Delaware General Assembly


CHAPTER 214

FORMERLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 281

AS AMENDED BY

HOUSE AMENDMENT NOS. 1 AND 2 AND

SENATE AMENDMENT NO. 1

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL DISCIPLINE PROGRAM.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1. Amend Section 1605, Title 14 of the Delaware Code, by deleting the second sentence as it appears and substituting in lieu thereof the following sentence:

"This component will serve students, in schools enrolling pupils in grades K through 12, who are causing repeated disruptions in the regular classes to which they are assigned."

Section 2. Amend Section 1605(3), Title 14 of the Delaware Code, by deleting the words "at least 2 of the grades 6 through 12" as they appear in the first sentence of said subsection and substituting in lieu thereof the words "at least 2 of the grades 3 through 12."

Section 3. Amend Section 1605(5), Title 14 of the Delaware Code, by deleting the existing language and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

"To achieve the most cost-effective impact from the incentive funds authorized by this section and to increase the coordination of services by schools and other governmental and non-governmental social service agencies consistent with § 1607 of this chapter, schools and school districts shall consider contracting for educational or related goods and services with the State Departments of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families and Health and Social Services, and other governmental and nongovernmental social service agencies using funds authorized by this section. Each school filing a report pursuant to subsection (6) of this section shall include information regarding the provisions of this subsection (5)."

Section 4. Amend Section 1605, Title 14 of the Delaware Code, by adding a new subsection which shall read:

"(7) To receive a supplemental grant greater than the dollar amount for base grants funded in support of programs defined in this section by the annual budget act, schools shall establish a site-based committee in the school to govern discipline matters and shall meet the criteria set forth in this subsection. Supplemental grants shall be available for grades 7, 8, 9, and 10 only. The annual budget act shall establish the dollar amount of such supplemental grants. Before issuing funding pursuant to this subsection, the State Board shall determine that the school's application meets the following criteria:

a. The grant application must certify that the composition of the site-based committee is in proportion to the percentage of building-level administrators and building-level professional instructional staff of the school; that the committee contains representatives of the support staff, student body (for schools enrolling students in grades 7 through 12), parents, and the community; that representatives of the employee groups are chosen by members of each respective group and representatives of the non-employee groups are appointed by the local board of education; and that the committee operates on the one-person, one-vote principle for reaching all decisions.

b. The grant application must certify that the committee has the authority, within established local district budgetary guidelines and at its sole discretion, to:

(i) establish a school code of conduct which defines the roles and responsibilities of all members of the school community (administrators, teachers, support staff, contracted service personnel, students, families and child/family advocates) and which is consistent with the district code of conduct and related policies established by the local board of education;

(ii) conduct any necessary hearings on the expulsion of a student and recommend appropriate action to the local board of education;

(iii) hear concerns from a staff member dissatisfied with the disposition of any disciplinary matter by the school administration;

(i) refer students to programs defined in Section 1604 of this title; provided, however, that any child with disabilities be referred to such programs through the child's Individualized Education Plan;

(iv) design, approve, and oversee the implementation of programs established in the school as defined in this chapter;

(v) establish and enforce the school's attendance policy, including mandating attendance in programs established in paragraph (7) of this subsection;

(i) establish extended day, week, or year programs, for students with discipline or attendance problems, or at risk of academic failure, that provide for the assessment of penalties for violations of school discipline or attendance policies and for academic acceleration and tutoring, mentoring, and counseling services for such students and their families as an integral program component;

(ii) establish staff development programs for conflict resolution for all school staff, and establish programs in classroom and behavioral management for schools staff identified as needing improvement;

(iii) design student mentoring, conflict resolution, and/or peer counseling programs for all students, especially for those who are identified as having chronic discipline, academic, or attendance problems."

Section 4. Because of the fact that the site-based committees will be established for the first time in the 1995-1996 school year, funding contingent upon the satisfaction of the criteria set forth in Section 6 of this Act shall, for the 1995-1996 school yhar, be released to schools which have provided the State Board of Education on or before October I, 1995, with a preliminary plan for satisfying the criteria in Section 6 of this Act, which plan shall demonstrably increase teacher and parental involvement in addressing school discipline issues during the 19951996 school year. On or before March 15, 1996, each school which has received such funding shall provide the State Board with a report on the implementation of its preliminary plan, which report shall be provided to each of the school's teachers.

Section 3. Amend Section 1605 (3), Title 14 of the Delaware Code, by inserting the word "either" after the words "Any school which" as they appear at the beginning of such subsection.

Section 4. Amend Section 1605 (3), Title 14 of the Delaware Code, by inserting immediately before the text "and which establishes" as it appears in the first sentence of such subsection, new text, to read:

"or enrolls pupils solely in one or more of grades K through 3,."

Approved July 12, 1995