SELBYVILLE, Del. - The Indian River School District will go to referendum for the second time this year and locals in that school district have varying opinions.
Dr. Jay Owens, Superintendent of the Indian River School District was seen talking to elementary school children in Selbyville. on Wednesday.
It's a busy week for the Superintendent as he prepares for the second current expense referendum this year. He says he's hopeful after the first referendum failed in March.
"We learned some things that folks needed to understand better. We worked hard to develop factsheets and provide information to really inform the public of what we felt was most important to them," Owens explained.
The school district is asking tax payers to approve a tax increase which according to the District, will cost people an average of $22.40 per month or $268.88 per year.
Nancy Iannini says she understands the hesitation people had in March but says she will always vote in favor of what she calls necessities.
"Some things are worth paying for. One of them is education," Iannini shared.
Owens says if this referendum doesn't pass, he's going to be forced to look at staffing and program cuts.. He says this is something the district has already started doing.
However he says one thing that's not going to change is the safety of the students in the district.
"Constables will certainly remain in place."
On the districts end, Dr. Owens says until this year, they held off asking for a tax increase for eight years.
"In terms of referendum, typically in our school district and others, it's around every three to five years," Owens shared.
CoastTV spoke with multiple people who say they plan to vote against the referendum on Thursday but did not want to speak on camera. They shared they do not want to vote for a tax increase.
The clock is ticking ahead of Thursday's vote. Polls open at 7a.m. and the result of this referendum will have lasting impacts on the students, staff and programs for the Indian River School District one way or another.
There will be eight polling locations for district voters to vote at which includes the following:
- East Millsboro Elementary School
- Georgetown Elementary School
- Indian River High School
- Long Neck Methodist Church*
- Lord Baltimore Elementary School
- Millville Community Center
- Selbyville Fire Hall*
- Sussex Central High School
The asterik signifies new polling places as determined by the Delaware Department of Elections, according to the Indian River School District website.