Cape district enrollment up 77 students from last year
Enrollment in Cape Henlopen School District schools saw a net increase of 77 students since last September, said Assistant Superintendent LouAnn Hudson at the Oct. 23 school board meeting.
As of the annual Sept. 30 unit count, enrollment totaled 6,731 students across the district, compared to 6,654 last year. This translated to an increase of 11.39 units, from 557.51 to 568.90.
Units are a student enrollment-based funding metric that determines how many staff positions a school can hire, along with the associated funding for non-salary costs and equalizations. Specific student-to-staff ratios determine the number of units, which then translates into authorized staff positions.
Students with special needs who need more support and resources get additional units.
“The way it played out between the schools is that we had some schools stay exactly the same, which I have never seen happen,” Hudson said. “The high school has the exact same number [of students] that they had last year, but we had four schools go slightly down and four schools come up.”
Indeed, Cape High’s enrollment totaled 1,889 for the second year in a row.
Beacon Middle School and Fred Thomas Middle School saw the biggest changes, with net increases of 64 students and 41 students, respectively.
Most of the elementary schools saw decreases, except Love Creek, which rose by 15 students. Lewes Elementary decreased by 26 students, and Milton Elementary by 19. Rehoboth Elementary stayed almost the same, decreasing only by one.
The Sussex Consortium enrollment, which includes all Sussex County students regardless of their physical school location, rose by 14.
The district will not need a class size waiver this year, as it will be able to cover its student needs with the number of employees it currently has. A waiver is needed when a district’s kindergarten through third-grade classes exceed an average of 22 students per instructor.
Ellen McIntyre is a reporter covering education and all things Dewey Beach. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Penn State - Schreyer Honors College in May 2024, then completed an internship writing for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In 2023, she covered the Women’s World Cup in New Zealand as a freelancer for the Associated Press and saw her work published by outlets including The Washington Post and Fox Sports. Her variety of reporting experience covers crime and courts, investigations, politics and the arts. As a Hockessin, Delaware native, Ellen is happy to be back in her home state, though she enjoys traveling and learning about new cultures. She also loves live music, reading, hiking and spending time in nature.
