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Delaware · 153rd General Assembly (2025-2026) · Bill

HB 15: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PLAY-BASED LEARNING IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION.

Enacted Official data

  1. Introduced
  2. In committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. Passed both chambers
  5. Enacted

Last official action: ·Record last updated:

Plain-language summary

HB 15 is a bill introduced in the Delaware House on April 3, 2025. According to its official title, it concerns: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PLAY-BASED LEARNING IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. Primary sponsor: Rae Moore (Democratic), Kim Williams (Democratic), Debra Heffernan (Democratic), Bryan Townsend (Democratic). It lists 20 additional sponsors. Most recent recorded action (September 2, 2025): Signed by Governor.

Generated automatically from the official title, sponsor list, and status record only. It does not characterize the bill’s purpose or effects. How summaries are written

Official summary

Abstract published by the legislature (via Open States). Text as published by the legislature; reproduced verbatim.

Like House Bill No. 15, this Act permits early childhood educators in the public schools to use and encourage play-based learning in their classrooms and in their curriculum. This Act permits local education agencies to provide early childhood professional development in play-based learning, which may include professional development programs developed by the Department of Education. This Act also permits the Department to promulgate regulations for purposes of implementing this Act. This House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 15 incorporates the changes from House Amendment 1 to House Bill No. 15 with respect to the definitions of early childhood education and early childhood educators encompassing education from prekindergarten through second grade, adding topics that may be included in materials developed to provide ongoing early childhood professional development in play-based learning, and making technical corrections for clarity. This House Substitute also updates the definition of “play” and “play-based learning” contained in House Bill No. 15 and adds a definition for “guided play”.

Sponsors

Sponsors by party (alphabetical): Democratic 20 · Republican 4

NameRolePartyChamberDistrict
Rae MoorePrimary sponsorDemocraticHouse8
Kim WilliamsPrimary sponsorDemocraticHouse19
Debra HeffernanPrimary sponsorDemocraticHouse6
Bryan TownsendPrimary sponsorDemocraticSenate11
Eric BucksonCo-sponsorRepublicanSenate16
Bill BushCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse29
Nnamdi ChukwuochaCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse1
Stephanie HansenCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate10
Jeff HilovskyCo-sponsorRepublicanHouse4
Kyra HoffnerCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate14
Melanie Ross LevinCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse10
Tizzy LockmanCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate3
Eric MorrisonCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse27
Josue OrtegaCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse3
Sophie PhillipsCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse18
Nicole PooreCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate12
Cyndie RomerCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse25
Bryan ShupeCo-sponsorRepublicanHouse36
Kam SmithCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse15
Mike SmithCo-sponsorRepublicanHouse22
Claire Snyder-HallCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse14
Dave SokolaCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate8
Laura SturgeonCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate4
Jack WalshCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate9

“Support” is shown only as formal sponsorship recorded by the legislature. Roll-call votes are available on the official bill page.

Recent official actions

  1. Signed by Governor
  2. Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES
  3. Reported Out of Committee (Education) in Senate with 2 Favorable, 2 On Its Merits
  4. Assigned to Education Committee in Senate
  5. Passed By House. Votes: 38 YES 3 ABSENT
  6. was introduced and adopted in lieu of HB 15

Sources

  1. Open States / Plural (data from the official legislature website)
  2. Official legislature source