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Board hears HB 97 implementation plan: new permits, job-code clean-up and discipline provisions; regulators approve scholarship-rule updates
Summary
Professional Standards Board staff and the Department presented regulatory work to implement HB 97 (credentialing reforms), showing plans to formalize permits for multiple educator roles, clean job codes, and add a funding-reimbursement penalty for unlicensed practice; the board approved Regulations 12-15 and 12-11 on scholarship and repayment programs.
The State Board of Education received a multi-part briefing on Nov. 20 about implementing HB 97, the recent credentialing reform law, and approved two department regulations related to scholarships and loan-repayment consolidation.
Dr. Linnea Bradshaw, executive director of the Professional Standards Board, told the board that HB 97 creates statutory authority to formalize permits for roles that previously lacked explicit licensure paths (paraprofessionals, behavior-intervention specialists, student-services professionals, long-term interns and year-long residents). Bradshaw said the reforms also require clean-up of more than 1,000 job codes so human-resources job codes align with licensure categories, and that the department aims to have the updated system in place by September 2026.
She described five major work streams: permitting, job-code alignment, educator-preparation program connections, funding-reimbursement mechanisms (a potential penalty for unlicensed practice intended as a backstop) and technical updates to reporting systems. Bradshaw said the permitting structure allows the department to create several permit types and that more permits are scheduled for publication in coming months.
On a specific new regulation (15-24), Bradshaw said the classroom-aid permit was created in part to open paid opportunities for adults with disabilities to work alongside students with disabilities. She acknowledged the department cannot compel local education agencies to create placement opportunities and said clear job-code and data distinctions are part of implementation to avoid confusion between paraeducators and other kinds of "aids." A board member asked about potential confusion between the existing paraprofessional permit and the new classroom-aid permit; Bradshaw said the data-system changes are intended to make distinctions explicit.
During the rules-and-action portion of the meeting Juliette Borowski of the Delaware Higher Education Office reviewed consolidated scholarship and loan-repayment regulations. The board voted to approve Regulation 12-15 (consolidating three loan-repayment/stipend programs into a single public-school-employee support program for high-needs areas); the motion to approve Regulation 12-15 was made by Reverend Powell and seconded by Simmons and passed by voice vote. The board later approved Regulation 12-11 (consolidating need-based scholarship programs and adding FAFSA as an eligibility requirement); Stevens moved, Provost Maloney seconded, and the motion carried.
At general public comment, Andrew Ellis raised concerns that the reforms and enforcement provisions could penalize districts for unlicensed practice without a parallel expansion of the special-education teacher pipeline, and urged action on pathways for special-education preparation. The board did not take additional formal policy votes on HB 97 implementation in this meeting; staff described ongoing engagement with stakeholders and noted multiple permits and regulatory steps are yet to come.
No financial penalties tied to funding-reimbursement provisions were enacted at the meeting; Bradshaw described the funding-reimbursement mechanism as an accountability tool the department hopes not to use.
The board then moved to executive session to hear appeals.
