An Act To Amend Title 14 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Discrimination.
SB78 would create and expand nondiscrimination protections in Delaware public schools, including public school districts and charter schools. It adds a new section to Title 14 prohibiting schools from discriminating against students on the basis of a broad list of protected characteristics, including race, ethnicity, creed, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, protective hairstyle, body size, pregnancy or childbirth-related conditions, disability, genetic information, socioeconomic status, familial status, immigration status, and housing status. The bill also allows a charter school authorized as a same-gender school to restrict admissions by gender.
The bill further updates related education provisions to match the new nondiscrimination standard. It amends charter school admissions restrictions so charter schools may not discriminate in admissions based on the newly protected categories, and it revises the state’s bullying laws so bullying investigations must consider whether a student, volunteer, or employee was targeted because of membership in one of the protected classes or because of age. Finally, it directs the Department of Education to update its regulations to conform to the expanded protections and makes technical drafting corrections.
SB78 would amend Title 14 of the Delaware Code by adding a new general nondiscrimination provision for public schools and by conforming charter school admissions rules, bullying definitions, and bullying investigation requirements to that new standard. It would broaden the list of protected classes in school law and require the Department of Education to revise its regulations accordingly. The practical effect would be to give students, and in some bullying contexts school employees and volunteers, broader statutory protection against discrimination and bias-based harassment in Delaware schools.
The bill’s overall policy direction appears strongly supportive of expanded civil rights protections in education. The sponsor list is broad and bipartisan in appearance, and the synopsis frames the measure as a comprehensive update to school nondiscrimination rules. No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no documented floor or committee debate in the materials supplied; based on the text alone, the bill is presented as a protective, clarifying measure rather than a controversial restructuring of school policy.
The main potential points of contention are the breadth of the protected classes and the inclusion of categories such as body size, socioeconomic status, immigration status, and housing status, which go beyond more traditional school nondiscrimination categories. Another possible issue is the interaction with charter school admissions, especially the exception allowing certain same-gender charter schools to restrict admissions by gender. The bill also expands bullying-related obligations, which could raise implementation and compliance concerns for school districts and charter schools, though no specific opposition is documented in the provided materials.