republic-os/legislation/us/states/de/149/hb-23.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.	This Act requires that any student over the age of 16 who wishes to leave school prior to graduation must obtain the written consent of the parent or guardian, and attend an exit interview where information is supplied regarding the likelihood of diminished earning potential and the increased likelihood of unemployment associated with dropping out. The school is also directed to explore whether there are support services, interventions or programs that might assist the student in remaining enrolled. The intent is to lower the dropout rate and encourage students to complete high school.	us/states/de	Delaware General Assembly	149	HB 23	Delaware HB 23 (149)	bill		enacted	Harris B. McDowell Sean Matthews	1	9	2	2017-01-05	2017-05-18	openstates	ocd-bill/f0a64311-54b8-4351-b73b-f7275c495d3c	https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=25352	ad73196c9330623ba9ba096d28431a0a38eb1a2a255abdb9b0fc9d312fcf2445	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-de

Delaware HB 23 (149) — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.

This Act requires that any student over the age of 16 who wishes to leave school prior to graduation must obtain the written consent of the parent or guardian, and attend an exit interview where information is supplied regarding the likelihood of diminished earning potential and the increased likelihood of unemployment associated with dropping out. The school is also directed to explore whether there are support services, interventions or programs that might assist the student in remaining enrolled. The intent is to lower the dropout rate and encourage students to complete high school.

Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. Bill Text (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• SM — 15–3 (pass) · upper
• SM — 35–2 (pass) · lower

Sponsors

• Harris B. McDowell — primary (person)
• Sean Matthews — primary (person)
• Bruce C. Ennis — cosponsor (person)
• Bryon H. Short — cosponsor (person)
• Catherine Cloutier — cosponsor (person)
• Deborah Hudson — cosponsor (person)
• Edward S. Osienski — cosponsor (person)
• Helene M. Keeley — cosponsor (person)
• John L. Mitchell — cosponsor (person)
• John Walsh — cosponsor (person)
• Kimberly Williams — cosponsor (person)
• Nicole Poore — cosponsor (person)
• Sean M. Lynn — cosponsor (person)

Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

• 2017-01-05 Introduced and Assigned to Education Committee in House introduction, referral-committee
• 2017-01-25 Reported Out of Committee (Education) in House with 11 On Its Merits committee-passage
• 2017-03-15 Amendment HA 1 to HB 23 - Introduced and Placed With Bill amendment-introduction
• 2017-03-21 Amendment HA 1 to HB 23 - Passed In House by Voice Vote amendment-passage
• 2017-03-21 Passed By House. Votes: 35 YES 2 NO 1 NOT VOTING 3 ABSENT passage
• 2017-03-21 Assigned to Education Committee in Senate introduction, referral-committee
• 2017-03-29 Reported Out of Committee (Education) in Senate with 3 On Its Merits committee-passage
• 2017-04-05 Passed By Senate. Votes: 15 YES 3 NO 1 NOT VOTING 2 ABSENT passage
• 2017-05-18 Signed by Governor executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/f0a64311-54b8-4351-b73b-f7275c495d3c. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Delaware legislature records).