Delaware 153rd General Assembly (2025-2026) Status: Passed Senate Bipartisan · 5 D · 1 R cosponsors

SB 253 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SCHOOL BULLYING.

Last action — Signed by Governor

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced March 09, 2026. It now moves to the second chamber.

Next likely step: consideration and a floor vote in the House.

Odds of enactment

High chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a high chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 74% · high confidence

  • Passed Senate

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 8 sponsors

    8 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (5 D · 1 R) — cross-party backing.

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 3 recorded votes so far.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

In plain language

This bill updates parent notification rules for school bullying incidents in Delaware.

The bill changes how schools notify parents about bullying by removing the requirement for a specific Department of Justice form. It aligns the law with current practices regarding student behavior.

What this means for you
  • Families: This means families will receive notifications about bullying incidents without the need for a specific DOJ form.

Summary

This Act revises the parent notification requirements for school bullying policies by repealing the requirement that notification be made using a form generated by the Department of Justice (DOJ). This change conforms to DOJ’s current practices and procedures related to involvement with student behavior issues. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

25 added · 11 removed

Plain-language change summary

The amendment to SB 253 changes the requirement for notifying parents about students involved in bullying incidents. It removes the need for schools to use a specific form generated by the Department of Justice and instead allows for flexibility in how notifications are made, aligning with the Department of Justice’s current practices. This adjustment may streamline the notification process for schools while still ensuring parents are informed of bullying situations involving their children.

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Rep.
Sen.
Sturgeon & Rep.
Williams HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE AMENDMENT NO.
Williams Sens.
1 TO SENATE BILL NO.
Hansen, Sokola;
253 AMEND Senate Bill No.
Reps.
253 by deleting line 7 as it appears therein and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
Berry, Gorman, Harris, S.
“j.
Moore, Romer DELAWARE STATE SENATE 153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY SENATE BILL NO.
A requirement that the school use the Department of Education’s template to notify a parent of any a student who is an alleged target of bullying or an alleged”.
253 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SCHOOL BULLYING.
SYNOPSIS This Amendment requires schools to use the template developed by the Department of Education for parental notification of alleged bullying.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
DLS :
Section 1.
Amend § 4164, Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
§ 4164.
School bullying awareness and prevention;
criminal youth gang detection.
(b) Prohibition of bullying.
— (2) Each school district and charter school shall establish a policy which, at a minimum, includes all of the following components:
j.
A requirement that the school notify a parent of any a student who is a target of bullying or a perpetrator of bullying be notified and provided with a form to be generated by the Department of Justice describing the role of the Department of Justice School Ombudsman and providing contact information.
This form must also inform a parent of the parent’s right to know when the bullying incident in question has been reported to the Department of Education under paragraph (b)(2)k.
of this section.
bullying.
SYNOPSIS This Act revises the parent notification requirements for school bullying policies by repealing the requirement that notification be made using a form generated by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
This change conforms to DOJ’s current practices and procedures related to involvement with student behavior issues.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
Author:
Senator Sturgeon DLS :
05/19/2026 09:13 AM 5971530147
03/09/2026 09:21 AM 5971530122
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Action History

  1. Passed By Senate. Votes: 19 YES 2 ABSENT

  2. Passed By House. Votes: 38 YES 3 ABSENT

  3. Amendment HA 1 to SB 253 - Passed In House by Voice Vote

  4. Amendment HA 1 to SB 253 - Introduced and Placed With Bill

  5. Reported Out of Committee (Education) in House with 15 On Its Merits

  6. Assigned to Education Committee in House

  7. Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 ABSENT

  8. Reported Out of Committee (Education) in Senate with 5 On Its Merits

  9. Introduced and Assigned to Education Committee in Senate

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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8 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 54 not signed on

Sponsors (8)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (54)

54 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 54 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

SM

Passed 19 Yea · 0 Nay · 2 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 14001
Republican 5001
Total 19002
% of votes cast 90%0%0%10%
How each member voted (21)
Member Party Vote
Bryan Townsend Democratic Yea
Daniel Cruce Democratic Yea
Darius J. Brown Democratic Yea
David P. Sokola Democratic Yea
John "Jack" Walsh Democratic Yea
Kyra L. Hoffner Democratic Yea
Laura V. Sturgeon Democratic Yea
Marie Pinkney Democratic Yea
Nicole Poore Democratic Yea
Ray Seigfried Democratic Not Voting
Russell Huxtable Democratic Yea
S. Elizabeth Lockman Democratic Yea
Spiros Mantzavinos Democratic Yea
Stephanie L. Hansen Democratic Yea
Trey Paradee Democratic Yea
Brian Pettyjohn Republican Yea
Bryant L. Richardson Republican Yea
Dave G. Lawson Republican Not Voting
David L. Wilson Republican Yea
Eric Buckson Republican Yea
Gerald W. Hocker Republican Yea

Official roll call →

SM

Passed 38 Yea · 0 Nay · 3 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 26001
Republican 12002
Total 38003
% of votes cast 93%0%0%7%
How each member voted (41)
Member Party Vote
Alonna Berry Democratic Yea
Claire Snyder-Hall Democratic Yea
Cyndie Romer Democratic Yea
DeShanna U Neal Democratic Yea
Debra Heffernan Democratic Yea
Edward S. Osienski Democratic Yea
Eric Morrison Democratic Yea
Frank Burns Democratic Yea
Franklin D. Cooke Democratic Yea
Josue O Ortega Democratic Yea
Kamela T Smith Democratic Yea
Kendra Johnson Democratic Yea
Kerri Evelyn Harris Democratic Yea
Kimberly Williams Democratic Yea
Krista Griffith Democratic Yea
Larry Lambert Democratic Yea
Madinah Wilson-Anton Democratic Yea
Mara Gorman Democratic Yea
Melanie Ross Levin Democratic Yea
Melissa Minor-Brown Democratic Yea
Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha Democratic Yea
Sean M. Lynn Democratic Yea
Sherae'a Moore Democratic Not Voting
Sophie Phillips Democratic Yea
Stephanie T. Bolden Democratic Yea
William Bush Democratic Yea
William J. Carson Democratic Yea
Bryan W. Shupe Republican Yea
Charles S Postles Jr. Republican Yea
Daniel B. Short Republican Yea
Jeff Hilovsky Republican Yea
Jeffrey N. Spiegelman Republican Yea
Jesse R. Vanderwende Republican Yea
Kevin S Hensley Republican Not Voting
Lyndon D. Yearick Republican Yea
Michael F. Smith Republican Yea
Richard G. Collins Republican Yea
Ronald E. Gray Republican Yea
Shannon Morris Republican Yea
Timothy D. Dukes Republican Not Voting
Valerie Jones Giltner Republican Yea

Official roll call →

SM

Passed 20 Yea · 0 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Republican 6000
Democratic 14001
Total 20001
% of votes cast 95%0%0%5%
How each member voted (21)
Member Party Vote
Bryan Townsend Democratic Yea
Daniel Cruce Democratic Yea
Darius J. Brown Democratic Yea
David P. Sokola Democratic Yea
John "Jack" Walsh Democratic Yea
Kyra L. Hoffner Democratic Yea
Laura V. Sturgeon Democratic Yea
Marie Pinkney Democratic Yea
Nicole Poore Democratic Not Voting
Ray Seigfried Democratic Yea
Russell Huxtable Democratic Yea
S. Elizabeth Lockman Democratic Yea
Spiros Mantzavinos Democratic Yea
Stephanie L. Hansen Democratic Yea
Trey Paradee Democratic Yea
Brian Pettyjohn Republican Yea
Bryant L. Richardson Republican Yea
Dave G. Lawson Republican Yea
David L. Wilson Republican Yea
Eric Buckson Republican Yea
Gerald W. Hocker Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

public-safety education
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does SB 253 do?
This Act revises the parent notification requirements for school bullying policies by repealing the requirement that notification be made using a form generated by the Department of Justice (DOJ). This change conforms to DOJ’s current practices and procedures related to involvement with student behavior issues. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
Who sponsors SB 253?
SB 253 is sponsored by Stell Parker Selby, Cyndie Romer (Democratic), Kerri Evelyn Harris (Democratic), Mara Gorman (Democratic), David P. Sokola (Democratic), Melanie Ross Levin, Brian Pettyjohn (Republican), and Laura V. Sturgeon (Democratic).
What is the current status of SB 253?
This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced March 09, 2026. It now moves to the second chamber.
Where can I track SB 253?
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