By Craig Anderson

MIDDLETOWN — Appoquinimink School District staff are proud of their product and want to keep it that way.

So, the stakes are high next month for a two-pronged referendum asking for capital and operational expenses for the rapidly growing district.

It follows a separate tax hike request that was denied in December 2023.

Therefore, citing a desire to connect with as many residents as possible before the April 23 vote, district leaders are hosting several information sessions in the coming weeks.

“This is big,” superintendent Dr. Matt Burrows said following a roughly one-hour presentation at Appoquinimink Community Library on Monday. Five members of the public were present.

“We want to have educated voters, so we’re willing to go anywhere. We’ve gone to neighborhood associations. We’ve done meetings virtually. We have a website.

“Any questions you have, you can reach out to us. If you want us to come do a presentation, please reach out to us because we want to be as many places as possible.”

There’s plenty to discuss, as the district continues to add 300-400 students annually and grapples with about 65 vacant full-time teaching positions.

There are 19 school buildings in Appoquinimink, and leaders seek to add an elementary school on Green Giant Road and a connected middle school/high school on the Summit Campus, north of Middletown.

The upcoming referendum has two parts: The capital item ask, involving building construction and expansion, is around $66.6 million. The roughly $11.1 million operational portion includes increased compensation for teachers, so the district can stay competitive.

So, Dr. Burrows said, “as a district, we’re at a crossroads. At this point, we have a national teacher shortage that we’re trying to address. We’re trying to be more competitive.

“We’ve been very fortunate that our educators have led us to great success, and we want to continue to see that, and we want to continue to deliver the level of education that we’ve been able to deliver the last 20-plus years in our district that has gotten us nationally recognized, which is vitally important.”

Regarding the capital piece, he added, “we want to see that we don’t have overcrowded classrooms and things like that. These buildings are a necessity. They’re not a want. They’re a necessity at this point.”

For residents, the amount of increased tax they would pay is based on a property assessment by New Castle County. The market value of a property is not part of the calculation.

If the capital item is enacted, the owner of a property assessed at $92,700 (the average in the district) would pay $27.81 in additional taxes annually.

The operational item would bring an increased tax of $369.87 each year for a property assessed at the same price.

Property assessments can be found at www3.newcastlede.gov/parcel/search.

Appoquinimink School District has scheduled more town hall meetings over the next month:

• March 20 at 6 p.m., Zoom link to be announced.
• March 25 at 6 p.m., Everett Meredith Middle School, Middletown.
• April 11 at 1 p.m., location to be determined.
• April 16 at 6 p.m., Marion E. Proffitt Training Center Boardroom, Odessa.

On voting day, polls will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. A voter must be at least 18, live in the school district and be a U.S. citizen. Proof of identity, via a driver’s license or state ID, will be required.

Voting can be done at Brick Mill, Bunker Hill, Cedar Lane, Crystal Run, Lorewood Grove, Old State, Olive B. Loss, Silver Lake and Townsend elementary schools; Everett Meredith and Louis L. Redding middle schools; the Marion E. Proffitt Training Center; and Middletown High School.

When the votes are tallied, the district hopes to have rebounded from a referendum loss Dec. 12, 2023, which included technology replacements, visual and performing arts equipment, and safety upgrades to the Alfred G. Waters Middle School bus lot. None of these items is part of the April referendum.

After that loss, the district’s board of education voted to reduce the ask for the April vote.

Information can be found at apposchooldistrict.com. To request a presentation, contact casey.boehmer@appo.k12.de.us or call 302-476-4105.

Appoquinimink’s referendum joins several others in the state recently. While voters failed to approve both items for Smyrna on Saturday, the Colonial, Brandywine and Red Clay Consolidated districts were successful in their requests last month.