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Sussex Consortium ready to break ground

Officials hope for more funding in 2018
January 10, 2018

Cape Henlopen School District is ready to crack open the frozen tundra off Sweetbriar Road to build a new Sussex Consortium.

“We are ready to start moving dirt and grading the site,” said Brian Bassett, director of facility operations and construction.

Richard Y. Johnson is construction manager for the $30 million project featuring a 67,000-square-foot building with 26 classrooms that will house about 270 Sussex Consortium students.

In August, the project received about $6 million in state bond bill money to make up for a $100-per-square-foot shortfall that arose when the formula used to determine construction costs changed. The state is paying 100 percent for the construction of the Sussex Consortium, which offers an autism program for students across Sussex County. Cape Henlopen School District manages the program for the county.

Officials decided to go with a smaller footprint for the facility, putting plans for a therapy pool and second gym on hold, but Bassett said funding remains tight. With an increase in building throughout the area comes an increase in the amount of money contractors charge for work, and a decrease in a cushion to keep the project under cost. “The bids came in about average. I was hoping for better. But it could've been much worse,” he said.

Bassett said he is grateful for the extra bond bill money because construction would have been delayed without it.

Still, he said, about $3 million is needed for five classrooms to house the prekindergarten program, a playground and a school bus parking lot.

“These are things the current building has that we won't be able to deliver without extra funding,” Bassett said.

A therapy pool, second gym and vocational classrooms would add another $10 million to the project. Bassett said state officials declined further funding for Sussex Consortium, saying the school does not have immediate capacity needs. A Department of Education spokeswoman has said only projects with immediate capacity needs are being approved for funding.

The consortium currently operates out of the Lewes School on Savannah Road. A Life Skills Center next to the district's Fred Thomas building on Dupont Avenue also serves students. And there are 25 classrooms throughout the district built for consortium classes – six each at Mariner and Beacon middle schools, five at Cape Henlopen and four each at Milton and Shields elementaries.

A proposed referendum for an addition at Cape High would include four consortium classrooms.

Bassett said he remains optimistic funding may come through, particularly after recent financial forecasts anticipating the state may have an extra $90 million in spending in 2018.

“We're still positive about getting the money,” he said. “The state is in a better financial situation.”

 

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