Delaware 151st General Assembly (2021-2022) Status: Enacted Bipartisan · 9 D · 3 R cosponsors

SB 82 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOL REGISTRATION.

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 May 18, 2021. Enacted.

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 98% · high confidence

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 15 sponsors

    3 primary, 12 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (9 D · 3 R) — cross-party backing.

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 2 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.

Summary

This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 82. Like Senate Bill 82, this Substitute does all of the following: (1) Codifies the Department of Education’s (“Department”) current efforts to establish a uniform public school registration process and requires that, beginning with the 2023 through 2024 school year, all public schools shall use the uniform public school registration process. This registration process will simplify the process for families, enable public schools to engage with families and plan in advance of the school year, and integrate data systems to eliminate duplication of effort. (2) Requires the uniform public school registration process to be Internet-based and in paper form and in English and Spanish and may be in other languages. This Act also requires that certain information must be provided in the process and that the Internet-based uniform public school registration process must include certain features. (3)Requires the Department to provide training to certain school district and charter school employees regarding the uniform public school registration process and issue guidelines for privacy of information submitted as part of the registration process. (4) Requires the Department to report to the Governor and General Assembly, no later than March 14, 2022, on the Department’s ability to connect the Internet-based uniform public school registration process to other Internet-based systems that are used to collect student data by the State; the Department; a licensed child care provider, including Head Start; or a public school serving preschool through age 21. This Substitute differs from Senate Bill No. 82 by doing all of the following: (1) Clarifying that a student must be registered in the student’s school district of residence before being eligible for the school choice process. (2) Requiring a public school be certified as completing training from the Department on the uniform public school registration process before providing paper forms as part of the in-person registration process. (3) Requiring the Department to provide uniform information about the uniform public school registration process to public schools and requiring the public schools to post the information on the school’s website and in other publications. (4) Requiring a public school to provide a parent with certain information after the parent completes the registration process, including the public school and school in which the child is enrolled.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

195 added · 15 removed

195 line(s) added, 15 removed.

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Lockman DELAWARE STATE SENATE 151st GENERAL ASSEMBLY SENATE AMENDMENT NO.
Lockman & Rep.
1 TO SENATE SUBSTITUTE NO.
Minor-Brown & Rep.
K.
Williams Sens.
Ennis, Gay, Pinkney, Poore, Wilson;
Reps.
Baumbach, Heffernan, K.
Johnson, Lambert, S.
Moore, Morris, Shupe DELAWARE STATE SENATE 151st GENERAL ASSEMBLY SENATE SUBSTITUTE NO.
82 AMEND Senate Substitute No.
82 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOL REGISTRATION.
1 for Senate Bill No.
WHEREAS, currently there are 29 school districts and charter schools that provide kindergarten services, there are 42 school districts and charter schools that accept students in grades kindergarten through 12, and many school districts and charter schools provide preschool services;
82 on line 65 by inserting “Additional information or documents required by a public school must be approved by the Secretary of the Department” after the period therein.
each with its own registration process, and most of which use paper forms requiring in-person completion;
FURTHER AMEND Senate Substitute No.
and WHEREAS, the initial registration process is burdensome and confusing for families registering their child for the first time in Delaware and data do not transfer when children change schools;
1 for Senate Bill No.
and WHEREAS, the process is burdensome for school districts and charter schools to handle paperwork and manual entry;
82 on line 88 by inserting "The common statewide physical exam form must include information to prove lead screening as required by Chapter 26 of Title 16." after the period therein.
and WHEREAS, creating early registration will help children be prepared to start school on the first day, by ensuring they have all the necessary forms completed;
SYNOPSIS This Amendment does all of the following:
and WHEREAS, early registration will enable additional months of engagement and preparation with families, including opportunities to conduct outreach well in advance of the school year and targeted outreach to those who are not yet registered or engaged;
(1) Requires the Secretary of the Department of Education to approve any additional information or documents required by a public school.
and WHEREAS, early registration helps families take advantage of choice slots, which often close by the first week in January;
(2) Makes clear that the common statewide physical exam form must include information to prove lead screening as required by Chapter 26 of Title 16 of the Delaware Code.
and WHEREAS, approximately 1 in 3 Delaware public school students exercise school choice, electing to attend other schools within their district of residence, or choice-out of their district to another public school;
and WHEREAS, 3 out of 4 Delaware parents or caregivers, before the COVID-19 pandemic, describe the kindergarten registration process as “hard” or “extremely hard”, and almost all Spanish speaking parents (98%) said the registration process was “hard” or “extremely hard”;
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05/18/2021 09:50 AM WHEREAS, families may live in one school district and move before the start of the school year, or choice into another school district or a charter school and must fill out duplicate paperwork;
and WHEREAS, a 2020 report from Tech Impact found that creating a uniform registration system would be beneficial to school districts to modernize and meet the needs of families;
and WHEREAS, school districts and charter schools should control the local implementation of welcoming families and students into their schools, continuing to hold their own open houses, school readiness events, and implementing screening through locally determined strategies;
and WHEREAS, the State currently operates a common data system and school choice portal;
and WHEREAS, the State currently requires school districts and charter schools to collect some common information.
NOW, THEREFORE:
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
Section 1.
Amend Part I, Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
Chapter 4A.
Uniform Public School Registration Process.
§ 401A.
Definitions.
For purposes of this chapter:
(1) “Charter school” means a public school established under Chapter 5 of this title.
(2) “Department” means the Department of Education.
(3) “Parent” means a natural parent, an adoptive parent, any person legally charged with the care or custody of a student under 18 years of age, or any person who has assumed responsibility for the care of a student under 18 years of age including any person acting as a caregiver pursuant to the provisions of § 202(f) of this title.
(4) “Public school” means a school district or charter school.
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(5) “Receiving local education agency” means as defined under § 402 of this title.
(6) “School district” means a clearly defined geographic subdivision of the State organized for the purpose of administering public education in that area and includes a district specifically created to administer a system of vocational or technical education.
§ 402A.
Establishment of a uniform public school registration process.
(a) The Department shall establish a uniform public school registration process to be used by a parent to register a child for school in the public school system for the first time.
The process must meet the requirements under §§ 403A and 404A of this title.
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05/18/2021 09:50 AM (b) Beginning the 2023 through 2024 school year, all public schools shall use the uniform public school registration process and shall enable registration access to that year, and each subsequent school year, before the application period for the school district enrollment choice program under § 403 of this title begins.
(c) The Department shall seek feedback from public schools and parents to guide ongoing improvements to the uniform public school registration process.
§ 403A.
Uniform public school registration process and information collection requirements.
(a) The uniform public school registration process established under § 402A of this title must meet both of the following:
(1) Be available through the Internet and in paper form.
(2) Be available in English and Spanish.
(b) The uniform public school registration process established under § 402A of this title may be made available in languages in addition to English and Spanish.
(c) The uniform public school registration process established under § 402A of this title must include all of the documents required to be completed by a parent who is registering a child for public school for the first time and must permit a public school to require additional information or documents.
(d) If a child is entering pre-kindergarten or kindergarten, the uniform public school registration process established under § 402A of this title must collect information related to the types of early learning experiences the child has had before entering pre-kindergarten or kindergarten, including the duration and time attended for each experience.
(e) A public school must be certified by the Department as completing the training provided under § 405A(1) of this title before providing paper forms as part of the uniform public school registration process.
(f) The Department shall provide to each public school information about the uniform public school registration process that the public school must post on the public school’s website and include in other publications produced by the public school.
(g) After a parent has completed the registration process, the public school shall provide the parent with all of the following information, as applicable:
(1) The public school in which the parent’s child is enrolled.
(2) The specific school to which the parent’s child is assigned based on the child’s place of residence.
(3) Information about the school choice process under Chapter 4 of this title, including that the school choice process is a process separate from the uniform public school registration process.
§ 404A.
Internet-based uniform public school registration process requirements.
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05/18/2021 09:50 AM 81 (a) The Internet-based uniform public school registration process established under § 403A of this title must do all of the following:
(1) Require a parent to do the following:
a.
Complete the online registration process.
b.
Provide proof of immunizations.
c.
For a registration of a child in prekindergarten or kindergarten, provide a completed common statewide physical exam form that includes all up-to-date American Academy of Pediatrics Bright Futures Schedule of Periodicity screening and preventative recommended measures.
d.
Provide a birth certificate.
e.
Provide proof of residency documents.
f.
For registration of a child in prekindergarten or kindergarten, provide a completed statewide, approved developmental screening that includes social and emotional components and is less than 12 months old at the time of submission or complete the developmental screening as part of the registration process.
(2) Record the date a parent registers a child for the first time.
(3) Report the number of children registered during a given month.
(4) Within 48 hours of a request to transfer information, enable information provided by a parent to be transferred, with parental approval and on verification of contact and residency information, to another public school when a child’s school district of residence changes or a parent applies to enroll the parent’s child in a receiving local education agency under Chapter 4 of this title.
(5) Permit any relevant personal document, including a birth certificate, required by a public school to be uploaded using the Internet-based uniform public school registration process.
(b) A public school shall provide computer access so that a parent may use the Internet-based uniform public school registration process to register a child for school in the public school system for the first time.
§ 405A.
Department duties.
The Department shall:
(1) Provide training on the uniform public school registration process established under this chapter to public school employees who are assigned to assist parents with the uniform public school registration process, including specific training related to the paper-based, in-person registration process.
(2) Issue guidelines for privacy of information submitted as part of the uniform public school registration process.
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05/18/2021 09:50 AM § 406A.
Regulatory authority.
The Secretary of the Department may promulgate regulations necessary to implement this chapter.
Section 2.
Amend § 403, Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
§ 403.
Pupil application;
withdrawal.
(a)(1) Any parent of a school age child may apply to enroll that parent’s own child in a school or program in a receiving local education agency by submitting a written application, on a standard form provided by the Department of Education, to the Department of Education or to the receiving local education agency and to the district of residence on or after the first Monday in November and on or before the second Wednesday in January for enrollment during the following school year, except that a parent may apply to a receiving local education agency until the first day of the school year for enrollment in a kindergarten program during that school year.
(2)a.
To be eligible to apply to a school or program in a receiving local education agency under paragraph (a)(1) of this section, a child must first be registered in the child’s assigned public school within the district that the child would normally be enrolled based on the child’s place of residence.
b.
The registration required under paragraph (a)(2)a.
of this section must be through the uniform registration process under Chapter 4A of this title, whether through Internet-based or in person registration.
c.
During the registration process under paragraph (a)(2)a.
of this section, there must not be unnecessary barriers or burdens to accessing school choice opportunities.
(3) The Department of Education shall distribute applications to the appropriate receiving local education agency no later than 10 working days after the application deadlines set forth in this subsection.
(4) Receiving districts may require the submission of information beyond that contained in the standard form provided that it requires the submission of the same information by the parents of children residing in the attendance zone for the school.
(5) Notwithstanding the requirements of this subsection, charter schools, vocational-technical school districts, and magnet schools may accept applications submitted after the second Wednesday in January to fill remaining availability.
Section 3.
Report on enabling data provided through the Internet-based uniform public school registration process to be shared with and integrated into other databases.
(a) The Department of Education shall report on the feasibility of connecting the Internet-based uniform public school registration process with the following:
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05/18/2021 09:50 AM (1) The Department’s school choice website.
(2) The State’s system for immunizations.
(3) The State’s system for birth certificates.
(4) Any other Internet-based system that is used to collect student data by the State;
the Department;
a licensed child care provider, including Head Start;
or a public school serving preschool through age 21.
(b) The Department of Education shall provide the report required under subsection (a) of this Section no later than March 14, 2022, to all of the following:
(1) The Governor.
(2) The President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
(3) The Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(4) The Chairs of the Senate and House Education Committees.
(5) The Controller General.
(6) The Director and Legislative Librarian of the Division of Research of Legislative Council.
SYNOPSIS This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No.
82.
Like Senate Bill 82, this Substitute does all of the following:
(1) Codifies the Department of Education’s (“Department”) current efforts to establish a uniform public school registration process and requires that, beginning with the 2023 through 2024 school year, all public schools shall use the uniform public school registration process.
This registration process will simplify the process for families, enable public schools to engage with families and plan in advance of the school year, and integrate data systems to eliminate duplication of effort.
(2) Requires the uniform public school registration process to be Internet-based and in paper form and in English and Spanish and may be in other languages.
This Act also requires that certain information must be provided in the process and that the Internet-based uniform public school registration process must include certain features.
(3)Requires the Department to provide training to certain school district and charter school employees regarding the uniform public school registration process and issue guidelines for privacy of information submitted as part of the registration process.
(4) Requires the Department to report to the Governor and General Assembly, no later than March 14, 2022, on the Department’s ability to connect the Internet-based uniform public school registration process to other Internet-based systems that are used to collect student data by the State;
the Department;
a licensed child care provider, including Head Start;
or a public school serving preschool through age 21.
This Substitute differs from Senate Bill No.
82 by doing all of the following:
(1) Clarifying that a student must be registered in the student’s school district of residence before being eligible for the school choice process.
(2) Requiring a public school be certified as completing training from the Department on the uniform public school registration process before providing paper forms as part of the in-person registration process.
(3) Requiring the Department to provide uniform information about the uniform public school registration process to public schools and requiring the public schools to post the information on the school’s website and in other publications.
(4) Requiring a public school to provide a parent with certain information after the parent completes the registration process, including the public school and school in which the child is enrolled.
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Action History

  1. Signed by Governor

  2. Passed By House. Votes: 41 YES

  3. Amendment HA 1 to SS 1 - Introduced and Placed With Bill

  4. Reported Out of Committee (Appropriations) in House with 3 Favorable, 1 On Its Merits

  5. Assigned to Appropriations Committee in House

  6. Reported Out of Committee (Education) in House with 2 Favorable, 9 On Its Merits

  7. Assigned to Education Committee in House

  8. Passed By Senate. Votes: 15 YES 6 NO

  9. Amendment SA 1 to SS 1 - Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES

  10. Reported Out of Committee (Finance) in Senate with 1 Favorable, 3 On Its Merits, 1 Unfavorable

  11. Assigned to Finance Committee in Senate

  12. Amendment SA 1 to SS 1 - Introduced and Placed With Bill

  13. Reported Out of Committee (Education) in Senate with 3 Favorable, 2 On Its Merits

  14. Adopted in lieu of the original bill SB 82, and Assigned to Education Committee in Senate

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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3 sponsors · 12 co-sponsors · 47 not signed on · 5 voted No

Sponsors (3)

Co-sponsors (12)

Not signed on (47)

47 members have not signed on to this bill.

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"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 13000
Democratic 16000
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
Gerald L. Brady — Yea
John A. Kowalko — Yea
John L. Mitchell — Yea
Michael Ramone — Yea
Paul S. Baumbach — Yea
Peter C. Schwartzkopf — 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
Eric Morrison Democratic Yea
Franklin D. Cooke Democratic Yea
Kendra Johnson Democratic Yea
Kimberly Williams Democratic Yea
Krista Griffith Democratic Yea
Larry Lambert Democratic Yea
Madinah Wilson-Anton Democratic Yea
Melissa Minor-Brown Democratic Yea
Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha Democratic Yea
Sean M. Lynn Democratic Yea
Sherae'a Moore 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 15 Yea · 6 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 4100
Democratic 11000
Republican 0500
Total 15600
% of votes cast 71%29%0%0%
How each member voted (21)
Member Party Vote
Bruce C. Ennis — Yea
Colin Bonini — Yea
Ernesto B Lopez — Nay
Kyle Evans Gay — Yea
Sarah McBride — 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
Marie Pinkney Democratic Yea
Nicole Poore Democratic Yea
S. Elizabeth Lockman Democratic Yea
Spiros Mantzavinos Democratic Yea
Stephanie L. Hansen Democratic Yea
Trey Paradee Democratic Yea
Brian Pettyjohn Republican Nay
Bryant L. Richardson Republican Nay
Dave G. Lawson Republican Nay
David L. Wilson Republican Nay
Gerald W. Hocker Republican Nay

Official roll call →

Subjects

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 82 do?
This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 82. Like Senate Bill 82, this Substitute does all of the following: (1) Codifies the Department of Education’s (“Department”) current efforts to establish a uniform public school registration process and requires that, beginning with the 2023 through 2024 school year, all public schools shall use the uniform public school registration process. This registration process will simplify the process for families, enable public schools to engage with families and plan in advance of the school year, and integrate data systems to eliminate duplication of effort. (2) Requires the uniform public school registration process to be Internet-based and in paper form and in English and Spanish and may be in other languages. This Act also requires that certain information must be provided in the process and that the Internet-based uniform public school registration process must include certain features. (3)Requires the Department to provide training to certain school district and charter school employees regarding the uniform public school registration process and issue guidelines for privacy of information submitted as part of the registration process. (4) Requires the Department to report to the Governor and General Assembly, no later than March 14, 2022, on the Department’s ability to connect the Internet-based uniform public school registration process to other Internet-based systems that are used to collect student data by the State; the Department; a licensed child care provider, including Head Start; or a public school serving preschool through age 21. This Substitute differs from Senate Bill No. 82 by doing all of the following: (1) Clarifying that a student must be registered in the student’s school district of residence before being eligible for the school choice process. (2) Requiring a public school be certified as completing training from the Department on the uniform public school registration process before providing paper forms as part of the in-person registration process. (3) Requiring the Department to provide uniform information about the uniform public school registration process to public schools and requiring the public schools to post the information on the school’s website and in other publications. (4) Requiring a public school to provide a parent with certain information after the parent completes the registration process, including the public school and school in which the child is enrolled.
Who sponsors SB 82?
SB 82 is sponsored by Kyle Evans Gay, S. Elizabeth Lockman (Democratic), Melissa Minor-Brown (Democratic), Kimberly Williams (Democratic), Marie Pinkney (Democratic), Nicole Poore (Democratic), David L. Wilson (Republican), Debra Heffernan (Democratic), Kendra Johnson (Democratic), Larry Lambert (Democratic), Sherae'a Moore (Democratic), Shannon Morris (Republican), Bryan W. Shupe (Republican), Paul S. Baumbach, and Bruce C. Ennis.
What is the current status of SB 82?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced May 18, 2021. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 82?
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