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.
In 2025, the General Assembly passed House Bill No. 242 (now found at Chapter 135, Volume 85 of the Laws of Delaware), allowing school districts located entirely in New Castle County to use different tax rates for residential and non-residential properties. This Act amends the Delaware Code to continue the authority for non-vocational technical school districts in New Castle County to utilize a residential and non-residential tax rate for school tax purposes. Such a split rate may be established or adjusted in the year after a general reassessment or as part of a referendum. The rate must be uniform for each class of property. Under this Act, the non-residential rate must be at least equal to the residential rate and may be no more than 1.85 times the residential rate. For purposes of the split tax rate, a school district must follow the classifications of the county in which the district is located. Under the transition provisions of this Act, a district that initially established split tax rates under the authority of House Bill No. 242, may continue to use those split rates at the same or a lower ratio between residential and non-residential tax rates established in the 2025-2026 tax year. But if a district’s non-residential tax rate for the 2025-2026 tax year was more than 1.85 times the residential tax rate, it must adjust its rates to meet the 1.85 maximum ratio permitted under this Act. The New Castle County Vocational Technical District may not continue the use of different tax rates past the 2025-2026 tax year. The Act also changes the amount a school district must add to its tax rate to account for delinquencies and late payments to “up to 10%” rather than requiring that a school district must add exactly 10% to its tax rate for this purpose. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform this chapter of the Delaware Code to the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and strikes references to the City of Wilmington School District, which no longer exists. It also revises § 1913 of Title 14 to reflect current practice. It strikes an outdated requirement in § 1918 of Title 14 that the school districts deliver a copy of the assessment list to the County along with their tax warrant. This is inconsistent with the role of the school districts and with current practice.
This Act provides special authority to school districts in New Castle County to reset their tax rate for the 2026-2027 tax year. This authority is necessary because several adjustments to the New Castle County tax roll are continuing to be made after the completion of the general reassessment that took effect for the 2025-2026 tax year. This includes the ongoing adjudication of appeals from the assessment values set in the general reassessment as well as quality control reviews, and potential changes pending in other legislation. This Act allows the New Castle County school districts to adjust the tax rate so that no increase in operating revenue over the prior year will be realized, with two exceptions: (1) revenue increases from approved referenda; and (2) revenue equal to the 5-year average growth rate for each district. The 5-year average growth rates for NCC districts are as follows: (1) Appoquinimink, 3.68%; (2) Brandywine, 0.54%; (3) Christina, 0.32%; (4) Colonial, 1.10%; (5) Red Clay, 0.58%; (6) Smyrna, 0.31%; and (7) New Castle County Vocational Technical, 0.96%. This Act sunsets on March 31, 2027.
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 Senate Joint Resolution directs the Delaware Department of Education to reevaluate the use of the SAT within Delaware’s accountability system while continuing to offer the SAT during the school day for students who wish to take it. The Resolution further directs the Department to engage educators statewide in developing a modernized accountability framework, explore additional measures permitted under federal law, recognize career readiness indicators such as industry credentials, dual enrollment, and work-based learning, and clarify that proficiency results are one indicator of postsecondary readiness rather than a sole measure of school quality. The Department will explore and develop a coherent high school assessment system, including a standards-aligned high school summative assessment and learning progress assessments, designed to provide timely, instructionally useful data while maintaining full compliance with federal accountability requirements.
This Act provides clarification that all individuals currently or prospectively serving as mentors to one or more students through a mentoring program under the Department of Education must submit to state and federal criminal background checks, and that they are subject to continued criminal record monitoring for 1 year.
This Act removes a requirement for a parent to provide a birth certificate as part of the uniform public school registration process. A parent may instead provide other proof of age or date of birth.
This Joint Resolution directs the Department of Education to compile and submit a comprehensive report regarding the workforce data and compensation of education support professionals for the most recent school year. The report must identify staffing levels, vacancies, average wages paid, and the number of employees earning below a $40 hourly wage threshold. The Department is further required to recommend pay scales that align with a minimum living wage and submit its findings to the General Assembly and relevant state offices by November 2, 2026.
This Act requires the Department of Education, in collaboration with school districts, charter schools, and vocational-technical school districts, to make findings and recommendations regarding the advisability of incorporating Delaware homeschool students into public school extracurricular activities within the public school that the student would be attending based on residence if that student were enrolled in public school or within charter schools or vocational-technical school districts, including the creation of a pilot program. The Department shall report its findings and recommendations by December 31, 2027. This Act expires on the date of publication in the Register of Regulations of a notice that the Department has submitted its findings and recommendations. The Director of the Division of Legislative Services shall provide notice to the Registrar of Regulations. Since the legal effect of a joint resolution would expire on November 3, 2026 (the date the General Assembly expires), this reporting requirement is being placed in the Laws of Delaware so as to continue its legal effect until the submission of notice that the Department has submitted its findings and recommendations. This Act expires on the promulgation of notice of the report required in Section 3 of this Act being submitted, which is why the Laws of Delaware are being amended rather than a more permanent change in Title 14 of the Delaware Code.
This Act codifies the Education Unit in the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (DSCYF). The Education Unit provides educational services to children and youth residing in facilities operated by DSCYF.
