Why Should Delaware Care?
Each year the state legislature has an opportunity to reassess and improve its public education system through new bills. This year, lawmakers made changes big and small to the system statewide.
As the legislative session came to an end, multiple bills relating to improving and reforming the quality of education for Delaware’s students passed through the chamber floor.
While Delaware’s students see multiple changes relating to mental health services and financial assistance, lawmakers also voted to create the Public Education Funding Commission to examine how the state can better fund its education system and form recommendations to address students’ needs.
The commission will have to issue its first recommendations for reforms by Oct. 1, 2025. In the meantime, lawmakers have pushed forward multiple bills, aiming to address a variety of challenges Delawareans face throughout the public education system and in higher education.
Here’s what’s on the table.
PASSED
Free school meals
SB 125 originally required all schools to offer all students free breakfast and lunch every school day, regardless of income.
The bill also aimed to ease financial impacts on families and prevent students from going hungry during school hours, while reducing stigma and stress associated with participating in free or reduced meal programs.
The bill was voted out of the Delaware House of Representatives’ Education Committee in March but was amended to require all public schools to offer only students who qualify for a reduced-price meal. The bill was then passed after its amendment.
The bills now await signature from Gov. John Carney.
Mental health services
HB 200 will establish a mental health services unit for Delaware high schools. With a three-year implementation, the unit will ensure a final ratio of 250 full-time equivalent high school students for a full-time school counselor, school social worker, or licensed clinical social worker.
The bill recognized that “Delaware schools need trained and experienced mental health professionals to provide prevention and support programs and services to students.” HB 200 aims to lower the ratio of students to counselors and increase access to mental health services for students.
Sexual assault prevention
Under HB 308, employees of higher education institutes and students are required to receive sexual assault prevention training.
The bill, which comes after public protests around assaults on Delaware State University’s campus, also requires academic institutions to report information on campus sexual assaults from the calendar year to the academic year and requires the Delaware Department of Justice to post annual reports from the previous five years on its website. It also requires the DOJ to include aggregate data from the last five years in each report so data trends are more easily identified.
“This training shall ensure that responsible employees are trained to respond to disclosures of sexual assaults using best practices with regard to a victim-centered, trauma-informed approach,” the bill said.
Priority in choice and charter enrollment
Dependent children of active military members, full-time Delaware National Guard members, and active duty members of a reserve component of the United States military will be given priority in choice and charter enrollment under HB 354.
The bill will be taken into effect immediately after receiving the governor’s signature.
Safe School Zones
With goals of addressing the acts of violence committed on college and university campuses across the U.S., HB 311 would add post-secondary colleges and universities to the Safe School Zone criminal offense. Any person knowingly possessing a firearm while on or in a higher education institute’s campus or facility would be charged with this additional offense.
However, the Safe School Zone doesn’t include state or locally-owned or maintained roads, streets, and pedestrian routes and bike paths that run through or adjacent to areas controlled by any public or private college or university, which are open full-time to public traffic, the bill said.
The bill also adds commissioned security guards to the category of individuals who may possess a firearm while acting in their official capacity within the Safe School Zone.
The bill will be in effect once it is signed into law by Gov. Carney.
FAILED
Financial support for human trafficking victims
Introduced in February, HB 307 would provide a tuition waiver to human trafficking victims enrolled at the University of Delaware, Delaware State University or Delaware Technical Community College.
The bill, applicable to full-time students residing in Delaware, would cover tuition, meal plans, fees and on-campus housing for up to five years. Eligible students must have applied for and accepted all forms of financial aid, except loans.
The Department of Justice would work with colleges and universities to approve tuition waiver applications by certifying that students qualify as human trafficking victims.
While the DOJ would designate a staff person to serve as a point of contact for schools seeking certification, schools would also designate a staff person to help students apply for the waiver and work with the DOJ.
The bill never received a committee hearing.
Delaware Teacher Academy scholarships
Under HB 331, students who completed a Delaware Teacher Academy and are enrolled in a Delaware Educator Preparation Program would have access to a scholarship that would supplement the Educator Support Scholarship.
The scholarship intends to fill a $2500 funding gap for aspiring educators in their first year at an Educator Preparation Program.
Despite being voted out of the House Education Committee in March, the bill never received further legislative action this year.
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