SELBYVILLE, Del. - The Indian River School District is preparing for its second meeting to discuss going to referendum on Thursday, March 20.
The second meeting will be Wednesday, March 12 at 7 p.m. at the Indian River High School in Dagsboro.
The previous meeting was held on March 3 at Lord Baltimore Elementary School in Ocean View. The Superintendent encourages people to take a look at their referendum page on IRSD website and join Wednesday evening's meeting.
To watch the meeting from March 3, click here.
IRSD Superintendent Dr. Jay Owens acknowledges that asking people to vote in favor of more taxes in never easy, but says it has to be done.
"We need to generate additional revenue for retention of staff recruitment in the future of additional staff, but also a big piece of this is operating cost. It's like everyone is saying things are increasing and our revenue needs to do the same in order to keep pace," said Owens.
Owens told CoastTV significant cuts would have to be made if the referendum doesn't receive enough support.
Cathy Blackburn, a retired school teacher, says she doesn't have a strong opinion on the referendum, but says she feels strongly about pouring into education.
"I just think it's important that children have the opportunity to have quality instruction and they have the materials that they need so that they can be successful in life," said Blackburn
As part of preparation for their second meeting Wednesday night, the district has added a calculator to help you figure out what you could pay in taxes.
- Go to irsd.net.
- Click on the referendum quick link.
- Tap "in this section" and scroll down to referendum increase calculator.
- Add your newly assessed home value and hit calculate.
- Receive an estimated post referendum tax range.
A screen recording showing how to use the Indian River School District referendum calculator to get an estimate of the post referendum tax range.
The final meeting will be Thursday, March 13 at 7 p.m. at Sussex Central High School. To view the district's presentation, click here.
To watch Wednesday night's meeting, click here.