Walter Smith

DAILY STATE NEWS FILE PHOTO/GLENN ROLFE

Indian River School District
31 Hosier St.
Selbyville, DE 19975
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By Glenn Rolfe

SELBYVILLE — Certainly not alone in the affordable housing challenge, the Indian River School District is dealing with a residency shortage impacting dozens of its families.

Walter Smith, supervisor of alternative programs for the district, estimates that up to 80 families are impacted this year, affecting 120-130 students.

In some cases, affected households are forced to move outside of the district.

“What has been happening to our families in the Indian River School District — the ones that can’t afford any more, in that the prices have really skyrocketed — they are now forced to go to the western side of the county, over in the Seaford and Laurel area,” Mr. Smith said.

In those circumstances, though, students do not have to leave IR schools, thanks to the McKinney-Vento Act, federal legislation that provides rights to pre-K-12 children experiencing homelessness.

“And we would just van them from over in the Seaford-Laurel area or even Dover,” he continued, adding that the shortage is “nonexistent” on the east side of the county. “We call it a family in transition,” as opposed to a “homeless” one.

Mr. Smith — who presented on this topic to a church group Sept. 8 — says these cases can be compounded by pride, resulting in some households not making the radar.

“I think it goes along (with) the trust factor,” he said. “If they trust you enough that they give you that information and (think you) are going to have the family’s best intentions at heart, I think they are more apt to give you information that you’ll be surprised to hear.”

Mr. Smith went on to say that Indian River, as well as the five other school districts in Sussex County, is experiencing development. But affordable housing continues to be sparse, leading to initiatives to combat it.

For example, Sussex County has its Housing Trust Fund and developer grants through existing American Rescue Plan Act resources. One program is Coastal Tide Apartments in Lewes, which has 32 rental units earmarked for affordable housing. All are rented and hold a waiting list.

Further, for more than three decades, Sussex County Habitat for Humanity has been on the forefront of this issue, working with homeowners, not renters, to provide lower-cost homes. In August, Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., announced a grant of $1.8 million for Habitat to fund construction of 15 single-family homes in the county.

Statewide, the House of Representatives passed a series of bills this year to address the housing crisis, by incentivizing public and private investments in new construction, bolstering existing state programs and creating protections for manufactured housing residents.

But, given the development boom in Sussex, Mr. Smith asks, “Where is the affordable housing? If you look at it, developments start out around $400,000-$500,000 (per home). And I don’t know any startup families that can even come out and try to afford something like that.

“I wish I could bring more attention to it and bring some kind of light to it that our legislators really could get urgency behind it. Because kicking the can down the road another year is not helping those families at all,” he continued, adding that the current state of the economy isn’t aiding them, either.

“Look at the grocery stores, gas, utilities. Everything is higher. Our economy is in bad shape right now,” Mr. Smith said. “It’s sad to hear, but it is sadder to see it. ... A lot of people are only one paycheck away from being in transition.”