Fewer than 500 votes fail Cape Henlopen schools' second-chance referendum request

Cape Henlopen School District took its second try at a referendum this year.

The system asked for 39.1 cents per $100 of assessed value — having trimmed from 54.9 cents per $100 in a previous request rejected in March — as voters returned to the polls Tuesday night. This encompassed both a debt service and operating expense referendum.

"Enrollment issues continue to be the main reason more funds are needed," wrote the district having ballooned some 59% from 2001 to September 2023. And ahead of the referendum, Cape told voters it needs to secure new district office space so the high school can expand, as well as to secure new land for future expansion and a bus maintenance facility. Looking ahead, the high school is already overcapacity.

Voters said no.

And just under 500 votes made the difference, in unofficial results, as Cape voters denied the debt service and operating expense referendum ask at 53%.

Now, the district may face increased class sizes, staff reductions and more.

A lasting budget shortfall "could lead to reductions in essential services including utilities, personnel, maintenance, transportation and the provision of instructional materials and technology," the district writes on its website. Planned capital projects may have to be halted, new land left unacquired.

It joins mixed results this year, though Cape is the only district to go 0-2 at referendum in the same timeframe.

A year of school funding requests

Four, yes. Three, no.

So has been the record this year for referendum votes in Delaware. February saw nearly 4 out of every 5 Brandywine voters approve an operational referendum; then, Red Clay voters loudly approved operation and capital-project requests at roughly 71% each, just one day before Colonial's would do the same.

Come March, two districts didn't ride the same wave. Smyrna schools saw funding requests rejected, with over half the votes coming against each ask, while these Cape voters had delivered a similar result at the end of the month

Appo got voters to reconsider this spring, while Cape failed again. Now, Smyrna hopes to get a green light.

That revised referendum is set for June 6. Citing critical need, the district is now seeking just over $4.1 million in local funds for building a new 600-student intermediate school on Rabbit Chase Lane, after inflation pressure hiked the cost of previously approved capital projects.

This adjusted request makes no mention of other supports previously included, such as expanding and converting Clayton Intermediate School to Clayton Middle School and expanding North Elementary, or operating expenses like constables, mental health supports, salaries and technology enhancements.

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