DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of the Secretary
FINAL
REGULATORY IMPLEMENTING ORDER
237 Educational Support Professional of the Year
I. SUMMARY OF THE EVIDENCE AND INFORMATION SUBMITTED
Pursuant to 14 Del.C. §8906D, the Secretary of Education intends to amend 14 DE Admin. Code 237 Educational Support Professional of the Year. This regulation is being amended to comply with Senate Bill 252 of the 151st General Assembly which modified the annual award amount for the Education Support Professional of the Year Award from $2,500 to $5,000. It is also being amended to remove language that the award "fund(s) educational materials," as 14 Del.C. §8906D does not limit the award funds to only be used for educational materials.
Notice of the proposed regulation was published in the Delaware Register of Regulations on September 1, 2022. The Department of Education did not receive any comments for this regulation.
II. FINDINGS OF FACTS
The Secretary finds that it is appropriate to amend 14 DE Admin. 237 Educational Support Professional of the Year in order to comply with Senate Bill 252 of the 151st General Assembly which modified the annual award amount for the Education Support Professional of the Year Award from $2,500 to $5,000. It is also being amended to remove language that the award "fund(s) educational materials," as 14 Del.C. §8906D does not limit the award funds to only be used for educational materials.
III. DECISION TO AMEND THE REGULATION
For the foregoing reasons, the Secretary concludes that it is appropriate to amend 14 DE Admin. Code 237 Educational Support Professional of the Year. Therefore, pursuant to 14 Del.C. §122, 14 DE Admin. Code 237 Educational Support Professional of the Year attached hereto as Exhibit "A" is hereby amended. Pursuant to the provision of 14 Del.C. §122(e), 14 DE Admin. Code 237 Educational Support Professional of the Year amended shall be in effect for a period of five years from the effective date of this order as set forth in Section V. below.
IV. TEXT AND CITATION
The text of 14 DE Admin. Code 237 Educational Support Professional of the Year amended hereby shall be in the form attached hereto as Exhibit "A", and said regulation shall be cited as 14 DE Admin. Code 237 Educational Support Professional of the Year in the Administrative Code of Regulations for the Department of Education.
V. EFFECTIVE DATE OF ORDER
The actions hereinabove referred to were taken by the Secretary pursuant to 14 Del.C. §122 on October 6, 2022. The effective date of this Order shall be 10 days from the date this Order is published in the Delaware Register of Regulations.
IT IS SO ORDERED the 6th day of October 2022
Department of Education
Mark A. Holodick, Ed.D., Secretary of Education
Approved this 6th day of October 2022
237 Educational Support Professional of the Year
The purpose of this regulation is to establish policies and procedures by which Educational Support Professional of the Year award funds may be used by the designated recipient pursuant to 14 Del.C. §8906D.
The words and terms, when used in this regulation, shall have the following meaning unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
“Department” means the Delaware Department of Education.
"Educational Support Professional of the Year Award Fund” means a $2,500 $5,000 set aside fund within the budget of the Department of Education for the award recipient to make withdrawals from as necessary to fund educational materials to serve educational purposes and objectives as described in 14 Del.C. §8906D.
“Educational Support Professional of the Year Award Recipient” or “Recipient” means a school employee whose position is instructional in nature or who provides other direct or indirect services to students and their parents such as paraprofessionals, instructional aides, custodial staff, secretaries, nutritional staff and school bus drivers, who is recognized for their outstanding service as described in 14 Del.C. §8903D. This designation is given at both the local school district and at the statewide level.
3.1 The Educational Support Professional of the Year Award Fund, in the amount of $2,500 $5,000, shall be set aside within the budget of the Department to be used for the statewide Educational Support Professional of the Year Award Recipient’s exclusive assignment and disbursement.
3.2 The Educational Support Professional of the Year Award Recipient shall not directly receive the funds, but may make withdrawals solely for educational purposes and to benefit students. No amount of such award shall be used for the personal benefit of the award recipient; however, in the use of such funds for educational purposes, the Recipient may be an indirect or incidental beneficiary as educational support professional of the benefited pupils.
3.3 In order to withdraw funds, the Recipient shall present to the superintendent of the local school district a plan for utilization of the award in order to avoid wasteful duplication of materials or violation of school district policy.
3.4 Possible use of funds includes, but is not limited to:
3.4.1 Purchase of non-consumable materials and supplies (library books, audio/visual equipment, computer equipment, etc.);
3.4.2 Purchase of otherwise consumable materials that are used by students (paper, notebooks, binders, pencils, etc.);
3.4.3 Employment of performers or consultants (musical group, author, poet or other subject matter expert);
3.4.4 Student-centered professional development for building level Educational Support Professionals; or
3.4.5 Reimbursements to the recipient, not to exceed $500, for personal expenses.
3.5 Materials, equipment or other items purchased with such funds shall be the property of the local school district in which the recipient is employed at the time of expenditure.
3.6 Invoices, purchase orders or personal reimbursement forms related to withdrawals from the Educational Support Professional of the Year Award Fund shall be retained by the local school district and shall be available for inspection as public records and subject to regular audit by the State Auditor of Accounts.
