Like House Bill No. 15, this Act permits early childhood educators in the public schools to use and encourage play-based learning in their classrooms and in their curriculum. This Act permits local education agencies to provide early childhood professional development in play-based learning, which may include professional development programs developed by the Department of Education. This Act also permits the Department to promulgate regulations for purposes of implementing this Act. This House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 15 incorporates the changes from House Amendment 1 to House Bill No. 15 with respect to the definitions of early childhood education and early childhood educators encompassing education from prekindergarten through second grade, adding topics that may be included in materials developed to provide ongoing early childhood professional development in play-based learning, and making technical corrections for clarity. This House Substitute also updates the definition of “play” and “play-based learning” contained in House Bill No. 15 and adds a definition for “guided play”.
Like Senate Bill No. 165, this Act requires the Department of Education to pilot a revised student improvement component under the Delaware Performance Appraisal System and Delaware Teacher Growth and Support System beginning in the 2025-2026 school year before implementing it statewide. The revised student improvement component must consider factors such as student absences, mobility, and noncompliance that may adversely affect a student’s performance. During the 2026-2027 academic year, the pilot program will expand, allowing for further refinement of implementation and support structures. Participants in the pilot program will be held harmless, so that the revised student improvement component will not factor into overall ratings. The program will be implemented statewide in 2027-2028 for all licensed and certified educators. Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 165 differs from SB 165 by holding also holding educators harmless during the pilot program and by making the following technical changes: • Using the word “school” to refer to school districts and charter schools because “local education agencies” is not a defined term in the Code. • Clarifying when the pilot program ends. • Reorganizing the provisions to conform to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act enacts the Interstate Compact for School Psychologists (“Compact”), which is designed to facilitate the interstate practice of school psychology in educational settings. School-based mental health services are in high demand in Delaware, but workforce shortages can make it difficult to meet that demand. By creating an additional licensing pathway for school psychologists to obtain equivalent licenses to practice school psychology in any state that is a member of the Compact, the Act aims to increase the availability of school psychological services for students in this State. The Interstate Compact for School Psychologists must be enacted in 7 states to become effective. The Compact has been enacted in 2 states and legislation is pending in several others.
This Act requires schools that receive federal funding ensure students, staff, and faculty are protected from sex-based discrimination and sex-based harassment. The Act further requires schools to communicate to students, through their website, the existence of Title IX administrators as required by federal law. The Act requires the school’s website provide information explaining the roles and duties of Title IX administrators, how to contact the appropriate Title IX administrator, and the school’s Title IX policy. The Act ensures that students have access to the appropriate forms to start a complaint and access to the FAQ link provided by U.S. Office of Civil Rights. The Act instructs the school to provide an explanation and examples of possible supportive measures for students who experience sex-based discrimination or sex-based harassment. The Act instructs the Title IX coordinator of every Title IX school to provide a written reminder to school staff and faculty at the beginning of the academic year, outlining the school’s Title IX policy regarding the reporting of sex-based discrimination, including sex-based harassment.
This Act incorporates changes made by HS1 for HB204, which was passed by both chambers during the 151st General Assembly, but never enacted into law. It removes the exemption for private schools and youth camps that allows them to use a name-based, rather than a fingerprint-based, background check or choose not to do background checks at all for employees, contractors and volunteers. This Act also authorizes the Superintendent of State Police to promulgate regulations relating to re-use of a criminal background check. The State Bureau of Identification is also required to provide subsequent criminal history information to the agency receiving background check information. Authority is given to the Department of Education to pay the costs of background checks for its employees. The Act also creates a new § 309A in Title 31, in response to a request from the federal government that the statutory authorization/requirement for private school background checks be separated from the statutory authorization for state and local government authorities. The Act also makes some technical and clarifying changes to existing statutory language. The Act takes effect on July 1, 2026 and child-serving entities and private schools must comply with the requirements by September 1, 2026. This Substitute differs from the original HB47 in that the effective date is in 2026 rather than 2025.
This Act removes the time restriction that only allowed for certain teachers or specialists who were hired after August 9, 2023, to obtain additional experience credit for purposes of salary computation. This Act would allow for teachers or specialists hired before August 9, 2023, to qualify for the same experience credit for purposes of salary computation.
This bill amends Delaware law to give the Department of Public Health (DPH) authority to approve supervised clinical training for mental health providers at school-based health centers. It directly affects mental health professionals seeking training placements within school health centers. The key provision establishes DPH as the official body responsible for approving these training rotations. This creates a formal process for integrating mental health provider training into school settings without altering existing center operations.
Current law allows pensioners to be employed in a Governor-appointed position or as a temporary, casual, seasonal, or substitute employee, including as a substitute teacher, but only after a 6-month separation of service period if the pensioner is under age 65 and limits annual earnings by temporary, casual, seasonal, or substitute employees to $50,000 before an individual’s earnings affect the amount of the individual’s pension. To alleviate staffing shortages in schools and state agencies with 24-hour shifts, this Act removes the earnings limit beginning calendar year 2025, lowers the age when the separation of service period applies to individuals who are under 59 ½ years old, and reduces the required separation of service period to 3 months. This Act also clarifies that the pensioners may be employed as substitute teachers by charter schools under the same requirements as school districts. To comply with federal law, this Act makes the bona fide 3-month separation period applicable to all pensioners employed under § 5502(a) of Title 29. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act creates a background special license plate for the William Penn High School to support scholarships and community events sponsored by the high school. A background special license plate supports a cause and is available for purchase by the public at large, including members of the organization. The numbers, letters, or both, assigned will be the same as the license plate assigned to the owner’s vehicle at the time of the application for the plate. This Act requires a greater-than-majority vote for passage because § 11 of Article VIII of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of three-fifths for the members elected to each house of the General Assembly when a new tax or license fee is imposed.
This Substitute to HB 91 differs from HB 91 in that it further expands free breakfasts in schools participating in the federal School Breakfast Program by making them available to all students, regardless of household income, but does not expand free lunch income eligibility. The Department of Education shall reimburse a public school providing free breakfasts. The reimbursement must be equal to the federal free reimbursement rate multiplied by the total number of breakfasts that the participating public school serves during the applicable budget year minus the total amount of reimbursement for breakfasts served during the applicable budget year that the participating public school receives under the School Breakfast Program. This Act does not apply to schools participating in the federal Community Eligibility Provision, Provision 1, Provision 2, or Provision 3 special assistance certification and reimbursement alternatives. This Act takes effect immediately and is to be implemented beginning July 1, 2026.
