CHAPTER 24
FORMERLY
HOUSE BILL NO. 100
AS AMENDED BY
HOUSE AMENDMENT NO. 1
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE TAX RATE AND ENROLLMENT FOR THE SUSSEX COUNTY VOCATIONAL-TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
Section 1. Amend §2601(a)(1), Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strikethrough and insertions as shown by underlining as follows:
§ 2601 Power of county vocational high school districts and county vocational-technical school districts to levy taxes for school purposes.
(a) Any county vocational-technical high school district or county vocational-technical center district may, in addition to the amounts appropriated to it by the General Assembly, levy and collect additional taxes for school purposes upon the assessed value of real estate in such district, as determined and fixed for county taxation purposes:
(1) The amount to be raised by taxation shall not exceed 20.97 cents on each $100 value of real property in Sussex County for the tax year 2008, 22.23 cents for 2009, and 23.50 cents for 2010 and all years thereafter.
(1) The amount to be raised by taxation shall not exceed 29.00 cents on each $100 value of real property in Sussex County for the tax year 2016, 30.00 cents for 2017, and 23.50 cents for 2018 and all years thereafter.
(2) The amount to be raised by taxation shall not exceed 14 cents on each $100 of value of real property in Kent County for the tax year 1993 and all years thereafter.
(3) The amount to be raised by taxation shall not exceed 13 cents on each $100 of the value of real property in New Castle County for the tax year 1982 and shall not exceed 14 cents on each $100 of the value of real property in New Castle County for the tax year 1983 and all tax years thereafter.
(4) Any county vocational-technical high school district, or county vocational-technical center district, shall not charge tuition to cover the cost of vocational-technical education for nonresident pupils and shall not, in formulating admission policy, give preference to any applicant for admission based on the residence of such applicant.
(b) In the event a general reassessment of all real estate in the county changes the total assessed valuation of a county vocational-technical high school district or a county vocational-technical center, the board of education of such district shall calculate a new tax rate which, at its maximum, would realize no more than 10 percent increase in actual revenue over the revenue derived by real estate tax levied in the fiscal year immediately preceding such reassessed real estate valuation.
(c) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section to the contrary notwithstanding, a vocational-technical school district which is required to provide a local share for a school construction project may establish a countywide tax sufficient to pay the principal and interest on the bonds for the local share of the project.
Section 2. Amend Chapter 26, Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strikethrough and insertions as shown by underlining as follows:
§2605 Enrollment in the Sussex County Vocational-Technical High School District.
(a) Total enrollment in the Sussex County Vocational-Technical High School District shall not exceed 1,445 students in grades 9-12 for school year 2015-2016, 1,345 students for school year 2016-2017 and 1,250 students for school year 2017-2018.
(b) For any school year in which the number of applications for admission exceed the number of students to be enrolled, the Sussex County Vocational-Technical High School District shall conduct a random lottery admitting student number “one” and progressing consecutively thereafter until the total number of students to be admitted has been reached. However, the number of students admitted from any one Sussex County school district shall not exceed the Sussex County Vocational-Technical High School District’s enrollment, outlined in subsection (a) of this section, as a percentage of Sussex County’s total 8th grade enrollment.
(c) The Sussex County Vocational-Technical High School District may only provide preferences in student admissions to:
(1) Siblings of students currently enrolled at the school; and
(2) Children of persons employed on a permanent basis for at least 30.0 hours per week during the school year by the Sussex County Vocational-Technical High School district.
(d) The Sussex County Vocational-Technical High School District shall be prohibited from denying any applicant for enrollment whose GPA falls below the 70th percentile or who has failed any 8th grade course from its lottery for admission, unless the student does not remain academically eligible for promotion according to the standards set by the Department of Education.
(e) Except in cases of expulsion subject to the provisions of § 4030 of this title, the Sussex County Vocational-Technical High School District shall be prohibited from removing a student from its enrollment for disciplinary reasons without the consent of the student’s parents/guardians and the student’s school district of residence.
Approved May 28, 2015