Education

This Concurrent Resolution commends the 2026 Delaware Educational Support Professional of the Year, Donna Ward, and all of the District/Charter Network Educational Support Professionals of the Year.

This House Concurrent Resolution requests the Department of Labor to evaluate the feasibility of apprenticeship programs for school-based mental health professionals and submit a report to certain members of the General Assembly, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Controller General by November 1, 2026.

This Act updates the school building maintenance standards to require the facilities evaluation instrument be established through regulation by the Department of Education rather than just through guidance from the Department. It also clarifies that the minimum standard of good repair facility category related to hazardous materials includes that of lead.

This bill creates a special license plate for Delaware State University to support student access, academic excellence, and university programs that advance the institution’s mission.

This House Concurrent Resolution requires the Delaware Department of Education to review the State's current MTSS framework in coordination with the DE Mathematics Framework as it relates to elementary, middle, and high school mathematics within academic and non-academic supports to develop recommendations to strengthen instructional coherence in math, assessment, and the alignment of support across all tiers of instruction and report findings and recommendations for legislative and regulatory action by June 30, 2027.

This Act does the following: (1) Makes clear that charter schools and private schools may employ a constable or employ or contract for a qualified retired law-enforcement officer to provide security. (2) Creates an exemption in the Safe School Zone law enacted in 2023, Chapter 175 of Volume 84 of the Laws of Delaware (House Bill No. 201, 152nd General Assembly), for an individual authorized by a private school to serve a “sentry”, an individual authorized by the school to carry a firearm or projectile weapon in a Safe School Zone if certain training and notice requirements are complied with. Not every school is able to afford to hire a constable or a police officer who is a school resource officer. Therefore, the General Assembly finds that it is necessary to permit private schools in this State to employ or contract for individuals to serve as a sentry for these schools. The following states have also provided a similar exemption to their equivalent of the Safe School Zone law for a sentry: Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Under Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 201 (152nd General Assembly) and House Concurrent Resolution No. 2 (153rd General Assembly), the Public Education Funding Commission (Commission) has studied how to improve Delaware's public education funding policies so that public school funding is equitable and appropriated in a manner that allows public schools, including both school districts and charter schools, to not only spend all money that is appropriated but to do so in a manner that best meets the needs of the students in each school. This Act implements the Commission’s recommendation that the Public Education Funding Commission be established as a permanent body. As set forth in Senate Bill No. 302 (153rd General Assembly), the Commission recommended that the General Assembly enact what is known as the hybrid formula. The hybrid formula combines elements of the current funding calculations with a weighted needs-based approach that provides additional funding for students who receive career and technical education or special education services, who are multilingual learners, and who live in low-income households. Codified, the Commission will have a crucial role in implementing and maintaining the benefits of the hybrid model by continually reviewing the hybrid model, including the amounts of the required weights, if school spending of state appropriations complies with the applicable requirements, and making recommendations for improvements. The continual review of public education funding by the Commission will allow adjustments to be made on a gradual and incremental basis as needed.

An increasing number of schools and workplaces are investing in implementing artificial intelligence (AI) technology and extended reality (XR) technology, including virtual reality and augmented reality, to effectively teach children and train employees. In schools, AI and XR technologies help provide immersive and personalized learning experiences that enhance student engagement, proficiency, and mastery in core subjects. Recent studies and surveys show that using AI and XR technologies in schools leads to better student outcomes, including improved academic performance, higher test scores, and increased motivation. And AI technology, like Khanmigo, supports educators by reducing administrative burdens and allowing educators to focus on student needs. This helps prevent burnout and reduce turnover rates. Therefore, investing in implementing these technologies in Delaware public schools will support Delaware’s educational priorities, including increasing literacy, STEM proficiency, and career readiness. This Act establishes a 3-year pilot program, called the Artificial Intelligence and Extended Reality in Schools Pilot Program (Program), to invest in using AI and XR technologies to improve education in Delaware schools. The Program is administered by the Delaware Department of Education (DOE). The DOE shall provide funding and offer technical support for participating schools to procure and safely implement AI and XR products that improve student outcomes and engagement, support educators in meeting student needs, and reduce workloads and administrative burdens on educators. Within 180 days following the date of this Act’s enactment into law, the DOE must do all of the following: 1. Invite up to 12 schools to participate in the program. The schools selected must include 1 elementary school from each of the counties and from the City of Wilmington, 1 middle school from each of the counties and from the City of Wilmington, and 1 high school from each of the counties and from the City of Wilmington. 2. Form a committee to study best practices in other states and countries for using AI and XR technologies in schools and review and recommend AI and XR products that best meet the needs of Delaware students and educators. The products recommended must safeguard data and follow state and federal guidelines for privacy and security. 3. In collaboration with the Department of Technology & Information and the Delaware Department of Justice, finalize contracts to procure the recommended AI and XR products. Additionally, the DOE may consult with technology privacy and safety experts to make sure that the contracts meet privacy and safety requirements. Schools participating in the Program shall provide data that DOE and participating local education agencies consider necessary to help assess the Program’s effectiveness. The data may include certain quantitative, qualitative, and personalized metrics. The DOE shall prepare a final report that includes the data provided by the schools, the DOE’s analysis of the data, the DOE’s recommendations for improving the Program, and the DOE’s recommendation on whether the Program should be expanded or adjusted. The DOE shall submit the final report to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Director and Librarian of the Division of Legislative Services prior to the meeting of the Delaware Legislative Oversight Committee. This Act expires 3 years after the end of the 2026-2027 school year, unless extended by a subsequent action of the General Assembly.

This Act simplifies the licensing requirements for youth camps that are accredited by the American Camp Association (ACA) by requiring that the Department of Education's Office of Child Care Licensing (OCCL) deem a youth camp as meeting all equivalent health and safety requirements necessary for a youth camp license if the youth camp has ACA accreditation through August 30 of the current calendar year. By streamlining the OCCL licensing requirements for youth camps, this Act also increases the availability of summer child care that is eligible for provider reimbursement from the Purchase of Care (POC) program. Under existing OCCL regulations, a youth camp has the option of applying for either license exempt status or a license. To obtain a license, a youth camp must meet very detailed and specific requirements that are challenging, if not impossible, for many youth camps. ACA accreditation requires that a camp satisfies health and safety requirements that are similar and equivalent, but not identical, to the OCCL license requirements. However, an ACA accredited but license-exempt youth camp is unable to receive POC provider reimbursement because under the state plan for the federal Child Care and Development Fund, license exempt child care providers are not eligible for provider reimbursement. This Act also codifies the following policies that are in the current OCCL child care licensing regulations: • A youth camp license and the definition of “youth camp”. • The requirement that a youth camp must have a valid Division of Public Health permit to be licensed or approved as license exempt. • The school-age care, programs, and activities that are exempt from child care license requirements. This Act is effective immediately and § 3003A(c)(4)b. of Title 14 must be implemented no later than December 31, 2026. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act recognizes that the Public Education Funding Committee’s (PEFC) recommended hybrid model formula to determine public education funding is good public policy and that implementation of the hybrid model should not be delayed any longer than absolutely necessary. As such, this Act provides authority for the Department of Education (Department) to begin making the changes to systems that are necessary to implement the hybrid model for Fiscal Year 2028. This Act also encourages that, in collaboration with the PEFC, the Department incorporate elements of the hybrid model in the development of the Governor’s Recommended Budget for Fiscal Year 2028 for consideration by the 154th General Assembly. However, during this transition, a school district or charter school should not receive a state appropriation for Fiscal Year 2028 that is lower than the amount that school received in Fiscal Year 2027. The PEFC was established under Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 201 (152nd General Assembly) on June 27, 2024, and then re-established under House Concurrent Resolution No. 2 (153rd General Assembly) on January 21, 2025, to conduct a comprehensive review of public education funding for all students and populations served by school districts and charter schools (public schools) and develop a roadmap of recommendations to implement improvements to the public education funding system. The PEFC’s recommends adopting a new public education funding framework, known as the “hybrid model”, that combines the current, resource-based funding formula with a student-based, weighted funding model. The hybrid model will improve equity in public school funding and facilitate gains in student achievement by increasing flexibility in how public schools may use appropriated money. The PEFC recommendations include accountability measures as an important balance to the increased flexibility and that the equalization formula must be modernized.