Why Should Delaware Care?
In Delaware, teachers’ salaries are funded by a state and local share. As previously reported by Spotlight Delaware, some school districts in rural Delaware are at a disadvantage when trying to compete with other districts for the best educators because of differences in wealth. Now, the Laurel School District is discussing a referendum that, if passed, could help it improve its ability to attract and retain educators.
The school district in and around the small, western Sussex County town of Laurel may ask voters to approve a property tax increase for the upcoming year.
On the agenda for the Laurel School District’s Wednesday board meeting is a discussion item about the possibility of holding a tax referendum to raise money for ongoing operations.
Operational costs, which include teacher pay, are distinct from capital costs, such as major repairs to school buildings.
It will not be publicly known how many additional dollars the district may ask for in a referendum until Wednesday’s meeting when leadership is expected to present a plan to school board members.
Laurel School District Superintendent Shawn Larrimore did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
In August, Spotlight Delaware reported about how the working-class district’s struggles to keep teacher salaries competitive with those in wealthier areas has epitomized the problems facing many rural schools.
Patrick Gross, head of the educators’ union in Laurel, said then that the problem was a result of the district’s decision not to hold a referendum to raise taxes in more than a decade.
While Gross said he believed Laurel would ultimately hold a referendum in the coming years, he was cautious about its success. He noted that the neighboring Indian River School District failed to pass a referendum last spring.
“I think that the referendum is going to be key … If we can get that done, we’ll see,” Gross said last summer.
How are educators’ salaries funded in Delaware?
The total salary for a teacher in the Laurel School District with 10 years of experience and a master’s degree is just more than $71,000, according to the district’s salary schedule for the 2025-26 school year.
A teacher with the same experience and education in the wealthier Cape Henlopen School District — about 30 miles from Laurel — makes more than $79,000.
Furthermore, the Cape Henlopen School District, which serves more than 6,500 students, had a budget of more than $180 million during the Fiscal Year 2025.
Laurel schools had a budget of just less than $44 million that same year, while educating more than 2,600 students.
Educators’ salaries are funded by a combination of state and local tax revenue, with the state paying approximately 70% of an individual’s total salary.
The state share takes into account a teacher’s education and experience. It also funds a preset schedule of pay raises for each teacher.
The local share of an educator’s salary is primarily funded by property taxes. And districts with lower property wealth generate less revenue.
A failure to pass or even hold referendums furthers a gap between wealthy and lower-income districts, such as Laurel.
Last summer, Gary Henry, a professor at the University of Delaware’s School of Education and Joseph R. Biden Jr. School of Public Policy & Administration, said the problem is exacerbated in areas in Sussex County that face a combined disadvantage of relatively low property wealth and high student needs
Those needs often include higher numbers of students who are English language learners or those who come from low-income backgrounds – two factors that typically require more school resources.
Henry also said the state gives more money to districts that recruit more experienced and more highly credentialed educators because of how the pay formula is structured.
That dynamic means that Laurel, again, misses out on dollars that many of its peer districts enjoy.
“[Districts with more credentialed educators] are already given more money per teacher by the state, and then they add their local supplement, then you can imagine that it’s easy for them to recruit teachers who are willing to move,” Henry said at the time.
Looking at neighboring districts
Laurel is one of many school districts in Delaware that chose to implement a 10% increase in property tax revenue following the completion of the first statewide property reassessment in more than three decades.
Among other districts that did so is the neighboring Indian River School District.
While the increases gave both Laurel and Indian River some financial flexibility, their school-funding equations remain challenging. And residents in their areas appear wary about approving a referendum that would send additional local dollars to the schools.
Last spring, the Indian River School District failed to pass two referendums, which sought money for ongoing operations amid a national teacher shortage.
The referendums failed even after Indian River board members made the district’s fiscal woes public. At the time, they said that even a successful referendum may not eliminate the need to lay off staff to cut costs elsewhere, according to a report from Coastal Point.
If Laurel does proceed to a referendum in early 2026, it may be joined by the neighboring Delmar School District, which has also indicated that it is looking at asking voters to raise funds.
Get Involved
The Laurel School District will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, inside the cafeteria of the district’s joint middle and high school complex, located at 1131 S. Central Ave.
The meeting will also be livestreamed on the district’s YouTube page.