Appoquinimink’s second and last chance to pass this referendum is April 23.
NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect correct taxes on assessed homes.
The vice president of Appoquinimink School District’s Board of Education warned the community that disaster will ensue if the district’s second attempt at a referendum fails this month.
“We have to cut 91 positions. That’s about 5% of our staff,” said Vice President Richard Forsten, who describes himself as a fiscal conservative.
Richard Forsten
The district is hoping to raise about $77.8 million in local revenue: $11,126,000 for operating costs and $66,663,550 for capital costs.
“It’s a significant percentage, and we have to make $5 million in cuts, starting with the budget that begins July 1 if the operational ask fails,” he said.
The three new buildings in the referendum request will add capacity and accommodate 3,000 new students. The district adds 200 to 450 new students each year.
Without the buildings, classroom student numbers could swell to 45 in some cases, he said.
“That’s not a threat,” he said. “Just look at the numbers.”
Appo’s first try at a referendum failed in December 2023. It was a tight decision. Here’s the votes:
Section I: 3,243 votes against; 2,989 for. Raising taxes 43 cents per $100 of assessed property value for operating expenses, including educator compensation and technology.
Section II: 3,303 votes against; 2,963 for. Raising taxes three cents per $100 of assessed property value for capital projects, including a Summit middle school and high school and Green Giant Road elementary school.
Section III: 2,583 votes against; 2,577. Raising taxes one cent per $100 of assessed property value for safety and a bus lot at A.G. Waters Middle School.
The average assessment in Appo is $92,700, so for the average homeowner, if both the capital and operating components of the referendum pass, their tax bill would go up $396 per year, $33 per month or about $1.08 a day.
Using Appo’s tax impact calculator, a home assessed at $100,000 would go up $36 per month or $432 per year. A home assessed at $125,000 would go up $45 per month or $540 per year. There are no homes assessed at $250,000 or more.
Appo’s second and final attempt to have a successful referendum is Tuesday, April 23, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“The cuts and the alternatives are fairly ugly in my view, but if we have to face them, we will,” Forsten said. “With great power comes great responsibility.”
The board also highlighted that they would essentially be losing $233 million in state funding if the referendum fails – and that money will not be offered again anytime soon.
The state usually ponies up about 65% of the cost for capital projects while local revenue from school taxes make up the remainder.
If a referendum fails a second time, the district loses the state money, which will allot the money to other district’s projects.
Appo is one of many districts experiencing rapid population growth.
“If the referendum doesn’t pass we don’t get that money, but we still have to find a place to put those 3,000 kids in the years to come,” Forsten said.
Some classrooms will need to be stuffed with 45 students, he said, and the district will have to turn to modular trailers as classrooms.
“The cost of the trailers comes out of our operational budget, and so that means that we’ll have to cut operations even further,” Forsten said. “It’s actually more expensive for the school district to try to house those 3,000 kids in trailers and other creative ways than it is if we pass the referendum. So again, a disaster if the referendum fails.”
He said those that vote “no” that he’s talked to have no solution or no plan to deal with the needs of the district.
“I ask them, ‘What do you do if this referendum doesn’t pass and you are on the school board?’ and they give me, uniformly, a blank stare,” he said. “That’s troubling because the alternative is what I’ve just laid out.”
Appo’s second and final attempt to have a successful referendum is Tuesday, April 23, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
He said those who are on the fence or planning to vote no need to think of what they’re going to say to the students, parents and community when the district suffers as a result of their vote.
School board candidates
The school board also announced three school board candidates are competing against incumbent Norman Abrams Jr. for the single open seat in this year’s election.
They are Timothy Johns, Candace Jusino and Britney Mumford.
Raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jarek earned a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 2021. After running CNN’s Michael Smerconish’s YouTube channel, Jarek became a reporter for the Bucks County Herald before joining Delaware LIVE News.
