Gov. Matt Meyer signs nine education-related bills into law and ceremonially autographs a bill requiring the state to cover the cost of school breakfast for all of Delaware's public students.
Gov. Meyer officially signed House Bill 91 in July, making it the third state to provide universal free school breakfast, ensuring all schools could implement the program ahead of this school year.
The new law adds roughly 83 schools to the free breakfast program statewide that weren’t initially covered under the federal School Breakfast Program, which covers the cost of free breakfast for schools where at least 40% of students are from lower-income families.
Breakfast reimbursement will cost the state around $3.3 million annually, but State Rep. Kim Williams (D-Stanton), the bill’s sponsor and chair of the state’s budget writing committee, says cuts were made so Delaware could use existing funding.
Universal free school meals was also floated this legislative session, but the $45 million annual price tag kept the majority of lawmakers at bay.
Gov. Meyer says he'd like to pursue free school meals for all Delaware students, but with federal funding cuts and a forecasted state budget crunch in the coming years, he has concerns over the feasibility of such a program at this point in time.
Gov. Meyer also signed several bills to provide further oversight and transparency to school board members and meetings, as well as a bill to tighten up licensure requirements around any school employee who works with children.
House Bill 97 not only ensures that a public school employee may not work directly with students unsupervised without Delaware Department of Education Professional Standards Board-approved permit or license, but it creates a new permit requirement for any paraprofessional or student support and classroom position.
Among the school board reform bills is House Bill 85, which closes a loophole in Delaware law around member background checks.
“This bill clarifies that an appointed school board member must undergo the same background check as elected members of the school board and deemed qualified by the commissioner of elections," Rep. Williams explained at Tuesday's bill signing.
The other school board bills require that meetings have a virtual viewing option for the public, ensure members are being trained on FOIA and conduct requirements and limit remote attendance capabilities for board members.
Delaware is also now a member of the Interstate Compact for School Psychologists, in an effort to improve the availability of school-based mental health services.
Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Alabama and Georgia already joined the compact, making Delaware the seventh state to do so, which subsequently triggers the law into effect.
At least eight other states have pending legislation to join the compact, including Maryland and New Jersey.
Gov. Meyer also signed bills to bolster Title IX protections, remove the deadline that limited which educators or specialists could receive additional years of experience credit when calculating their pay and launch the pilot of a new evaluation component within the Delaware teacher evaluation system starting in the 2025–26 school year, which will factor in challenges like student absences or mobility when evaluating performance.
