Delaware 150th General Assembly (2019-2020) Status: Enacted Bipartisan · 6 D · 1 R cosponsors

SB 166 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO FREE PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND TRANSPORTATION.

Last action — Signed by Governor

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

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced June 18, 2019. Enacted.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 98% · high confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

High

How often bills like it became law.

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 8 sponsors

    2 primary, 6 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (6 D · 1 R) — cross-party backing.

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 2 recorded votes so far.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

This Act encourages school districts and charter schools to cooperate to ensure that State appropriations for school transportation are used efficiently by doing the following: 1. Codifies the Department of Education's current practice of establishing a formula, with approval of the State Board of Education, to determine appropriate transportation funds for each school district and charter school and providing a percentage of that amount to the school district and charter school. 2. Permits charter schools to enter into contracts with transportation contractors for multiple years. 3. Permits charter schools to collaborate with other local education agencies to publically bid transportation routes, to establish the safest and most cost-effective bus routes available. 4. Allows school districts and charter schools to purchase and provide annual bus passes for students to use on fixed route public transit to address the short supply of public school bus transportation. 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

11 added · 93 removed

11 line(s) added, 93 removed.

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Previous
Latest
Sen.
Rep.
Sturgeon & Rep.
Bolden HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 150th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE AMENDMENT NO.
Bolden Sens.
1 TO SENATE BILL NO.
Brown, Lockman, Lopez, Sokola, Townsend, Wilson DELAWARE STATE SENATE 150th GENERAL ASSEMBLY SENATE BILL NO.
166 AMEND Senate Bill No.
166 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO FREE PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND TRANSPORTATION.
166 after line 67 by inserting the following:
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
“Section 6.
Section 1.
Each District and Charter School shall provide an annual Report on the 30 day after school opens to the Public School Transportation Committee providing the number of students utilizing DART annual student bus passes.” SYNOPSIS This Amendment requires District and Charter Schools to report the number of students using DART passes each year.
Amend § 409, Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
HD :
§ 409.
RK :
Transportation.
MAW Page 1 of 1 Released:
(a) The parent of any child enrolled in a district other than the district of residence, or enrolled in a school within the district of residence other than the school in which the child would normally be enrolled based upon the residence of the child's parent or parents, shall be responsible for transporting the child without reimbursement to and from a point on a regular bus route of the receiving district.
06/30/2019 04:24 PM 2141500187
(b) A child in grades 6 through 12 may use an annual student bus pass under § 2901(c) of this title.
Section 2.
Amend § 508, Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
§ 508.
Responsibility for student transportation.
(a) The charter school may request to have the school district where the charter school is located transport students residing in that district district, at fair cost, to and from the charter school on the same basis offered to other students attending schools operated by the district, or to receive from the State a payment equal to 70% of the average cost per student of transportation within the vocational district in which the charter school is located and become responsible for the transportation of those students to and from the charter school.
In the case of students not residing in the district where the charter school is located, the parents of such students shall be responsible for transporting the child without reimbursement to and from a point on a regular bus route of the charter school.
In lieu of the payment from the State specified above, if (b) If a charter school utilizes a contractor for student transportation transportation, the charter school shall publically may do any of the following:
(1) Publically bid the transportation routes, and the State shall reimburse the charter school for the actual bid costs only if lower than the payment specified above.
either alone or with other local education agencies.
LC :
DIG :
CM Page 1 of 3 Released:
06/18/2019 04:20 PM (2) Negotiate a contract for 1 or more years for contractor payment for school transportation up to the maximum rate under subsection (a) of this section.
a.
If a transportation contract includes a fuel adjustment provision, the charter school is responsible for increased payments to the contractor.
b.
If a transportation contract is for multiple years, all of the following apply:
1.
Funding for the contract is guaranteed by State funds for the first year of the contract.
2.
Funding for each year after the first year of the contract is a local commitment until the allocation under subsection (a) of this section is determined for that year.
(c) A charter school may choose to offer annual student bus passes under § 2901(c) of this title.
(d) Notwithstanding the foregoing, any provisions under this section, a student at a charter school shall receive such transportation assistance as is made available to students pursuant to a public school choice program established by this Code provided that such student otherwise meets the eligibility requirements for such assistance.
(e) In the event If a charter school chooses to transport students itself, it the charter school shall do so in accordance with all public school transportation safety regulations.
(f) Local school districts and charter schools shall cooperate to ensure that the implementation of this chapter does not result in inefficient use of state State appropriations for public school transportation and the State Board shall exercise its authority to approve bus routes so as to avoid such waste.
Section 3.
Amend § 2901, Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
§ 2901.
Show all 80 changed rows (40 more)
Previous
Latest
Regulations governing design and operation of school bus.
buses;
annual student bus passes.
(c) School districts and charter schools may purchase annual student bus passes from the Delaware Transit Corporation for use on fixed route public transit by students in grades 6 through 12.
(1) A school district or charter school must negotiate an agreement with the Delaware Transit Corporation regarding the method of purchasing and tracking bus passes under this subsection.
(2) Students may not be directly reimbursed for the cost of public transportation under this subsection.
(3) A school district or charter school may not require a student to use public transportation.
(4) This subsection does not limit the manner in which schools provide transportation for students under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvement Act, 42 U.S.C.
§§ 11431 through 11435.
Section 4.
Amend § 2910, Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
LC :
DIG :
CM Page 2 of 3 Released:
06/18/2019 04:20 PM § 2910.
School bus drivers;
drug and alcohol testing.
(e) This section does not impose any additional obligations on a school district, charter school, or the Delaware Transit Corporation with a contract under § 2901(c) of this title beyond those obligations otherwise imposed upon the Delaware Transit Corporations under federal and State law.
Section 5.
Amend § 2911, Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
§ 2911.
Safety standards for other vehicles.
(a) After July 1, 1998, newly purchased and newly leased vehicles with a rated capacity, as defined by the manufacturer, to carry more than 10 passengers in addition to the driver that are used to transport preprimary, primary primary, and secondary pupils between home and school or to school-related events shall meet state and federal specifications and safety standards applicable to school buses.
Contract charter buses meeting federal DOT standards may be used for field trips.
(b) This section does not impose any additional obligations on a school district, charter school, or the Delaware Transit Corporation with a contract under § 2901(c) of this title beyond those obligations otherwise imposed upon the Delaware Transit Corporations under federal and State law.
SYNOPSIS This Act encourages school districts and charter schools to cooperate to ensure that State appropriations for school transportation are used efficiently by doing the following:
1.
Codifies the Department of Education's current practice of establishing a formula, with approval of the State Board of Education, to determine appropriate transportation funds for each school district and charter school and providing a percentage of that amount to the school district and charter school.
2.
Permits charter schools to enter into contracts with transportation contractors for multiple years.
3.
Permits charter schools to collaborate with other local education agencies to publically bid transportation routes, to establish the safest and most cost-effective bus routes available.
4.
Allows school districts and charter schools to purchase and provide annual bus passes for students to use on fixed route public transit to address the short supply of public school bus transportation.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
Author:
Senator Sturgeon LC :
DIG :
CM Page 3 of 3 Released:
06/18/2019 04:20 PM 5971500185
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View plain text versions (2)

Action History

  1. Signed by Governor

  2. Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES

  3. Lifted From Table in Senate

  4. Laid On Table in Senate

  5. Suspension of Rules in Senate

  6. Passed By House. Votes: 41 YES

  7. Amendment HA 1 to SB 166 - Passed In House by Voice Vote

  8. Reported Out of Committee (Education) in House with 11 On Its Merits

  9. Assigned to Education Committee in House

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

  11. Reported Out of Committee (Education) in Senate with 1 Favorable, 3 On Its Merits

  12. Introduced and Assigned to Education Committee in Senate

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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2 sponsors · 6 co-sponsors · 54 not signed on

Sponsors (2)

Co-sponsors (6)

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 41 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 17000
Democratic 12000
Republican 12000
Total 41000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (41)
Member Party Vote
Andria L. Bennett — Yea
David Bentz — Yea
Earl G. Jaques Jr. — Yea
Gerald L. Brady — Yea
John A. Kowalko — Yea
John J. Viola — Yea
John L. Mitchell — Yea
Michael Ramone — Yea
Paul S. Baumbach — Yea
Peter C. Schwartzkopf — Yea
Quinton Johnson — Yea
Raymond Seigfried — Yea
Ruth Briggs King — Yea
Sean Matthews — Yea
Sherry Dorsey Walker — Yea
Stephen Smyk — Yea
Valerie Longhurst — Yea
Debra Heffernan Democratic Yea
Edward S. Osienski Democratic Yea
Franklin D. Cooke Democratic Yea
Kendra Johnson Democratic Yea
Kimberly Williams Democratic Yea
Krista Griffith Democratic Yea
Melissa Minor-Brown Democratic Yea
Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha Democratic Yea
Sean M. Lynn 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
Jeffrey N. Spiegelman Republican Yea
Jesse R. Vanderwende Republican Yea
Kevin S Hensley Republican Yea
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 Yea

Official roll call →

SM

Passed 20 Yea · 0 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 6001
Democratic 9000
Republican 5000
Total 20001
% of votes cast 95%0%0%5%
How each member voted (21)
Member Party Vote
Anthony Delcollo — Yea
Bruce C. Ennis — Yea
Catherine Cloutier — Not Voting
Colin Bonini — Yea
David B. McBride — Yea
Ernesto B Lopez — Yea
Harris B. McDowell — Yea
Bryan Townsend Democratic Yea
Darius J. Brown Democratic Yea
David P. Sokola Democratic Yea
John "Jack" Walsh Democratic Yea
Laura V. Sturgeon Democratic Yea
Nicole Poore Democratic Yea
S. Elizabeth Lockman 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
Gerald W. Hocker Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

transportation 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 166 do?
This Act encourages school districts and charter schools to cooperate to ensure that State appropriations for school transportation are used efficiently by doing the following: 1. Codifies the Department of Education's current practice of establishing a formula, with approval of the State Board of Education, to determine appropriate transportation funds for each school district and charter school and providing a percentage of that amount to the school district and charter school. 2. Permits charter schools to enter into contracts with transportation contractors for multiple years. 3. Permits charter schools to collaborate with other local education agencies to publically bid transportation routes, to establish the safest and most cost-effective bus routes available. 4. Allows school districts and charter schools to purchase and provide annual bus passes for students to use on fixed route public transit to address the short supply of public school bus transportation. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
Who sponsors SB 166?
SB 166 is sponsored by David L. Wilson (Republican), Bryan Townsend (Democratic), David P. Sokola (Democratic), S. Elizabeth Lockman (Democratic), Darius J. Brown (Democratic), Stephanie T. Bolden (Democratic), Laura V. Sturgeon (Democratic), and Ernesto B Lopez.
What is the current status of SB 166?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced June 18, 2019. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 166?
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