Education

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 Act is a substitute for HB 379 which includes revisions to the school and district level component section of Chapter 16 to align the code with current State and National guidelines for education. This Act reduces the emphasis on discipline and focuses instead on guidelines to promote a positive learning environment that assists students at risk for or experiencing academic or behavior problems. This Act repeals § 1605A of Title 14 as § 1605 of Title 14 now addresses its contents. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act updates how academic eligibility for driver education certification is calculated because many high schools have moved from the traditional 7-period school day to various forms of block scheduling. Under this Act, the Department of Education must establish, through regulations, how equivalent credit is calculated for courses taught on a block schedule or when the full length of a course is less than 1 year. This Act also adds world language to the academic courses from which a student may satisfy the credit requirement. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

According to the Arts Education Partnership, 27 states currently include arts course credits as a requirement for high school graduation, and several states have implemented diploma seals or similar recognition programs to incentivize participation. This Act directs the Department of Education to establish the Delaware Certificate of Arts Excellence to recognize high school students who demonstrate sustained engagement and achievement in the arts. Establishing a similar program in Delaware could help increase arts enrollment, elevate the value of arts education, and support students interested in pursuing creative professions.

This Act requires public schools serving grades 7 to 12 that issue pupil identification cards to print on either side of the card the following information, which previously was optional for the public schools: (1) Teen Dating Violence Hotline:1-866-331-9474 or Text “loveis” to 22522. (2) Stop Bullying Now Hotline: 1-800-273-8255(TALK). Sections 1 and 2 of this Act remove application dates from the previous enactments of laws related to information printed on pupil identification cards for public schools serving grades 7 to 12 and on student identification cards for public institutions of higher learning. These application dates could be interpreted to mean that the previous enactments of these laws were to be effective only during the stated school years. By removing these application dates and establishing the effective date in Section 5 of this Act, these laws will be effective on July 1, 2026. This Act also makes technical corrections in Sections 3 and 4 of this Act to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act removes the up to 10% increase in school property taxes allowed after reassessment This Act takes effect July 1, 2025, and applies to all public school tax rates after July 1, 2025.

The Delaware State Inspire Scholarship Program (Inspire scholarship) pays undergraduate tuition for 8 semesters at Delaware State University (DSU). Some students complete their undergraduate degrees in less than 8 semesters because they take heavier than average course loads each semester or because they earned college credits during high school. This Act aims to reward students for their hard work and provide additional access and opportunity for them to continue their higher education by allowing students to use the Inspire scholarship program towards additional levels of higher education if the student obtains their undergraduate degree before using all 8 semesters of eligibility. Specifically, this Act extends eligibility for Inspire scholarships as follows: 1. Under current law, most students may use Inspire grant money for up to 8 continuous semesters towards a bachelor's degree at DSU. This Act allows students who complete a bachelor's degree in less than 8 continuous semesters to use the remaining Inspire grant money towards a graduate degree program at DSU. 2. The Inspire scholarship program provides additional time for individuals who lived in foster care to complete an undergraduate degree. This Act makes corresponding changes to the eligibility for these individuals so that they also can use remaining Inspire grant money towards a graduate degree at DSU if they complete their undergraduate degree before exhausting the time available to do so. In addition, this Act modifies 2 requirements for eligibility for the Inspire scholarship program for students using the scholarship for a graduate degree program so that students may be enrolled on a part-time basis and are not required to maintain continuous enrollment. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act is a Substitute for SB 142 and differs from SB 142 in the following ways: 1. Specifies that schools must provide age-appropriate training to students about the dangers and warning signs of sexual extortion, including online safety. 2. Delays implementation of employee training and student instruction to August 1, 2027. 3. Makes additional technical corrections to § 4163 of Title 14. In 2022, the FBI reported that law enforcement received over 7,000 reports related to the financial sexual extortion of minors, resulting in 3,000 victims and more than a dozen suicides. In 2023, South Carolina adopted “Gavin’s Law” in honor of Gavin Guffey, the son of Representative Brandon Guffey. Gavin was victim of sexual extortion, which led him to tragically take his own life at only 17 years old. Gavin’s Law created the crime of sexual extortion in South Carolina. In Delaware, sexual extortion is a crime under § 774 of Title 11. It is classified as a Class E felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison. This Act increases the penalty for sexual extortion to a Class B felony, which is punishable by a minimum of 2 years in prison up to a maximum of 25 years in prison, under the following circumstances: 1. The defendant is an adult and the victim is a child, as defined in § 1100 of Title 11, or a vulnerable adult, as defined in §1105 of Title 11. 2. The defendant’s sexual extortion of the victim causes the victim to suffer serious physical injury or death. Gavin’s Law also requires school districts to educate students, and their parents or guardians, about the crime of sexual extortion. South Carolina’s Department of Education recommended including the required education in the Erin’s Law curriculum. Delaware has adopted its own version of Erin’s Law, under § 4163 of Title 14, that requires school districts and charter schools to provide appropriate training to employees and students, and to provide information to parents, about personal body safety, child safety, and how to detect and report child abuse. This Act specifies that information about the crime of sexual extortion must be included in the educational programming required by Erin’s Law. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including restructuring § 774 of Title 11.

With 60% of U.S. households living paycheck to paycheck, 40% of Americans having less than $300 in savings, 33% of Americans having saved nothing for retirement, 95% of Americans having not saved enough for retirement, and 87% of American teens admitting not understanding their finances, financial literacy education in Delaware high schools is needed. This Act, which may be cited as “The Equity and Inclusion in Financial Literacy for All High School Students in Delaware Act”, requires high schools to provide, at a minimum, a 1/2 credit on financial literacy. And, beginning with students entering grade 9 in the 2026 through 2027 school year, successful completion of the credit will be required to obtain a high school diploma. This Act requires the credit to include instruction which meets the financial literacy standards for high school students adopted by the Department of Education. This substitute corrects a reference from "course" to "credit" in the synopsis.

This Act updates the Delaware Volunteerism Act to specify that high school students may complete their community service with local fire departments to obtain up to 1 elective credit. It also requires schools to notify students of the opportunity to earn elective credit through volunteer work at or before the time students select their classes. This Act also allows the Department of Education to promulgate regulations to implement the Delaware Volunteerism Act. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.