Today, more than half of Seaford's 3,500 students receive some form of federal benefits, like free lunches, while about 17 percent of students are special-education learners, both among the highest rates in Delaware. The DuPont plant remained a driving force in Seaford as nylon remained popular into the 1970s. But eventually, consumer tastes changed and DuPont found itself competing with high-quality nylon produced in Asia. In the mid-1980s, DuPont initiated the first round of downsizing and early retirement buyouts, touching off a workforce reduction of more than 100 employees per year that would continue for decades. Seeing the writing on the wall, then-mayor Longo and the town council moved to diversify the local economy with the additions of the Seaford Industrial Park and the Seaford Small Business Park, while extending town infrastructure out to Route 13.