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Sussex Tech continues to push for new building, while renovating old one

Courtesy of Sussex Technical High School
An example photo of the transition zones in the planned track renovations

The Sussex Technical School Districtcontinues to repair its high school building—after the state repeatedly denied its bid to build a new one.   

Sussex Tech in Georgetown serves over 1,200 students and more than twice as many adult learners from throughout the county. But some of its facilities are in need of an update. 

This summer the district will replace a decades-old roof on the high school, repair a drainage system under a parking lot that led to a partial collapse years ago, and resurface the track so that athletes can use it for the first time in years.  

“These renovations are very important and critical for our daily operations as a school,” said Dan Shortridge, Sussex Tech’s public information officer. “We can’t have our roofs leaking on our students, we can’t have our parking lots collapsing underneath a vehicle, and the track is a need that’s going to remain whether or not we’re able to move forward with the new building project.”

The district is still pushing for a new high school building—arguing it would be more cost-effective for taxpayers than continuing to fix the old building. But the state has turned down the request the last two years. 

Shortridge says the school will request a state Certificate of Necessity again this August, “with the goal of improving our programs and meeting the demand from Sussex County families.”

“If that’s not funded,” he added, “we’ll also be making the case for some alternative projects.”

This summer’s renovations will cost half a million dollars, and are scheduled to be finished by the time students return in the fall.

 

Sophia Schmidt is a Delaware native. She comes to Delaware Public Media from NPR’s Weekend Edition in Washington, DC, where she produced arts, politics, science and culture interviews. She previously wrote about education and environment for The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, MA. She graduated from Williams College, where she studied environmental policy and biology, and covered environmental events and local renewable energy for the college paper.
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