storage, athletic field amenities, parking and stormwater management because, according to Dr. Hale, the current building is over capacity already, while more students enroll every year.
The district estimates a total cost of almost $79 million to achieve this, with about $31.5 million in local funds requiring referendum approval, according to Dr. Hale. This would fund a 24-classroom expansion and athletic field renovation.
The second request governs a land purchase, upon which the new district office would eventually be located, along with the previously proposed bus maintenance facility and indoor swimming pool complex.
The second request is made up of projects that would be paid for by locals only. The land purchase is estimated at $15.6 million and is the top priority of this submission according to the district, a new district office is estimated to cost almost $21.5 million, the bus facility almost $6 million and the swimming complex at $40.6 million, for a total of about $83.7 million for this request.
“We’re asking for everything and then we’re going to continue conversations,” Dr. Alison Myers asked, seeking clarity on the process, which Dr. Hale confirmed.
Ultimately the board voted to submit these requests to the state.
Staff writer Brian Gilliland can be reached at 410-603-3737 or bg@iniusa.org.
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