Delaware
Delaware parents outraged after Democrats kill SRO bill in committee – 47abc
DOVER, Del. – Delaware parents are outraged and speaking out tonight after a bill to increase school resource officers statewide was killed in committee.
“These children and these students are the future of our state, and to put their safety first should be a priority,” explained Kim Petters, a Kent County mom who, for years, has advocated for increasing safety in Delaware schools.
The legislation, House Bill 32, would have established school officer units to fund school resource officers (SROs) or constables in all of Delaware’s public schools. There’s actually a number of schools across the First State that do not have an SRO on-site.
The bill’s future was left in the dark after Democrats who sit on the House Education Committee voted against it, a decision that’s left some Delaware parents like Erin Chronister shocked and appalled.
“If we had one priority, it should be making sure that our schools are secure and safe,” Chronister emphasized. “I think that it’s really important that we do take this seriously because I don’t want to be on the news saying ‘well, our lawmakers said it really wasn’t a big chance of this happening.’”
Chronister was eluding to the fear that many parents have across the First State, and the country for that matter, and that’s the potential for a mass school shooting.
After the bill was killed, many parents took to social media to express their frustration, and in doing so they made it clear that there hope was that the bill would pass and add another layer of protection for their children to help prevent such tragedies.
Among the Democrats who sit on the House Education Committee who voted against the legislation is State Rep. Claire Snyder Hall. WMDT’s Rob Petree asked her about those concerns, specifically about how parents feel the bill could help prevent mass shootings in schools.
Rob: “God forbid, what happens when someone walks into a Delaware school with a machine gun?”
Snyder Hall: “Well, that’s, uh, horrible situation if it were ever to happen. Of course, that’s a statistically low probability event, and there’s no evidence that the presence of SROs in schools have stopped mass shootings in the past. So, hopefully that won’t happen.”
Rep. Snyder Hall says she voted against the bill because of the price of it, and claimed that they could hire multiple teachers for the price of one SRO.
“The SRO bill was not voted out of committee, not because we don’t care about school safety, but because of the astronomical price tag,” Snyder Hall said. “We could hire three teachers for the price of one SRO. And there’s a lot of needs in the schools and I think that our public resources would be better used if we let educators educate and let the police do police work.”
That’s a notion Chronister took exception with.
“A constable’s salary, Appo and probably MOT, they’re about the same, it’s like 40 grand a year to start,” Chronister said. “So, I would just ask ‘like, what are we paying our teachers if we can hire two to three teachers for the salary of one constable?’ That seems a little outrageous.”
The bill’s primary sponsor, State Rep. Bryan Shupe, said he was disappointed his bill didn’t make it out of committee, but that he’s hopeful lawmakers can come together as parents continue to make their voices heard.
“I don’t think it’s the end,” Rep. Shupe said confidently. “I think we’ll all come together after parents have a say and call their representatives and their senators.”
Rep. Shupe took issue with some of the arguments that were raised as the bill was considered in committee, specifically a notion that to add more SROs in Delaware schools could create a ‘prison pipeline’ that starts in school.
“I was very disappointed that the safety of our children wasn’t a priority,” Rep. Shupe said. “What I was most disappointed at though was the calls from other representatives trying to say that SROs would create a ‘education to prison pipeline’ or suggesting that SROs would be arresting kids for doing things that kids usually do.”
While the bill may be dead this time around, Rep. Shupe and his Republican colleagues who supported it hope that a future bill will be considered with a different outcome and that the conversation continues on how to increase safety in Delaware schools.
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Thomas Jefferson University is opening a regional campus of its Sidney Kimmel Medical College in Delaware, an effort that will result in the state’s first medical school.
Jefferson beat out three other bidders to establish the four-year program in partnership with the state. The other bidders were the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, the consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Ponce Health Sciences University in Puerto Rico, Spotlight Delaware reported.
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The inaugural class of 40 medical students will begin instruction in July 2028. Initially, the campus will be based at the University of Delaware in Newark, with Jefferson faculty providing instruction. A permanent home for the campus is still being finalized, the Inquirer reported.
The medical students will receive 18 months of preclinical training on campus before receiving clinical training from healthcare providers in Delaware’s southern counties, where the state’s physician shortage is most deeply felt. That shortage is compounded by an aging population, Delaware officials said.
“Jefferson is committed to being part of the solution to Delaware’s physician shortage,” Jefferson CEO Dr. Joseph Cacchione said in a statement. “We are proud to help build a future where every Delawarean has access to the care they deserve. Jefferson is all in.”
The school’s creation is being supported by $157.4 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Delaware is one of three states without a Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program. Since the late 1960s, Jefferson and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine have reserved seats for Delaware students.
“Sidney Kimmel Medical College has trained generations of physicians for more than 200 years, more than any other medical college in the country,” Said Ibrahim, dean of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, said in a statement. “It is a privilege to bring our mission to Delaware’s patients and communities.”
Jefferson has announced several expansions recently. The university is establishing a full-time doctor of nursing practice-nurse anesthesia program and several online graduate programs at the Lehigh Valley Health Network Center for Healthcare Education in Lehigh County. It also is opening a satellite respiratory therapy lab at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown.
Delaware officials said medical students will start their classroom instruction at UD and then do their clinical training at offices and health care systems in Kent and Sussex counties, where the shortage of doctors is most acute.
However, ChristianaCare, which has its own partnership with Jefferson, is not participating. The state’s largest health care system was part of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s unsuccessful bid to operate the school. In a joint statement from ChristianaCare and PCOM, the two organizations expressed disappointment with not being part of the consortium of higher education institutions and healthcare organizations.
“The path forward raises genuine questions about whether the school’s goals can be fully realized without ChristianaCare’s meaningful participation in its clinical training mission,” it said. “The success of any four-year medical program depends not just on an academic institution, but on a true and committed partnership with its clinical partners — one built on shared mission, mutual investment and trust developed over time.”
Students in the first class can get their tuition subsidized, covering all of their education costs, in exchange for an agreement to work in rural Delaware for five years.
Running the medical school is expected to cost Jefferson $78 million over the next five years. The money is from a federal rural health grant through the Rural Health Transformation Program, which congressional Republicans created in the so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.”
The program will give $50 billion to every state over five years, though exactly the total each will eventually receive is unclear. Half of the money is to be distributed equally to states and the other half is awarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services based on a variety of factors.
The state applied for $1 billion late last year to improve health care in Kent and Sussex counties. The Trump administration has so far allocated Delaware $157 million. Delaware is expected to receive at least $500 million over the life of the fund.
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