Cape Henlopen School District Plans for Continued Enrollment Growth

The Cape Henlopen School District is continuing its long-range planning efforts to address enrollment growth and future facility needs across schools in the district.

At the August 20 Board of Education meeting, the Cape Henlopen Board reviewed the work of the District's Long Range Facilities Planning Committee and considered the Certificate of Necessity (CN) expansion applications for Cape Henlopen High School, Love Creek Elementary School, and Mariner Middle School. Through the planning committee’s evaluation process and review of growth areas in the district, Cape Henlopen High School and Love Creek Elementary School have emerged as priorities due to the most immediate capacity needs. In addition, the district received guidance from the Delaware Department of Education on August 6^th that they would be considering Certificate of Necessity applications that were not considered a priorty one, and were not projected to cost over $15 million. The planning committee had previously identified serious needs at Mariner Middle School, with the determination of a new roof, new HVAC system and field improvements on the school grounds being the most critical of those needs. The three projects at Mariner are estimated to cost $14.5 million. The Board of Education, at the recommendation of district administrators and the planning committee, decided to add the Mariner projects as a third certificate of necessity application in addition to the high school and Love Creek expansions. This will be the fourth time the district has submitted a certificate of necessity for an expanision at Cape Henlopen High School.

Submitting applications for a Certificate of Necessity does not authorize construction, the issuance of debt, or the commitment of local taxpayer funds. It only preserves the district’s opportunity to request State funding and allows the Board considerable time to evaluate the final scope, costs, funding, and timing before deciding whether to move forward with a referendum.

Cape Henlopen High School enrollment has increased by approximately 45% since the 2014-15 school year and is projected to reach 2,181 students by the 2029-30 school year. Projected enrollment at Cape High for 2026-2027 will be just over 1,900 students. The proposed $67.4 million expansion would add capacity for approximately 600 students. Four modular classrooms were installed earlier this summer to provide temporary relief for students and teachers. Board Member Jessica Tyndall noted that a question she hears frequently in the community is ‘Why not a second high school?’ Dr. Jason Hale recognized that as being a question the planning committee also initially had. “As we’ve gone through the process of determining what the high school needs are, a second high school has been brought up for discussion,” said Dr. Jason Hale, Director of Operations. “Our long-range planning looks well beyond where enrollment stands today. We evaluate current and projected enrollment, census information, county development activity, and the residential pipeline to understand where Cape is headed. Based on that comprehensive review, the projected growth does not come close to demonstrating a need for a second high school or warrant further study of that option at this time. Our focus needs to remain on the significant capacity and facility needs already facing the district.”

Love Creek Elementary School is currently at 95.8% of capacity. “The Route 24 corridor has seen one of the larger housing booms in the area,” said Superintendent Dr. Jenny Nauman. “The district has redrawn attendance boundaries twice to relieve enrollment pressure here, but boundary changes cannot create additional classroom space. Expansion of Love Creek Elementary would protect the overall building size and class size at all of our other elementary school’s as well, keeping us from having to redraw the boundary lines for a third time in the Love Creek attendance area. The proposed $33.2 million expansion would add approximately 300 seats and address cafeteria, mechanical, parking, and other support needs for Love Creek Elementary School.”

Continued residential development remains an important part of the district’s planning. Cape received approximately $275,000 in the first month of collections from the newly imposed impact fee on residential development. These funds can be used only for an approved Certificate of Necessity project to help offset local costs.

Cape will continue working through its Long-Range Facilities Planning Committee to plan responsibly for the needs of a growing community.