republic-os/legislation/us/states/de/151/hb-454.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 ELIGIBILITY FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION AND RELATED SERVICES.	This Act revises the Code to be consistent with federal law. The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) requires states to make a free appropriate public education (FAPE) available to all children with disabilities “between the ages of 3 and 21, inclusive.” 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(1)(A). The term “inclusive” requires states to extend eligibility until a student’s 22nd birthday. The IDEA allows states to limit the age of eligibility for FAPE to students between the ages of 18 through 21 only to the extent state law, practice, or court order limits the provision of public education to all children within those age ranges. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(1)(B). In Delaware, state law and practice provide public education to adults without age limitation. Delaware is one of the few states that has developed a public adult high school, the James H. Groves Adult High School, accommodating those needing an alternative to a regular day-school program. As such, federal law requires Delaware to extend eligibility for children with disabilities through their 22nd birthday. Current statute and regulation extend eligibility to the end of the school year in which a child with a disability turns 21, this Act proposes to keep the established exit point to minimize service interruptions and only change the age from the end of the school year in which a child turns 21 to the end of the school year in which a child turns 22.	us/states/de	Delaware General Assembly	151	HB 454	Delaware HB 454 (151)	bill		enacted	Debra Heffernan Kimberly Williams Krista Griffith Laura V. Sturgeon Nicole Poore Valerie Longhurst	1	11	2	2022-06-02	2022-07-22	openstates	ocd-bill/ccd619d8-0d9a-4805-8b21-0ea4bde12c24	https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=109603	a036696aa7a392db44adc4304623693d8d3536569eba86632ddd9ba665010e84	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-de

Delaware HB 454 (151) — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ELIGIBILITY FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION AND RELATED SERVICES.

This Act revises the Code to be consistent with federal law. The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) requires states to make a free appropriate public education (FAPE) available to all children with disabilities “between the ages of 3 and 21, inclusive.” 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(1)(A). The term “inclusive” requires states to extend eligibility until a student’s 22nd birthday. The IDEA allows states to limit the age of eligibility for FAPE to students between the ages of 18 through 21 only to the extent state law, practice, or court order limits the provision of public education to all children within those age ranges. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(1)(B). In Delaware, state law and practice provide public education to adults without age limitation. Delaware is one of the few states that has developed a public adult high school, the James H. Groves Adult High School, accommodating those needing an alternative to a regular day-school program. As such, federal law requires Delaware to extend eligibility for children with disabilities through their 22nd birthday. Current statute and regulation extend eligibility to the end of the school year in which a child with a disability turns 21, this Act proposes to keep the established exit point to minimize service interruptions and only change the age from the end of the school year in which a child turns 21 to the end of the school year in which a child turns 22.

Version chain

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

1. Bill Text (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• SM — 21–0 (pass) · upper
• SM — 40–0 (pass) · lower

Sponsors

• Debra Heffernan — primary (person)
• Kimberly Williams — primary (person)
• Krista Griffith — primary (person)
• Laura V. Sturgeon — primary (person)
• Nicole Poore — primary (person)
• Valerie Longhurst — primary (person)

Timeline

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

• 2022-06-02 Introduced and Assigned to Education Committee in House introduction, referral-committee
• 2022-06-08 Reported Out of Committee (Education) in House with 4 Favorable, 8 On Its Merits committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable
• 2022-06-09 Assigned to Appropriations Committee in House introduction, referral-committee
• 2022-06-14 Reported Out of Committee (Appropriations) in House with 6 On Its Merits committee-passage
• 2022-06-16 Passed By House. Votes: 40 YES 1 ABSENT passage
• 2022-06-16 Assigned to Education Committee in Senate introduction, referral-committee
• 2022-06-22 Reported Out of Committee (Education) in Senate with 6 On Its Merits committee-passage
• 2022-06-22 Assigned to Finance Committee in Senate introduction, referral-committee
• 2022-06-28 Reported Out of Committee (Finance) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits committee-passage
• 2022-06-30 Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES passage
• 2022-07-22 Signed by Governor executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/ccd619d8-0d9a-4805-8b21-0ea4bde12c24. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Delaware legislature records).