Title 14 — Education

§ 301. Purpose and intent. (a) The purpose of the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association is to do all of the following: (1) Preserve and promote the educational significance of interscholastic athletics. (2) Ensure that interscholastic sports remain compatible with the edu…

§ 302. Definitions [For application of this section, see 85 Del. Laws, c. 253, § 23]. As used in this chapter: (1) “Advanced practice registered nurse” means as defined in § 1902 of Title 24. (2) “Association” means the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association. (3) “Athletic…

§ 303. Regulations, policies, and procedures. (a) The Board shall promulgate regulations relating to member school interscholastic athletics. The Board may develop necessary policies and procedures to implement this chapter. (b) (1) The Board shall develop regulations relating to…

§ 304. Other duties, powers, and authority. The Board has the duties, powers, and authority necessary for the enforcement of this chapter and the regulations adopted under this chapter. Regulations under this chapter must do at least all of the following: (1) Establish annual mem…

§ 305. Board composition [For application of this section, see 85 Del. Laws, c. 253, § 23]. (a) The Board of Directors consists of 17 members, 15 of whom are voting members. The membership is composed as follows: (1) The President of the Delaware Chief School Officers Association…

§ 306. Quorum and voting. (a) The number of board members who must be present in order to have a quorum and conduct business is the majority of appointed members. A vacancy on the Board is not counted to determine whether quorum is met. (b) An affirmative vote of a majority of bo…

§ 307. Chair; administration. (a) The Board shall elect annually from its members a chair, vice-chair, and, as the Board deems necessary, other officers. In the event of a vacancy in 1 of the officers, the Board shall elect a replacement at its next meeting or a meeting called fo…

§ 308. Meetings of the Board. (a) The Board shall hold regularly scheduled meetings at least once per month and at other times as the chair deems necessary or at the request of a majority of the board members. (b) The Board shall meet at a place within the State as it may determi…

§ 309. Secretary; powers and duties. The Association is a unit of the Department. The Secretary shall promulgate regulations necessary to establish the Association as a unit of the Department.73 Del. Laws, c. 374, § 3; 83 Del. Laws, c. 518, § 9;

§ 310. The Interscholastic Athletic Fund: payment of expenses; deposits of receipt. (a) The expenses of the Association are paid from the Interscholastic Athletic Fund, a special fund created to fund this chapter. An appropriation that the General Assembly makes to the Department…

§ 311. Annual report. The Board, in consultation and cooperation with the Department, shall submit an annual report to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Director and the Librarian of the Division of Legislative Services on or before January 31 each year.73 Del. Laws, c.…

§ 312. Board decision and appeal; State Board’s duties. (a) The Board shall decide on each controversy involving a regulation under this chapter, including a waiver of the regulations promulgated under this chapter. The Board may not decide on a controversy involving a waiver und…

§ 313. Transfers; eligibility; periods of ineligibility. (a) Immediate eligibility. — (1) A student who transfers schools is immediately eligible to participate in an interscholastic athletic sport in which the student has not previously participated, upon enrollment at the stude…

§ 314. Exceptions to ineligibility. (a) A period of ineligibility under § 313 of this title does not apply and a student is not required to seek a waiver of ineligibility if any of the following apply: (1) McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth Act. — The studen…

§ 315. Waivers of ineligibility. (a) Waiver. — The Executive Director shall waive ineligibility under § 313 of this title if the Executive Director determines that all of the following criteria have been established: (1) Strict enforcement of ineligibility does not serve to accom…

§ 316. Appeal of Executive Director’s decision. (a) A party to a controversy may appeal the Executive Director’s decision under § 315 of this title to an appeals panel comprised of 3 Board members. The Board’s chair shall select the 3 members of the appeals panel on a per case ba…

§ 317. Forms. The Executive Director shall develop or approve forms necessary to implement §§ 313, 314, 315, and 316 of this title. The Executive Director may develop or approve other forms as needed to implement this chapter.84 Del. Laws, c. 343, § 8;

§ 401. School District Enrollment Choice Program; establishment; statement of purpose; application. (a) There is hereby established an enrollment choice program within the public school system of this State. (b) In establishing this program, it is the goal of the General Assembly…

§ 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 th…

§ 402. Definitions [For application of this section, see 83 Del. Laws, c. 316, § 3]. For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (1) “Application” shall mean the standard application for educational options. This application, which con…

§ 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 r…

§ 403. Pupil application; withdrawal [For application of this section, see 83 Del. Laws, c. 316, § 3]. (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 reorganized school district, vocational-technical school distric…

§ 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 a…

§ 404. Receiving district and local education agency procedures. (a) Within 10 working days after an application deadline, the receiving district shall transmit a notice to the district of residence that it has received the application. (b) The board of the receiving local educat…

§ 404A. Internet-based uniform public school registration process requirements. (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 …

§ 405. Criteria for approval or disapproval [For application of this section, see 83 Del. Laws, c. 316, § 3]. (a) Each receiving local education agency shall adopt and make available a policy regarding the order in which applications for enrollment pursuant to this chapter shall …

§ 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 spec…

§ 406. Racial balance. (a) If approval of all of the applications for transfer into or out of a district would result in the district being out of compliance with any applicable court-ordered desegregation plan, the district shall establish the number of majority and minority gro…

§ 406A. Regulatory authority. The Secretary of the Department may promulgate regulations necessary to implement this chapter.83 Del. Laws, c. 252, § 1;

§ 407. Duration of enrollment in receiving district [For application of this section, see 83 Del. Laws, c. 316, § 3]. (a) (1) A pupil accepted for enrollment in a school or program pursuant to this chapter shall be entitled to remain enrolled therein until graduation from the sch…

§ 408. State and local education funding. (a) A pupil enrolled in a receiving district pursuant to this chapter shall be included in the unit count of the receiving district for all purposes relating to the allocation of all state and federal education funding and shall not be in…

§ 409. Transportation. (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 par…

§ 410. Interscholastic sports [Repealed].70 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 3; 81 Del. Laws, c. 72, § 2; repealed by 84 Del. Laws, c. 343, § 9, effective Aug. 2, 2024.;

§ 411. Pupils suspended, expelled, or truant in district of residence. If a child for whom an application has been submitted pursuant to this chapter has been suspended or expelled, or has been absent from school without a valid excuse for more than 15 school days during a school…

§ 412. Credits; graduation. A pupil who has been enrolled in a receiving district and who has met that district’s graduation requirements shall be granted a diploma by that district. That district shall accept credits toward graduation requirements that were awarded by another di…

§ 413. Discipline not affected. Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to affect or alter district policies with regard to disciplining students, including suspensions or expulsions.70 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 3;

§ 414. Intra-district choice. Where the district of residence includes more than one school or more than one program within any school providing instruction at a given grade level, a parent of a child entering such grade level may apply to enroll that parent’s own child in any pu…

§ 501. Legislative intent. The purpose of this chapter is to create an alternative to traditional public schools operated by school districts and improve public education overall by establishing a system of independent “charter” schools throughout the State. To that end, this cha…

§ 502. Potential charter organizers. This legislation is intended to encourage any person, university, college, or nonreligious, non-home-based, nonsectarian entity that can meet the requirements of this chapter to form a charter school. No private or religiously affiliated schoo…

§ 503. Legal status. A charter school is a public school including 2 or more of grade kindergarten through 12 managed by a board of directors, which operates independently of any school board, under a charter granted for an initial period of 4 school years of operation and renewa…

§ 504. Corporate status. (a) A charter school shall be organized and managed under the Delaware General Corporation Law. (b) The board of directors of a charter school shall be deemed public agents authorized by a public school district or the Department with the approval of the …

§ 504A. Powers. Consistent with its charter and the provisions of its certificate of incorporation, bylaws or membership agreements, the board of directors of a charter school or schools shall, as to each charter that the board holds, have the power to: (1) Manage the implementat…

§ 504B. Open meetings. (a) For purposes of this section: (1) “Agenda items” means major issues expected to be discussed at a public meeting, and excludes procedural items such as votes to approve minutes or enter into executive session. (2) “School board” means the board of direc…

§ 505. Exemptions; rules and regulations. (a) Except as otherwise specified in this chapter and title, a charter school is exempt from all provisions of this title except the provisions of Chapter 31 of this title, and all regulations of any board of education of a reorganized sc…

§ 506. Restrictions [For application of this section, see 83 Del. Laws, c. 316, § 3]. (a) A charter school may not do any of the following: (1) Charge tuition, except in accordance with Chapter 6 of this title, or collect fees not permitted to be assessed by other school district…

§ 507. Labor relations. (a) A public school may only be converted to a charter school by approval of the board of the school district in which it is located and that the charter application received the approval of over 50% of the teachers and over 50% of the parents residing in …

§ 508. Responsibility for student transportation. (a) (1) A charter school may do 1 of the following: a. Request to have the school district where the charter school is located transport students residing in that district, at fair cost, to and from the charter school on the same …

§ 509. School financing. (a) Charter schools shall be eligible for public funds under procedures established by this section. Notwithstanding that this Code may establish procedures for the funding of a public school choice program and that such program may include charter school…

§ 510. State assistance. (a) The Department of Education shall distribute information announcing the availability of the charter school program, explaining the powers and responsibilities of a charter school contained in this chapter, and describing the application process to eac…

§ 511. Approval procedure [For application of this section to the City of Wilmington, see 80 Del. Laws, c. 17, § 2]. (a) An approved charter school application, together with such conditions imposed pursuant to subsection (l) of this section, shall be the basis for a charter gran…