It is time Cape Henlopen School District realizes and accept that residents don’t want to spend $162.4 million for the grandiose plan to add 24 classrooms to the high school, buy 103 aces of prime real estate, construct a new district office building, construct a new bus facility and build a state-of-the-art swimming complex.
In March and May, voters defeated referenda, even after district officials removed the $40.6 million swimming pool. Now, the district is again submitting the entire project to the state, hoping to receive a certificate of necessity. In December, the state denied the request for more classrooms, gave qualified assent to the district office/transportation facility and pool as long as it was paid with local funds, and said OK to the land purchase, but only a little over half of the acreage. Again, it had to be paid for with local funds.
This begs the question: how much of this list is truly a necessity? Cape leaders appear to have a tendency to overspend for buildings, athletic fields and the like. The existing high school, for example, was featured in Architectural Digest magazine as the “most beautiful public high school in Delaware” and referred to as a “veritable work of art.” In the current necessity for more classrooms, students don't need $79 million worth of artistic classrooms. They need a basic brick-and-mortar building with electricity, water and HVAC. They need adequate, qualified teachers, adequate and up-to-date books and supplies, and a top-notch curriculum.
If the administration really needs a new office, it surely doesn't need more than $21 million worth of building. The current projected price tag breaks down to more than $521,000 for each district office employee in the building proposed for replacement. If a new bus facility really is needed, it certainly can be built for less than nearly $6 million. And the district surely doesn't need 103 acres for those two projects. At the proposed price tag of $150,488 per acre, it would appear that 20 acres would be more than enough, just over $3 million.
As for the pool complex, the district wants to spend $40.6 million to basically benefit a swim team. District officials say it would be for community use as well. This, in an area in which many, if not most, of the mega-developments being constructed have their own pools.
In the Cape Gazette story, Director of Operations Jason Hale is quoted as saying that after the state has its say, district leaders will evaluate which projects to pursue. In a Delaware State News story before the May referendum, Superintendent Robert Fulton was asked what would happen if the referendum failed. Fulton said, “We are going to come back next year and we are going to ask for more money.”
That all points up the district leaders' approach: to keep trying, and to wear down voters until they get the results they want. Cape’s administrative and board leaders need to realistically downscale their wants and focus on true needs.
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