Delaware Title 14 §2306: Security Film for New Schools and Major Renovations

The short answer

When a new Delaware school is constructed, or an existing school undergoes a major renovation, Delaware Code Title 14 §2306 requires specific safety and security measures in the design. For glazing, §2306(b)(2) requires “Ballistic-resistant glass or other ballistic-resistant material, or security film” in all secured vestibule, lobby, and office areas used to screen visitors.

That is the whole trigger and the whole scope: qualifying construction projects, and the visitor-screening areas the statute names. The statute does not order every existing school to retrofit, and it does not require treatment of every pane of glass in a building.

What projects trigger §2306

Two events bring §2306 into play: constructing a new school, or undertaking a “major renovation.” §2306(a) defines a major renovation as a project at or above the Major Capital Improvement Program threshold set under 14 DE Admin Code 401.

Ordinary maintenance, small capital projects below that threshold, and buildings that are not being renovated are not pulled into the requirement by the statute itself. Many Delaware districts still choose to harden existing buildings voluntarily — that is planning, not a statutory mandate, and it is worth being precise about the difference in board documents.

Exactly which areas are covered

§2306(b)(2) applies to “all secured vestibule, lobby, and office areas used to screen visitors.” In practice that means the entry sequence where a visitor is held and checked before being admitted: the secured vestibule glazing, the lobby glass around it, and the office glazing where staff screen visitors.

Other openings — classroom sidelights, cafeteria glass, gym glazing, upper floors — are outside the language of §2306(b)(2). Districts and their design teams may evaluate those openings anyway based on project-specific risk and design review, but that choice belongs to the project team, not the statute.

The statutory options

The statute lists three ways to treat the covered areas: ballistic-resistant glass, other ballistic-resistant material, or security film. These are different products with different capabilities and very different budgets, and the statute leaves the selection to the project.

Ballistic-resistant glass and materials are rated assemblies: any claimed rating must be supported by the exact tested assembly and configuration, together with the applicable test documentation. Security film is an applied polyester film that helps retain fractured glass; in an appropriate tested film, attachment, and frame assembly it can help delay forced entry. Security film is not ballistic-resistant material.

What SB 273 changed on June 24, 2026

Senate Bill 273 was signed and became effective on June 24, 2026. Per its official synopsis, it clarifies that security film is distinct from ballistic-resistant materials, and confirms that §2306(b) can be satisfied when ballistic-resistant materials are used in the required locations.

The practical takeaway: the legislature drew a clean line between the two product families. A district specifying security film is using one statutory option; a district specifying a ballistic-resistant assembly is using another. Marketing that blurs the two does not match the statute or the products: standard security film is not a ballistic-resistant material.

Security film vs. ballistic-resistant materials

Standard security film helps hold fractured glass together so an opening does not immediately become a clear path. Paired with an engineered perimeter attachment on a sound frame, the tested assembly can help delay forced entry. It is not designed to stop projectiles, and no reputable installer should present it that way.

Ballistic-resistant performance belongs to complete tested configurations — a specified glass type and thickness, any glass-strengthening treatment such as C-Bond, the required film layers, and the attachment detail, exactly as documented in the manufacturer's test data. A change may put the installed build outside the documented tested configuration; confirm equivalency with the manufacturer and the project design professional.

Why the whole assembly matters

Glazing performance is a system property. The glass type and thickness, the film build, the perimeter attachment, and the frame and its anchorage all carry load together. A heavy film on a weak frame, or a rated ballistic lite in an unrated frame, does not deliver the performance of the tested assembly.

This is why serious school glazing projects start with an opening-by-opening survey — glass, frame condition, anchorage, and sightlines — before anyone picks a product.

Planning a retrofit outside a triggering project

Most Delaware school buildings will not see a new-construction or major-renovation trigger for years. Districts that want to harden visitor-screening areas now can do so as a voluntary capital project: survey the entry sequence, price the statutory options for those openings, and phase work over breaks.

A voluntary retrofit can mirror the statute's priorities — vestibule, lobby, visitor-screening office glazing first — so that future qualifying projects inherit work that already aligns with §2306(b)(2).

A practical procurement checklist

Before issuing a school glazing RFP or accepting a bid, confirm: (1) the opening schedule identifies each covered vestibule, lobby, and visitor-screening opening; (2) each proposed product is identified by manufacturer and exact product name; (3) any ballistic claim cites the complete tested configuration from the manufacturer's data sheet — glass, treatment, film layers, attachment; (4) security-film scopes specify the attachment system and frame condition assumptions; (5) the design team and the applicable state review process confirm what the project actually requires.

Compliance disclaimer

Shore Tint & More does not determine statutory compliance. Project requirements and final compliance should be confirmed with the project architect, the authority having jurisdiction, and Delaware's applicable state review process, including DSHS and the Department of Education.