AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION OF PUPILS.

Current Delaware regulations provide that transportation benefits must be provided for students in grades K through 6 who live 1 or more miles from the schools to which district administrators would normally assign them. In grades 7 through 12, the same students are entitled to transportation benefits if they live 2 or more miles from their assigned public schools. See 14 Del. Admin. C. § 1150-12.1. This Act expands transportation benefits to students in grades 7 and 8 who live 1 or more miles from the public schools to which district administrators would normally assign them. This Act takes effect upon enactment and allows immediate implementation while also providing schools until September 1, 2023, to implement. In addition, this Act does the following: - Amends the section header for § 2905, Title 14 to more accurately reflect the section’s subject matter. - Clarifies the Department of Education’s authority to promulgate rules and regulations regarding the transportation of students who are in public elementary and secondary schools. Section 2905 already expressly grants promulgation authority to the Department regarding nonpublic, nonprofit schools. - Clarifies that the new provision of transportation benefits for students in grades K through 8 applies only to students who attend the public school in which their enrollment is based on the residences of their parents; it does not apply to students who attend charter schools or, by choice, schools in different districts. - Makes several technical changes to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including changes to consistently refer to “students” instead of using both “students” and “pupils” within the same section.