SPONSOR:	Rep. D. Short & Sen. Lavelle;
	Reps. Hudson, Blakey, Briggs King, Dukes, Gray, Kenton, Miro, Outten, Peterman, Ramone, Smyk, Spiegelman, Wilson, Atkins, Brady, Mitchell, Potter; Sens. Cloutier, Hocker, Lawson, Lopez, Pettyjohn, Simpson

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

147th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 34

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ESTABLISHING A SCHOOL SAFETY AND SECURITY FUND.

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

Section 1. Amend Chapter 41, Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making insertions as shown by underlining as follows:

§ 4137. Delaware School Safety and Security Fund

(a) There is hereby created the Delaware School Safety and Security Fund to provide partial or full funding, on a competitive basis, to eligible public schools for projects intended to improve school safety or security. The fund shall initially be funded with five (5) million dollars, and shall thereafter be subject to available appropriations.

(b) The Department of Education shall administer a school safety and security competitive grant program to provide funding to public schools for certain expenses incurred on or after the effective date of this Act for projects intended to improve school safety or security.

(c) Grants requested under this Section shall be awarded by a five-member awards committee consisting of the following persons: one (1) representative from the Department of Education; one (1) representative from the Department of Safety and Homeland Security; one (1) representative from the Office of Management and Budget, who shall also act as the committee chair; one (1) representative from the Governor’s office; and one (1) representative from the Delaware Association of School Administrators.

(d) Priority shall be given to applications addressing a current unresolved safety or security issue, or an issue which would significantly improve the safety and security of the public school relative to the size of the investment. The committee shall further consider if the local district is participating in the funding of the project and to what extent. Grant awards shall be limited to a maximum of $50,000 per school.

(e) The awards committee shall hold its first meeting no later than thirty days after the effective date of this Act to develop and adopt such reasonable rules, regulations, and standards, including procedures and deadlines for applying for the grants and selecting the grant recipients, as necessary to carry out the provisions of this Section and to perform its duties hereunder. Such rules, regulations, and standards shall first be distributed to the Superintendents and Charter School Leaders of public schools in this State by sixty days after the effective date of this Act.

Section 2. This Act shall become effective upon a specific annual appropriation in the Annual Appropriations Act.

SYNOPSIS

This Act establishes the Delaware School Safety and Security Fund to allow eligible public schools to compete for grant awards to partially or fully fund projects intended to improve school safety or security. The Department of Education shall administer the competitive grant program. This Act further requires all funding to be awarded by a five-member committee consisting of representatives from the Department of Education, Department of Safety and Homeland Security, the Office of Management and Budget, the Governor’s office, and the Delaware Association of School Administrators. Said committee shall meet no later than thirty days after the effective date of this Act to develop rules and regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this Section.

Awards granted under this Section shall be limited to a maximum of $50,000 per school, with priority given to applications addressing a current unresolved safety or security issue, or an issue which would significantly improve the safety and security of the public school relative to the size of the investment.