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House committee advances bill to create Title IX athletics coordinator at DOE
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Summary
The House Education Committee voted to release HB300, which would establish a Title IX athletics coordinator at the Delaware Department of Education to provide training, technical assistance and statewide athletics data reporting; a fiscal estimate projects initial and ongoing costs for staffing and software.
Representative Ross Levin told the House Education Committee that House Bill 300 would create a statewide Title IX coordinator focused on athletics within the Delaware Department of Education to provide technical assistance, training and consistent data reporting across districts and charter schools. "The bill establishes a statewide Title IX coordinator focused on athletics," he said, adding the measure “does not create any new Title IX obligations” but aims to provide supports and data to help schools implement federal requirements.
The proposal grew out of years of stakeholder work and a review of practices in other states, the sponsor said, and rests on three pillars: support and technical assistance, data collection, and training. "You really can't have a whole system of support for Title IX without those three things," Representative Ross Levin said.
Russell Ames of the Controller General's Office summarized the fiscal estimate: the legislation would create a staff position, require software changes for statewide reporting, and fund annual training support. Ames described projected annual costs ranging "from $255,000 in fiscal year 2027 to $343,276 in fiscal year 2029" and a one-time FY27 setup and outfit cost of "$107,300." The committee received that fiscal note during the hearing.
Secretary Martin of the Department of Education told the committee the department supports the bill as a way to provide consistent guidance and technical assistance to local education agencies, while preserving local autonomy. "This proposal creates the dedicated and also state-level resource that helps us focus on the data-driven capacity building that's needed to implement this work," the secretary said.
Several in-person public commenters urged the committee to release the bill. Dan Bartnick, head of school at the Charter School of Wilmington, called the bill "about fairness" and said it would provide clarity and support for students across schools. Kendall Masett of the Delaware Charter Schools Network, Jasmine Moore of the ACLU of Delaware, Britney Mumford of Delaware KidsCan, coach Lisa White, and Taylor Hawk representing the Delaware State Education Association each testified in favor, emphasizing training, transparency and better statewide data on participation and spending by gender.
The committee voted to release HB300 from committee. The clerk recorded the roll call and Chair Williams announced that the motion carried. The bill will proceed according to the committee's release process and interested parties may continue to submit written comments as provided in the committee notice.
