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AN ACT TO
AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO NEIGHBORHOOD
SCHOOLS.
WHEREAS, a public school system where
children attend schools in their community and close to their
homes has broad support among Delawareans;
WHEREAS, most parents prefer that their
children attend schools close to their homes and in their
communities thereby minimizing transportation time between home
and school;
WHEREAS, reducing the need for extended
transportation to and from school better enables children to
arrive at schools rested and ready to learn;
WHEREAS, neighborhood schools foster a sense
of pride in the community and can serve as a focal point for
community activities;
WHEREAS, it is crucial that parents have
significant input at the local level in terms of where their
children attend school;
WHEREAS, feeder patterns decisions
traditionally have been made at the local level thereby
providing parents significant input in those decisions;
WHEREAS, the State recognizes that the
Appoquinimink School District and existing non vocational school
districts in Kent and Sussex Counties may want to consider
alternative attendance feeder patterns and/or grade
configurations;
WHEREAS, Delaware’s schools in Northern New
Castle County were subject to a Federal Consent Decree for many
years which mandated certain school feeder patterns but that
consent decree has been lifted;
WHEREAS, children living in the City of
Wilmington currently attend schools in the Brandywine School
District, the Red Clay School District, Christiana School
District or the Colonial School District; and
WHEREAS, it is important that any plan for
neighborhood schools is fair to all children and that all
residents of Northern New Castle County have input in what
schools their children attend and how those schools are run.
NOW, THEREFORE:
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
STATE OF DELAWARE.
Section 1. This Act shall be known as the
Neighborhood Schools Act of 2000.
Section 2. Amend Title 14, Delaware Code by
designating current § 202 through § 207 as "Subchapter I. System
of Free Public Schools" and inserting as new subchapter II the
following:
"Subchapter II. Neighborhood schools.
§ 220. Purpose
It is the intent and purpose of the General
Assembly through this subchapter to establish and implement a
plan for neighborhood schools in Northern New Castle County that
is fair and equitable to all affected children in New Castle
County.
§ 221. Definitions.
(1) 'District' or 'districts' means Brandywine School
District, Colonial School District, Christina School
District, and/or Red Clay Consolidated School District,
either jointly or severally, as context indicates.
(2) 'Committee' means the Wilmington Neighborhood Schools
Committee.
(3) 'Plan' means a Neighborhood School Plan.
§ 223. Wilmington Neighborhood Schools
Committee.
(a) The Wilmington Neighborhood
Schools Committee shall consist of seventeen (17)
members as follows:
(1) Two members designated by the
Mayor of the City of Wilmington;
(2) Three members designated by
the President of City Council for the City of
Wilmington;
(3) One member designated by the
Governor with such member being a resident of the
City of Wilmington;
(4) One member designated by the
President Pro Tempore of the Senate with such member
being a resident of the City of Wilmington;
(5) One member designated by the
Speaker of the House of Representatives with such
member being a resident of the City of Wilmington;
(6) Two members representing the
Wilmington business community designated by the
Mayor;
(7) One member from a community
based organization designated by the Mayor;
(8) One member from a community
based organization designated by the President of
City Council;
(9) One member from each of the
four school boards with such persons serving from a
Wilmington nominating district; and
(10) One member residing in the
City of Wilmington and representing the New Castle
County Vo-Tech School District.
(b) Each member shall serve at the
pleasure of the holder of the office or the entity
having the authority to appoint the member to the
Committee. The Chairperson of the Committee shall be
designated by the Mayor from the seventeen members and
serve as Chairperson at the pleasure of the Mayor. The
majority of the Committee shall constitute a quorum and
no motion or resolution of the Committee may be adopted
without the approval of a majority of its members.
(c) The Committee shall not be
compensated but shall be reimbursed for reasonable and
necessary travel expenses incurred in connection with
the performance of its official duties. Funding for the
research and analysis required by this section shall
also be provided by the Department of Education.
(d) The Committee shall review and
analyze current public school feeder patterns, current
resource allocations among the districts, current
populations of children residing in the City of
Wilmington attending public schools and population
projections for children residing in the City of
Wilmington likely to attend public schools in the
future.
(e) Based on the information and
analysis, the Committee shall submit recommendations to
the Mayor of the City of Wilmington and the City Council
by January 3, 2001 concerning the creation of a
Wilmington School District, neighborhood schools within
the current district configurations or neighborhood
schools under some alternative district configuration.
The recommendations shall identify specific time-lines
for implementation as well as specific actions,
legislative or otherwise, required to implement the
recommendations. The recommendations shall also estimate
the costs or savings both in terms of capital expense
and/or operational expense based on existing unit count
allocations and the required local match. Prior to
submitting the recommendations, the Committee shall hold
at least five (5) public hearings to take testimony and
questions from members of the public and other
interested stakeholders.
(f) Upon review and consideration of
the Committee’s recommendations, the City Council and
the Mayor of the City of Wilmington shall forward their
plan on behalf of the City of Wilmington to the General
Assembly by March 15, 2001. The plan shall identify
specific time-lines for implementation as well as
specific actions, legislative or otherwise, required to
implement the recommendations. The plan shall also
estimate the costs or savings both in terms of capital
expense and/or operational expense based on existing
unit count allocations and the required local match. The
General Assembly shall act on the plan by June 30, 2001.
§ 224 Neighborhood School Plans
(a) In the context of the plan
submitted, or lack thereof, pursuant to § 223(f) of this
subchapter and any action taken by the General Assembly
and the Governor to implement the Wilmington plan, the
school boards of Brandywine School District, Colonial
School District, Christina School District, and Red Clay
Consolidated School District shall develop a
Neighborhood School Plan for their districts that
assigns every student within the district to the
grade-appropriate school closest to the student's
residence, without regard to any consideration other
than geographic distance and the natural boundaries of
neighborhoods. Notwithstanding the above, the Plan may
assign students to schools based on factors other than
geographic distance and natural neighborhood boundaries
if a substantial hardship to a school or school
district, student, or a student's family exists;
provided, that, no student shall be assigned to any
school on the basis of race and school assignments shall
be made without regard to the racial composition of the
schools. Districts may consider as part of their
neighborhood school plans, inter-district school
assignments for individual schools, with the concurrence
of other districts, to the extent such assignments
further the purposes of this Act.
(b) Neighborhood School Plans shall
consist of the following grade configurations:
(1) A lower-level school, or
elementary school, consisting of either grades K-5
or grades K-6;
(2) A middle-level school, or
junior high school, consisting of either grade 6 or
7 to grade 8 or 9; or
(3) An upper-level school, or
high school, consisting of either grades 9-12 or
grades 10-12.
If a district has only 2 school
configurations, the plan may contain any combination of
grade levels. To the extent a district concludes that an
alternative configuration would better accomplish the goals
of this Act, the district may present an alternative
neighborhood school plan in addition to the plan based on
the above configurations.
(c) Each district shall hold at least
5 public hearings concerning their proposed plan prior
to submission to the State Board of Education.
(d) The school board of each district
shall submit its plan to the State Board of Education by
November 15, 2001 for its review and approval. If
approved, the State Board of Education shall notify the
Budget Director and Controller General who shall,
subject to an annual appropriation, release to the
district a one-time payment of $1.25 million from the
General Fund for transition costs incurred by the
district in implementing the Plan. If the State Board of
Education does not approve the plan, it shall notify the
district in writing, identify the reasons why the plan
was not approved and require the district to re-submit
the plan within 60 days of the notice of denial. If the
district fails to re-submit the plan in accordance with
this Act within 60 days, the State Board of Education
shall refer the matter to the Attorney General’s Office
to bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction
to compel compliance with this subsection.
(e) A district that, as a result of
its Plan, reduces its student transportation expenses
from its student transportation expenses for FY 2001
shall receive payment for the difference between those
expenses, as calculated each year, for 10 years. The
district shall use the payments for general education
expenses.
(f) Each district shall implement its
Neighborhood School Plan within 18 months of receiving
payment of one-time transition costs pursuant to
subsection (c) of this section.
(g) A citizen with standing may bring
a private cause of action in a court of competent
jurisdiction to enforce the requirements of this
section.
- Nothing in this section is intended to deny or interfere
with a student attending a special education program, an
alternative school or a charter school, or electing to
attend a school through the enrollment choice program."
Section 3. The Appoquinimink School Districts
and existing non-vocational school districts in Kent and Sussex
Counties may submit plans proposing alternative attendance
feeder patterns and/or alternative grade configurations to the
State Board of Education and if approved, pursuant to the
process outlined in §224(d), shall receive payment of
$350,000.00 for one-time transition costs to implement the plan.
Section 4. If any provision of this Act or the application
thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such
invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of
the Act which can be given effect without the invalid provision
or application, and to that end the provisions of this Act are
declared to be severable.
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