Rep. Eric Morrison

This Act creates a special open enrollment period for persons who are already enrolled in a Medicare supplement policy or certificate to cancel their existing policy or certificate and purchase another Medicare supplement policy or certificate that provides the same or lesser benefits. Only persons who are already enrolled in a Medicare supplement policy or certificate are eligible for the special open enrollment period. The special enrollment period begins 30 days before an eligible person's birthday and remains open for at least 30 days following the eligible person's birthday. During this special open enrollment period, individuals switching from one Medicare supplement policy to another cannot be denied coverage and coverage and rates cannot be dependent upon the person’s medical history. The Act also obligates issuers to notify eligible persons who are enrolled in their Medicare supplement policies or certificates of the dates of the open enrollment period, at least 30 days before it begins, and of any modification to the benefits provided by the policy under which the person is currently insured. This Act also allows persons enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan to cancel their existing policy, enroll in Medicare during the annual Medicare open enrollment period and apply for a Medicare supplement policy. For individuals switching from Medicare Advantage to a Medicare supplement policy, the Act prohibits issuers of Medicare supplement policies from denying applications for such policies but does allow issuers to individually rate and apply a pre-existing condition limitation.

Like House Bill No. 15, this Act permits early childhood educators in the public schools to use and encourage play-based learning in their classrooms and in their curriculum. This Act permits local education agencies to provide early childhood professional development in play-based learning, which may include professional development programs developed by the Department of Education. This Act also permits the Department to promulgate regulations for purposes of implementing this Act. This House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 15 incorporates the changes from House Amendment 1 to House Bill No. 15 with respect to the definitions of early childhood education and early childhood educators encompassing education from prekindergarten through second grade, adding topics that may be included in materials developed to provide ongoing early childhood professional development in play-based learning, and making technical corrections for clarity. This House Substitute also updates the definition of “play” and “play-based learning” contained in House Bill No. 15 and adds a definition for “guided play”.

This Act enacts the Interstate Compact for School Psychologists (“Compact”), which is designed to facilitate the interstate practice of school psychology in educational settings. School-based mental health services are in high demand in Delaware, but workforce shortages can make it difficult to meet that demand. By creating an additional licensing pathway for school psychologists to obtain equivalent licenses to practice school psychology in any state that is a member of the Compact, the Act aims to increase the availability of school psychological services for students in this State. The Interstate Compact for School Psychologists must be enacted in 7 states to become effective. The Compact has been enacted in 2 states and legislation is pending in several others.

This Act requires schools that receive federal funding ensure students, staff, and faculty are protected from sex-based discrimination and sex-based harassment. The Act further requires schools to communicate to students, through their website, the existence of Title IX administrators as required by federal law. The Act requires the school’s website provide information explaining the roles and duties of Title IX administrators, how to contact the appropriate Title IX administrator, and the school’s Title IX policy. The Act ensures that students have access to the appropriate forms to start a complaint and access to the FAQ link provided by U.S. Office of Civil Rights. The Act instructs the school to provide an explanation and examples of possible supportive measures for students who experience sex-based discrimination or sex-based harassment. The Act instructs the Title IX coordinator of every Title IX school to provide a written reminder to school staff and faculty at the beginning of the academic year, outlining the school’s Title IX policy regarding the reporting of sex-based discrimination, including sex-based harassment.

This Act requires that members of school boards, including charter school boards, receive training on all of the following: 1. Requirements for school board meetings under this title and the Freedom of Information Act, Chapter 100 of Title 29. 2. Best practices regarding the conduct of meetings, including the use of rules of order. 3. The State Employees’, Officers’ and Officials’ Code of Conduct, subchapter I. of Chapter 58 of Title 29. Most school boards already provide training that satisfies the requirements under this Act and the training and notices required under this Act may be combined with the training and notices already required under § 1803 of Title 14 for required financial responsibility training.

Maddy summaryHB 64 requires Delaware school boards to provide remote access for public participation in meetings, directly affecting school board members and community residents. The bill mandates that meetings include a functional online platform - such as live streaming or video conferencing - allowing the public to view proceedings and submit comments remotely. This change ensures that residents who cannot attend in person, including those with mobility challenges or during emergencies, can engage with school governance. The provision applies to all regular and special school board meetings under Delaware law. It focuses on practical accessibility without altering school policies or funding.

Under current law, both school board members who are elected and those who are appointed to fill vacancies until the next election are required to complete a background check. However, the statute is currently unclear as to how a background check gets done and who is responsible for reviewing the background check for an appointment. This Act makes clear that a person may not be appointed unless a background check has been completed and the Commissioner of Elections has determined the person is qualified for the seat, in the same manner the Commissioner completes that duty for candidates for school board elections.

The language of this Act is identical to Senate Bill No. 25 of the 153rd General Assembly. The only difference between this Act and Senate Bill No. 25 is the title, which has been changed to clarify that the language includes the Public Employment Relations Act of Title 19. This Act allows an employee organization to file a petition with the Board to become the exclusive representative of an appropriate bargaining unit for the purpose of collective bargaining. In the event an employee organization provides over 50% of the employees’ approval, through their authorized signatures, then the Board may not order an election but must certify the employee organization. This Act also makes technical corrections to confirm existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This House Substitute No. 1 provides that if a school board allows school board members to attend meetings remotely through electronic means, then permission to attend remotely must be granted in the case of any of the following: illness of the school board member; illness of an individual in the school board member’s family where that individual requires caretaking; a public health emergency; pregnancy or immediate postpartum care responsibilities of the school board member or the school board member’s spouse or partner; or military deployment of the school board member. This substitute for House Bill No. 83 differs from the original in that it does not require school boards to allow remote attendance. But if the school board does allow remote attendance, it provides the permissible reasons remote attendance may be allowed, allows a school board to limit the number of times permission to attend remotely may be granted, and indicates that a school board may not add to the statutory reasons for remote attendance. It also expands the permissible reasons from the original bill to include pregnancy or postpartum complications of a board member’s spouse or partner.

Each year, the Department of Education (Department) publishes data regarding all Delaware public schools, currently known as School Performance Data Reports (reports). These reports are available on the Department’s website as the Delaware Report Card. This Act revises current law to correspond with and codify current Department practices regarding these reports as follows: • Changes the term “Education Profile” to “education-related data” to reflect the broad range of data that the Department publishes, in addition to the annual reports required under existing State and federal law. • Requires that there is a link to these reports on the school choice website. • Requires that these reports continue to include proficiency rates. In addition, this Act requires that the Department do all of the following: • Provide a link to these reports on the home page of the Department’s website. • Include a list of a career pathways offered at a high school in these reports. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual which includes revisions to clarify repetitive, confusing, or contradictory language.