A new 600-student middle school has received state approval, paving the way for a referendum in the spring.

State officials gave Cape Henlopen School District a certificate of necessity for a new middle school that would be built on the site of Shields Elementary in Lewes, and also approval for a high school addition. Since the district already owns the land, there would be no costs to purchase new land.

“Our goal is not to increase the capital improvement tax any higher than our community has already approved through our previous referendum,” said Superintendent Robert Fulton.

The new middle school would be planned for 2023, Fulton said, the last of a three-step building process. First, he said, the new Sussex Consortium must be built on Sweetbriar Road. Once the new consortium is complete, renovations at the Lewes School, which currently houses consortium students, can begin. Shields would be torn down and a new middle school would be built there, he said.

The 20-room addition to the high school could start in 2018, Fulton said.

The classroom addition would be built along Kings Highway to house 350 students, with two hallways connecting to the existing high school. Four of the new classrooms are planned as Sussex Consortium rooms, which would be paid for 100 percent by the state.

Fulton did not say how much the new middle school and high school additions would cost, but in June, school officials said the middle school would cost $40 million and the high school expansion would be about $16 million. Increasing student enrollment is the reason a new middle school is needed, Fulton said.

Even though their tax billing would not increase, Brian Bassett, director of facility operations and construction, said voters would have to agree to keep their tax rate at the same level for the building projects. If voters defeat a referendum for a new middle school and high school expansion, he said, the district tax rate would go down.

“We will be discussing the details of the certificate of necessity approval during the next few board of education meetings,” Fulton said.