Legislation Introduced to Promote Safety and Accountability in Delaware Interscholastic Athletics

Legislation introduced Thursday would strengthen the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) board’s authority over investigations and compliance standards while implementing new training requirements for student-athletes and stronger screening requirements for athletic officials.

House Bill 452 would expand the duties, powers and authority of the DIAA Board by requiring member schools to fully cooperate with DIAA investigations involving alleged regulatory violations. Participating student-athletes would also have annual sportsmanship and anti-harassment training and accountability measures for coaches and officials would be expanded to include initial and subsequent fingerprint-based state and federal criminal background checks and child protection registry screenings.

The measure is in the House Education Committee.