Milford’s schools are already stretched beyond capacity, and continued rapid development will only make things worse. Vice President of the Milford School Board, Matt Bucher, laid out the situation clearly:
Elementary Schools (K–4):
Morris serves K-1 (and pre-K)
Banneker serves K-1 (and pre-K)
Mispillion serves 2-4
Ross serves 2-4
This structure may only buy us 3–4 years of breathing room before capacity is maxed again.
Middle School (5th–8th):
5th and 6th graders will shift into the new Milford Middle School.
This structure may only buy us 3–4 years of breathing room before capacity is maxed again.
7th and 8th graders are housed at Milford Central Academy, a building originally designed as a 9th grade-only campus. While it can temporarily fit 7th and 8th, this is not sustainable.
High School (9th–12th):
Milford High School is already over capacity by 200+ students. Enrollment grows by another 20–30 students every single year, and there is no more room.
Future Needs:
The district has filed a Certificate of Necessity to request state approval for expansion, which would involve building onto the teacher parking lot.
Estimated cost: $76 million (already up from $72 million last year).
Delaware faces demand for 15–20 new schools statewide, which means Milford must compete for limited state funding.
Capital projects require 30% local match, which already forced the district to contribute $14 million toward the new middle school, with the state covering $52 million.
The Bottom Line
Our schools are already bursting. Every new development approved today brings in families and students tomorrow without the classrooms to put them in.
Until the state and district can build the new capacity that students desperately need, Milford should pause residential development approvals. Otherwise, the city risks approving housing growth that our schools simply cannot support.
We already have 26 committed developments.
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