April 17 2025 board agenda

Mississippi Board of Education
April 17, 2025
10:00 a.m.
4^th Floor Boardroom
Central High School Building
Mississippi Department of Education (MDE)
359 North West Street
Jackson, Mississippi

Agenda

I.          Call to Order

II.         Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and Invocation

III.        Approval of minutes of March 20, 2025 Board Meeting and minutes of Special-Called Board Meeting on March 21, 2025

IV.        Approval of Agenda

V.         Recognition Ceremony

              Legion of Valor for Achievement
             Cadet Brooke Paal
             Florence High School
             Rankin County School District

             Cadet Matthew Reed
             Northwest Rankin High School
             Rankin County School District

              Air Force JROTC Flight Academy
             Cadet Cody Quarles
             Lafayette High School
             Lafayette County School District

             Cadet Brynn Butler
             Madison Central High School
             Madison County School District

VI.        Report of State Superintendent of Education

VII.       Report of Chair

VIII.      Report of the Student Representatives

IX.        Report on State Board of Education Subcommittee (SBE) Meetings

X.         Discussion and/or Approval of Board Items (All action items require vote)

1. 01. Action: Approval to revise Miss. Admin. Code: 7-24, Mississippi Public School Accountability Standards, 2024, Appendices A-5 – A-10, A-12, A- 13, B-2, and Glossary, and Miss. Admin. Code 7-163: Mississippi Nonpublic School Accountability Standards, 2024, Appendices A-6 – A-10, A-12, A-13, B-2, and Glossary [Goals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 – MBE Strategic Plan]
   (Has cleared the Administrative Procedures Act process with public comments) (Wendy Clemons) Back-up material
2. 02. Action: Begin the Administrative Procedures Act process: To revise Miss. Admin. Code 7-24: Mississippi Public School Accountability Standards, 2024 specifically the business rules of the Mississippi Statewide Accountability System, Section 4, Participation Rates, Section 6, Growth, Section 9, Acceleration, Section 10, Banking Scores: End-of-course, subject area assessments taken before 10th grade, Section 16, Students with Disabilities, Section 18, Invalid Test Scores, Section 22, Schools without Tested Subjects or Grades, Section 23, State and Other Special Schools, Section 25, College and Career-Readiness Indicator, Section 26, Senior Snapshot, and Section 27, Other [Goals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 – MBE Strategic Plan] (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
3. 03. Action: Approval to eliminate the administration of, and graduation requirement for, the U.S. History end-of-course assessment beginning with the 2025-2026 school year and begin the Administrative Procedures Act process for the following:
   1. A. To revise State Board Policy Chapter 36, Rule 36.4 – Assessments Required for Graduation
   2. B. To revise State Board Policy Chapter 36, Rule 36.5 – Additional Assessment Options for Meeting End-of-Course (EOC) Assessment Requirements
   3. C. To revise the Mississippi Public School Accountability Standards, 2024 specifically, Appendices A-5 – A-9 and F, and the Glossary

   [Goals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 – MBE Strategic Plan] (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material

4. 04. Action: Approval of the MDE Contracts [Goals 1, 2, 4, and 6 – MBE Strategic Plan] (Kym Wiggins) Back-up material
   1. 04.A. Action: Contract with Studer Education to provide comprehensive strategic planning and performance scorecard for the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) (Lance Evans) Back-up material
   2. 04.B. Action: Contract with Gay, Jones, and Kuhn, PLLC to provide supplementary legal counsel and policy and guidelines support to the Office of Special Education relative to the enforcement of and compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) [Goal 4 – MBE Strategic Plan] (Jennifer Boykin) Back-up material
   3. 04.C. Action: Renew contract with selected vendors for Fiscal Year 2026 for the Mississippi Recipes for Success Coordinator(s) MRS [Goal 1 – MBE Strategic Plan] (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   4. 04.D. Action: Renew contract with Research and Curriculum Unit, Mississippi State University for Fiscal Year 2026 for the operation of the Mississippi Career and Planning and Assessment System, Third Edition (MS-CPAS3) [Goals 1 and 2 – MBE Strategic Plan] (John Ferrell) Back-up material
   5. 04.E. Action: Approve employment agreement for Dr. Washington Cole, IV to continue to serve as Interim Superintendent for the Noxubee County School District [Goals 1, 2, 4, and 6 – MBE Strategic Plan] (John Ferrell) Back-up material
   6. 04.F. Action: Approve employment agreement for Dr. Jennifer Wilson to continue to serve as Interim Superintendent for the Holmes County Consolidated School District [Goals 1, 2, 4, and 6 – MBE Strategic Plan] (John Ferrell) Back-up material
   7. 04.G. Action: Approve employment agreement for Dr. Earl Watkins to serve as Interim Superintendent for Yazoo City Municipal School District [Goals 1, 2, 4, and 6 – MBE Strategic Plan] (John Ferrell) Back-up material
   8. 04.H. Action: Approve employment agreement for Dr. Stanley K. Ellis to serve as Interim Superintendent for the Humphreys County School District [Goals 1, 2, 4, and 6 – MBE Strategic Plan] (John Ferrell) Back-up material

5. 05. Consent Agenda (All consent items are action items which require vote, unless otherwise noted.) Back-up material
   1. A. Approval of monthly expenditures for the Mississippi School of the Arts (Suzanne Hirsch) Back-up material
   2. B. Approval of monthly expenditures for the Mississippi Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (LaMarlon Wilson) Back-up material
   3. C. Approval of the school calendars for the Mississippi School of the Arts, the Mississippi Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, and the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science for 2025-2026 school year
      (Suzanne Hirsch, LaMarlon Wilson, and Ginger Tedder) Back-up material
   4. D. Approval to begin the Administrative Procedures Act process: To create State Board Policy Chapter 36, Rule 36.7 – Early Graduation Policy (Wendy Clemons) Back-up material
   5. E. Approval to revise Unit 8: Digital Literacy and Citizenship of the College- and Career-Readiness course
      (Has cleared the Administrative Procedures Act process without public comments) (Wendy Clemons) Back-up material
   6. F. Approval to revise Miss. Admin. Code 7 – 4: Part 4: Licensure Guidelines K-12 to establish a new supplemental endorsement licensure option in the area of Mild/Moderate Disability 7-12 that may be added to a valid three (3) year internship license or valid five (5) year standard license by obtaining a passing score on the appropriate Praxis Subject Assessment
      (Has cleared the Administrative Procedures Act process with public comments) (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   7. G. Approval to revise Miss. Admin. Code 7 – 4: Part 4: Licensure Guidelines K-12 to amend the Principles of Learning and Teaching Praxis Pedagogy Assessment requirement for educator license 211 Special Education/Birth to Kindergarten (Early Intervention) to align with the associated grade span
      (Has cleared the Administrative Procedures Act process without public comments) (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   8. H. Approval to begin the Administrative Procedures Act process: To revise Miss. Admin. Code 7 – 4: Part 4: Licensure Guidelines K-12 to establish a supplemental endorsement and licensure criteria for Advanced Placement Computer Science A (Licensure Endorsement Code 612) (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   9. I. Approval to establish a qualifying score for the revised versions of certain Praxis Subject Assessments: Early Childhood Education: Foundational Knowledge and Content (Test Code 5534); Family and Consumer Sciences (5123); and Social Studies (5581) as recommended by the Ad Hoc Committee of the Commission on Teacher and Administrator Education, Certification and Licensure and Development and approval to establish a qualifying score for Praxis Subject Assessment: Japanese: World Language (Test Code 5661) and add Japanese: World Language (Licensure Endorsement Code TBD) to the list of approved supplemental endorsements that may be added to a valid three (3) year internship license or valid five (5) year standard license by obtaining a passing score on the appropriate Praxis Subject Assessment; and update the test code associated with the Foundations of Reading Assessment to change from test code 190 to test code 890 with no changes to the test content, and no change to the current Mississippi Board of Education’s required passing score (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   10. J. Approval of industry certifications that will calculate in the Acceleration component of the Accountability Model for the 2025- 2026 school year (John Ferrell) Back-up material
   11. K. Approval of 2025-2026 certified personnel contracts for the Mississippi Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (LaMarlon Wilson) Back-up material
   12. L. Approval of Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science (MSMS) revised Student Fee Information for 2025-2026 school year (Ginger Tedder) Back-up material

XI.        Consideration of Executive Session

XII.       State Board of Education

1. 1.  Report on meetings attended
2. 2.  Approval of attendance at meetings

XIII.      Other Business

XIV.      Adjournment

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