2018 House Education Bill Summaries

The summaries attempt to highlight major components of each bill. Click on the bill number to read the bill in its entirety and to view the latest action.

HB 526 – Mississippi Workforce Development Study Committee; create

• To create the Mississippi Workforce Development Study Committee
• To provide that the Mississippi Workforce Development Study Committee shall review the curriculum in K-12 schools that is designed to promote workforce development and preparation and shall develop and design a curriculum that meets the workforce development needs of the State of Mississippi
• To provide for the membership of the Mississippi Workforce Development Study Committee
• To require the Mississippi Workforce Development Study Committee to submit a report of its findings to the Legislature and Governor no later than November 30, 2018 

This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
 

HB 829 – “Mississippi Vision for Better Learning Program”; implement to require comprehensive eye examination for first-time students. 

• To amend Mississippi code to recommend a comprehensive eye examination for all students prior to entering or enrolling for the first time in a public, private or parochial School
• To provide standards for required eye examinations
• To direct the State Department of Education with input from the Mississippi Vision Foundation to develop and issue regulations establishing standards for the Student Eye Examination Program

This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2018, and shall stand repealed on June 30, 2018.
 

HB 957 – Education; establish Mississippi Uniform Per Student Funding Formula Act of 2018 

• To create new Section 37-151-201, Mississippi Code of 1972, to establish a new funding formula in this act to be known as the “Mississippi Uniform Per Student Funding Formula Act of 2018”
• To require the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula to be used in calculating school district funding beginning with the 2019 fiscal year and to prescribe the formula
• To establish the student base amount
• To establish a weight to be applied to the base amount for students in high school grades
• To establish a weight to be applied to the base amount for students identified as low income students
• To establish a weight to be applied to the base amount for students identified as English Language Learners
• To establish three weights, varying in amount according to disability, to be applied to the base amount for students receiving Special Education Services
• To establish a weight to be applied to the base amount for Gifted Students
• To establish a weight to be applied to the base amount for all students enrolled in Sparse School Districts
• To require student enrollment and attendance figures to be determined on the basis of average daily membership and to require audits to be conducted by the State Auditor during specified weeks
• To require periodic recommendations for revisions to the formula to be made to the Legislature
• To clarify that a school district has autonomy, subject to regulatory and statutory restrictions, in the spending of all funds allocated to that district regardless of the count of students in certain grades and weighted student categories
• To require the State Department Of Education to annually determine the amount that local school districts must contribute to the cost of the funding formula and to establish limitations on state funding increases and decreases for school districts during each of the next seven fiscal years
• To recodify existing maximum student-teacher ratios
• To require the State Department of Education to incorporate additional reporting requirements in the accounting manual for school districts in order to facilitate greater transparency
• To require the department to implement a fiscal transparency system that compares financial investment in a school district with academic growth and which allows comparisons with data from peer school districts
• To require the information relating to school district spending and outcomes to be published on the State Department Of Education’s website
• To require the department to establish a Financial Rating Model for School Districts and to establish sanctions for school districts having poor outcomes
• To require the department to review rules and regulations of the department and State Board of Education which indirectly create a fiscal impact on school districts and to revise such rules and regulations as appropriate to further district autonomy under the funding formula
• To establish the Joint Legislative Study Committee on Statutory Education Accreditation Standards for the purpose of reviewing statutes that establish accreditation requirements and researching the feasibility of implementing an accountability system of earned autonomy under which high performing school districts are granted independence from certain statutory requirements
• To require the State Board of Education to establish a study committee for the purpose of making recommendations relating to the use of an IEP-Based Funding Model for Special Education Services
• To create the Early Learning Funding Continuum Study Committee to make recommendations regarding the funding for students in prekindergarten through third grade
• To repeal code section that required state funding for home economics teachers to be included as a line item in the Education Appropriations Bills for certain prior fiscal years
• To repeal code sections that define certain terms and prescribe the formula and certain requirements under the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP)
• To repeal code section that creates the commission on restructuring the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP)

This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
 

HB 985 – Children’s Cabinet; establish to coordinate services for children in Mississippi.

• To establish a Children’s Cabinet to coordinate services for young children
• To prescribe the powers and duties of the Children’s Cabinet
• To amend code sections to transfer the responsibilities of the State Interagency Coordinating Council (SICC) for the early intervention program for infants and toddlers with disabilities and the Interagency Coordinating Council for Children and Youth (ICCCY) to the Children’s Cabinet
• To repeal code section which establishes the State Early Childhood Advisory Council
• To repeal code section which establishes the State Interagency Coordinating Council for the Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities
• To repeal code section which establishes an advisory committee to the State Interagency Coordinating Council
• To repeal code section which establishes the Mississippi Interagency Council on Homelessness
• To repeal code section which defines the powers and responsibilities of the Interagency Coordinating Council for Children And Youth (ICCCY)
• To repeal code sections which create an Advisory Council to the State Health Officer and require the Advisory Council to assist in developing regulations governing family child care homes

This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2018.
 

HB 1035– Mississippi Dyslexia Education Forgivable Loan Program; clarify repayment and conversion terms.

• To amend Section 37-106-71, Mississippi Code of 1972, to clarify repayment and conversion terms and the administration of the Mississippi Dyslexia Education Forgivable Loan Program
• To amend Section 37-106-53, Mississippi Code Of 1972, in conformity thereto
• And for related purposes

This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2018.
 

HB 1036– Mississippi Compulsory School Attendance Law; clarify student participation in authorized school activities.

• To amend Section 37-13-91, Mississippi Code of 1972, to clarify that a student is considered present for average daily attendance reporting purposes when participating in authorized school activities approved by the Superintendent of the school district
• To amend Section 37-151-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, in conformity thereto
• And for related purposes

This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2018.
 

HB 1037– MS Virtual School Program; require private provider of services to be selected through the MS Online Learning Application Process.

• To amend Section 37-161-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, to require that private providers chosen to provide services to the Mississippi Virtual Public School Program be selected through the Mississippi Online Learning Application Process
• To provide authority to the State Department Of Education to have final approval of all coursework and policy related to the Mississippi Virtual Public School
• And for related purposes

This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2018.