Delaware 152nd General Assembly (2023-2024) Status: Enacted Bipartisan · 10 D · 2 R cosponsors

HB 3 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 RELATING TO SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.

Last action — Signed by Governor

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

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced April 25, 2023. 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.

  • 17 sponsors

    17 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (10 D · 2 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

According to a recent CDC survey, the COVID pandemic exacerbated an existing mental health crisis for students. One in 5 school aged children has a mental health condition, and 45% of children may have experienced a traumatic event. This bill provides for excused absences for the mental or behavior health of a student and requires that any student taking more than 2 such excused absences will be referred to a behavioral health specialist. This bill provides a supplemental tool to identify students struggling with mental and behavioral health issues and legitimizes these struggles faced by many students. Moreover, this bill makes clear that the mental and behavioral health of students is a priority in this State.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

27 added · 12 removed

27 line(s) added, 12 removed.

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Latest
Longhurst HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 152nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE AMENDMENT NO.
Longhurst & Rep.
1 TO HOUSE BILL NO.
Heffernan & Rep.
3 AMEND House Bill No.
Minor-Brown & Rep.
3 on line 11 by inserting “school-based mental or” after “a” and before “behavioral”.
S.
FURTHER AMEND House Bill No.
Moore & Rep.
3 by inserting after line 11 the following:
Neal & Rep.
“(4) The Department of Education shall provide the technical ability, via the state student information system, for Local Education Agencies to code and create reports related to these absences.”.
Michael Smith & Rep.
SYNOPSIS This amendment clarifies that after the second absence, the student must be referred to a school-based mental or behavioral health specialist.
Dorsey Walker & Sen.
The amendment also requires the Department of Education to provide the technical ability so the Act can be implemented seamlessly.
Sturgeon Reps.
Chukwuocha, Hensley, Hilovsky, Morrison, Osienski, Parker Selby, K.
Williams;
Sens.
Gay, Hoffner, Huxtable, Lockman, S.
McBride HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 152nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE BILL NO.
3 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 RELATING TO SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
Section 1.
Amend Chapter 27, Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
§ 2702.
Compulsory attendance requirements;
evaluation of readiness;
exit interview.
(j) A pupil’s absence from school for a mental or behavioral health reason is a necessary and an excused absence.
Each school district and charter school shall determine the maximum number of excused absences allowable under this section.
(1) “Excused absence” means a full school day and does not require a medical or doctor’s note.
(2) A student may not be penalized for an excused absence for the mental or behavioral health of the student and must be given the opportunity to make up any schoolwork missed during such excused absence.
(3) After the second and subsequent excused absence for the mental or behavioral health of the student, the student must be referred to a behavioral health specialist.
SYNOPSIS According to a recent CDC survey, the COVID pandemic exacerbated an existing mental health crisis for students.
One in 5 school aged children has a mental health condition, and 45% of children may have experienced a traumatic event.
This bill provides for excused absences for the mental or behavior health of a student and requires that any student taking more than 2 such excused absences will be referred to a behavioral health specialist.
This bill provides a supplemental tool to identify students struggling with mental and behavioral health issues and legitimizes these struggles faced by many students.
Moreover, this bill makes clear that the mental and behavioral health of students is a priority in this State.
MAW Page 1 of 1 Released:
DS Page 1 of 1 Released:
05/16/2023 10:50 AM 2141520124
04/25/2023 12:25 PM 3501520059
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Action History

  1. Signed by Governor

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

  3. Reported Out of Committee (Education) in Senate with 2 Favorable, 5 On Its Merits

  4. Assigned to Education Committee in Senate

  5. Passed By House. Votes: 34 YES 3 NO 4 ABSENT

  6. Amendment HA 1 to HB 3 - Passed In House by Voice Vote

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

  8. Reported Out of Committee (Education) in House with 10 Favorable, 4 On Its Merits

  9. Introduced and Assigned to Education Committee in House

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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17 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 45 not signed on · 8 voted No

Sponsors (17)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (45)

45 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 45 →

"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 15 Yea · 6 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 13000
Republican 0600
Unaffiliated 2000
Total 15600
% of votes cast 71%29%0%0%
How each member voted (21)
Member Party Vote
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
Kyra L. Hoffner Democratic Yea
Laura V. Sturgeon Democratic Yea
Marie Pinkney Democratic Yea
Nicole Poore 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 Nay
Bryant L. Richardson Republican Nay
Dave G. Lawson Republican Nay
David L. Wilson Republican Nay
Eric Buckson Republican Nay
Gerald W. Hocker Republican Nay

Official roll call →

SM

Passed 34 Yea · 3 Nay · 4 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 7100
Democratic 16004
Republican 11200
Total 34304
% of votes cast 83%7%0%10%
How each member voted (41)
Member Party Vote
Michael Ramone — Yea
Paul S. Baumbach — Yea
Peter C. Schwartzkopf — Yea
Ruth Briggs King — Nay
Sean Matthews — Yea
Sherry Dorsey Walker — Yea
Stell Parker Selby — Yea
Valerie Longhurst — Yea
Cyndie Romer Democratic Yea
DeShanna U Neal Democratic Not Voting
Debra Heffernan Democratic Not Voting
Edward S. Osienski Democratic Yea
Eric Morrison Democratic Yea
Franklin D. Cooke Democratic Yea
Kendra Johnson Democratic Yea
Kerri Evelyn Harris Democratic Yea
Kimberly Williams Democratic Yea
Krista Griffith Democratic Not Voting
Larry Lambert Democratic Yea
Madinah Wilson-Anton Democratic Not Voting
Melissa Minor-Brown Democratic Yea
Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha Democratic Yea
Sean M. Lynn Democratic Yea
Sherae'a Moore Democratic Yea
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 Nay
Daniel B. Short Republican Yea
Jeff Hilovsky 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 Nay
Ronald E. Gray Republican Yea
Shannon Morris Republican Yea
Timothy D. Dukes Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

healthcare 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 HB 3 do?
According to a recent CDC survey, the COVID pandemic exacerbated an existing mental health crisis for students. One in 5 school aged children has a mental health condition, and 45% of children may have experienced a traumatic event. This bill provides for excused absences for the mental or behavior health of a student and requires that any student taking more than 2 such excused absences will be referred to a behavioral health specialist. This bill provides a supplemental tool to identify students struggling with mental and behavioral health issues and legitimizes these struggles faced by many students. Moreover, this bill makes clear that the mental and behavioral health of students is a priority in this State.
Who sponsors HB 3?
HB 3 is sponsored by S. Elizabeth Lockman (Democratic), Kendra Johnson (Democratic), Brian Pettyjohn (Republican), Edward S. Osienski (Democratic), Eric Morrison (Democratic), John "Jack" Walsh (Democratic), Laura V. Sturgeon (Democratic), Michael F. Smith (Republican), Marie Pinkney (Democratic), David P. Sokola (Democratic), Trey Paradee (Democratic), Russell Huxtable (Democratic), Stell Parker Selby, Sherry Dorsey Walker, Sarah McBride, Peter C. Schwartzkopf, and Valerie Longhurst.
What is the current status of HB 3?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced April 25, 2023. Enacted.
Where can I track HB 3?
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