AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS.

Education

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Wilson-Anton
Last action: 2025-09-02
Official status: Signed 9/2/25
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill does not specify an effective date beyond '30 days after enactment', which remains unspecified as of now.

School Board Meeting Remote Attendance Rules

This act changes Delaware's rules about when school board members can attend meetings remotely, listing specific reasons and allowing limits on how often this happens.

What This Bill Does

Allows school boards to decide if they want to let members join meetings online.
Lists reasons why a member might need to join a meeting from home, like being sick or having family care needs.
Adds pregnancy and postpartum care as valid reasons for remote attendance.
Says that school boards can set rules on how many times someone can attend remotely.
Requires all members attending remotely to be counted the same way as those who are there in person.

Who It Names or Affects

School board members
School districts and their presidents

Terms To Know

quorum: the minimum number of people needed to have a meeting that can make decisions.
public health emergency: a situation declared by the government where there is a serious threat to public health, like a pandemic.

Limits and Unknowns

The act does not require school boards to allow remote attendance.
It only lists specific reasons for remote attendance and does not let schools add more reasons.
School boards can limit how often members attend meetings remotely.

Bill History

2025-09-02 Delaware General Assembly
Signed by Governor
2025-06-24 Delaware General Assembly
Passed By Senate. Votes: 19 YES 2 NO
2025-05-07 Delaware General Assembly
Reported Out of Committee (Education) in Senate with 6 On Its Merits
2025-04-17 Delaware General Assembly
Passed By House. Votes: 35 YES 1 NO 1 NOT VOTING 4 ABSENT
2025-04-17 Delaware General Assembly
Assigned to Education Committee in Senate
2025-04-03 Delaware General Assembly
was introduced and adopted in lieu of HB 83

Official Summary Text

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS.
This House Substitute No. 1 provides that if a school board allows school board members to attend meetings remotely through electronic means, then permission to attend remotely must be granted in the case of any of the following: illness of the school board member; illness of an individual in the school board member’s family where that individual requires caretaking; a public health emergency; pregnancy or immediate postpartum care responsibilities of the school board member or the school board member’s spouse or partner; or military deployment of the school board member.
This substitute for House Bill No. 83 differs from the original in that it does not require school boards to allow remote attendance. But if the school board does allow remote attendance, it provides the permissible reasons remote attendance may be allowed, allows a school board to limit the number of times permission to attend remotely may be granted, and indicates that a school board may not add to the statutory reasons for remote attendance. It also expands the permissible reasons from the original bill to include pregnancy or postpartum complications of a board member’s spouse or partner.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

Legislation Document

SPONSOR:

Rep. Wilson-Anton & Rep. Morrison & Rep. Romer & Rep. K. Williams & Rep. S. Moore & Rep. Osienski & Sen. Sturgeon

Reps. Burns, Gorman, Ortega, Phillips, Lambert

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE SUBSTITUTE NO. 1

FOR

HOUSE BILL NO. 83

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS.

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

Section 1. Amend § 1048, Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§ 1048. Regular and special meetings; quorum; roll call vote.

(f) (1) If a school board allows school board members to attend regular or special meetings remotely by electronic means, then all of the following must be permitted reasons for remote attendance:

a. Illness of the school board member.

b. Illness of an individual in the school board member’s family where that individual requires caretaking.

c. A public health emergency.

d. Pregnancy or immediate postpartum care responsibilities of the school board member or the school board member’s spouse or partner.

e. Military deployment of the school board member.

(2) a. A school board may impose limitations on the number of times a school board member may be permitted to attend remotely under paragraph (f)(1) of this section.

b. A school board may not expand the permissible reasons for a board member to attend remotely beyond those enumerated under paragraph (f)(1) of this section.

(3) A school board member attending remotely under paragraph (f)(1) of this section is counted as though physically present for purposes of quorum and voting.

(4) The means used to facilitate remote attendance under this subsection must allow all participating members and witnesses to simultaneously hear the comments of each member or witness.

Section 2. This Act is effective 30 days after its enactment into law.

Section 3. Upon enactment of this Act, the Department of Education shall notify the president of each school board and the superintendent of each school district of the requirements of this Act and its effective date.

SYNOPSIS

This House Substitute No. 1 provides that if a school board allows school board members to attend meetings remotely through electronic means, then permission to attend remotely must be granted in the case of any of the following: illness of the school board member; illness of an individual in the school board member’s family where that individual requires caretaking; a public health emergency; pregnancy or immediate postpartum care responsibilities of the school board member or the school board member’s spouse or partner; or military deployment of the school board member.

This substitute for House Bill No. 83 differs from the original in that it does not require school boards to allow remote attendance. But if the school board does allow remote attendance, it provides the permissible reasons remote attendance may be allowed, allows a school board to limit the number of times permission to attend remotely may be granted, and indicates that a school board may not add to the statutory reasons for remote attendance. It also expands the permissible reasons from the original bill to include pregnancy or postpartum complications of a board member’s spouse or partner.