This Act establishes the following principles in regards to public library material: (1) Library material is provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all persons the library serves; (2) Library material should not be excluded, removed, or prohibited from a catalogue because of the origin, background, or views of a persons who created the material; (3) Material should not be excluded, removed, or prohibited from a library because of partisan, ideological, or religious disapproval. This Act requires that public libraries adopt a library collection development policy consistent with the foregoing principles. The written policy must include the policy and procedure that libraries will follow when receiving and reviewing objections to library material. It further requires that all library material that is under review due to an objection must remain available for use by library patrons until the review process is concluded. It also prohibits the governing body of a library from suspending, disciplining, or otherwise retaliating against an employee of a library that acts in accordance with the State principles and media content policy. This Act also creates similar requirements for school libraries and requires that public schools create policies and procedures for reviewing objections to school library material that conform to the established collection development policy for school libraries. Within these policies and procedures, school libraries must include: (1) a uniform process to submit an objection to material in a school library; (2) a requirement that material under review due to an objection remain available for use by students and school personnel until the review process is concluded; and (3) a reasonable timeline to conduct and conclude the review process. An appeal of a decision determining whether school library material may remain in the school library may be made to the board of the local education agency. A final appeal from the decision of the board of the local education agency may be made to a School Library Review Committee, which is made up of the following individuals or the individual’s designee: (1) The President of the School Chiefs’ Association. (2) The State Librarian. (3) The Secretary of the Department of Education. (4) The President of the Delaware State Education Association. (5) The President of the Association of School Administrators. (6) The President of the Delaware Association of School Librarians. (7) The President of the Delaware Library Association.
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Currently, the Delaware Volunteer Fire Service Revolving Loan Fund may only obtain funding from the General Assembly through appropriation. This Act would allow for funding and donations to be made by any person, charitable organizations, and counties of the State. When a county contributes to the Fund, the Act requires the Fund ensure county specific contributions are spent on loans to fire companies within that county. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware legislative Drafting Manual.
Section 1 of this Act requires that $7,000 be paid for the funeral expenses of a deceased member of a volunteer fire company, volunteer fire company ladies auxiliary, or volunteer ambulance and rescue. Consistent with a legal interpretation of the existing law by state agencies, Section 1 of this Act continues to enable the payment of funeral expenses for the funeral of a deceased member of a volunteer fire company, volunteer fire company ladies auxiliary, or volunteer ambulance and rescue company even if the member was also a state employee entitled to burial benefits under § 8331 of Title 11, § 8395 of Title 11, § 8846 of Title 11, or § 5316 of Title 29. However, Section 1 of this Act makes changes to existing law to make this legal interpretation clear and to specifically identify the state employee burial benefits to which this provision applies. Section 2 of this Act delays the effect of this Act until October 1, 2025, to provide time to implement this Act after the enactment of the fiscal year 2026 appropriations act containing the funding for this Act. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act supports critical health care workforce research and planning efforts by giving the Division of Public Health and the Delaware Health Care Commission the ability to obtain comprehensive workforce-related data from the Division of Professional Regulation. It requires the Division of Public Health’s Office of Healthcare Provider Resources to collaborate with the Delaware Health Care Commission and the Division of Professional Regulation to determine what data should be collected from health care providers during the licensing and renewal process to assist the Division of Public Health with workforce research and planning. This Act also directs the Division of Professional Regulation to collect health care workforce-related data during the licensing or renewal processes. The data collected will be for purpose of health care workforce research and planning and will not include personal information such as personal financial information. The health care provider licensing process provides a rich opportunity for this State to obtain information it needs to ensure that its health care workforce is equipped to meet the needs of Delaware residents. Collecting data with the goal of informing health care workforce research and planning is a common practice nationwide, with at least 28 states collecting health care workforce data as part of the licensing process. Such data will fill crucial gaps in the Division of Public Health’s ability to understand health care workforce needs and develop policies and programs aimed at meeting them. As is currently the case, health care workforce data collected by the Division of Professional Regulation may only be used for official state business. This Act provides that official state business includes the following purposes specific to health care workforce research and planning: 1. Identifying and tracking data related to Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), Maternity Care Target Areas (MCTAs), and Medically Underserved Areas and Populations (MUA/Ps), and other initiatives identified by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. 2. Health care workforce research and planning. 3. Understanding issues related to supply, demand, distribution, and use of health care workers. 4. Informing health care workforce policy. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law with the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
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 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.
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.
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.
This Act makes changes to the Delaware Child Care Act to clarify that early education programs run by state or local education agencies are subject to a parallel regulatory and monitoring structure administered by the Office of Child Care Licensing to ensure health, safety, and child development standards are met.
This Act enters Delaware into the Social Work Licensure Compact. This will allow social workers to obtain a multistate license among the member states. Delaware will join the Compact Commission that is comprised of membership of all states that have enacted the Compact. Enough states have enacted the Compact that the Commission has been created and the applications for licensure could start in late 2025. Currently, at least 24 states have joined the Compact, while another 18 have pending legislation to enact the Compact, including Maryland and Pennsylvania. This Substitute changes the Chapter and Section numbers to place the Chapter in a more appropriate place in the code, and it corrects internal references to the new section numbers.