October 16, 2025 board agenda

Mississippi Board of Education
October 16, 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 September 25, 2025 Board Meeting

IV.        Approval of Agenda

V.         Recognition Ceremony

            Air Force JROTC Distinguished Unit Award (DUA)
            Lafayette High School
            Lafayette County School District

            Aberdeen High School
            Aberdeen School District

            Air Force JROTC Distinguished Unit with Merit Award (DUAM) and Air Force JROTC Silver Star Community Service with Excellence Award
            New Albany High School
            New Albany 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. Information: Presentations by Interim Superintendents of the Districts of Transformation on their 2024–2025 Accountability Results, Including an Evaluation of District Performance, Identification of Root Causes for Decreased Ratings, and Plans of Action to Address Findings (John Ferrell) Back-up material
2. 02. Action: Approval to begin the Administrative Procedures Act process: To revise Miss. Admin. Code 7-24: Mississippi Public School Accountability Standards, 2025 specifically Accreditation Policy 2.9: Conditions of Emergency Status, Placement in a District of Transformation and Withdrawal of Accreditation, in accordance with Miss. Code Ann. § 37-17-6 [Goals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 – MBE Strategic Plan] (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
3. 03. Action: Approval of the MDE Contract [Goals 1, 2, and 4 – MBE Strategic Plan] (Kym Wiggins) Back-up material
   1. 03.A. Action: Award renewal contract to TransAct Communications, LLC to provide standardized parent notifications in multiple languages to ensure compliance with federal requirements [Goals 1, 2, and 4 – MBE Strategic Plan] (Wendy Clemons) Back-up material

4. 04. 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 (Wendy Clemons) Back-up material
   2. B. Approval of monthly expenditures for the Mississippi Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (Wendy Clemons) Back-up material
   3. C. Approval of revised annual FY26 budget to include the close out of FY25 for the Mississippi School of the Arts (Wendy Clemons) Back-up material
   4. D. Approval of revised annual FY26 budget to include the close out of FY25 for the Mississippi Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (Wendy Clemons) Back-up material
   5. E. Information: Report on action of the Commission on School Accreditation concerning the assignment of district accreditation statuses (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   6. F. Approval to begin the Administrative Procedures Act process: To revise Mississippi Administrative Code 7 – 4: Part 4: Licensure Guidelines K-12 to establish criteria for obtaining a supplemental endorsement in the area of Athletic Administrator that may be added to a valid five-year standard Class AA or higher license type upon completion of a Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE)- approved program in Interscholastic Athletic Administration (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   7. G. Approval to begin the Administrative Procedures Act process: To revise Miss. Admin. Code 7 – 4: Part 4: Licensure Guidelines K- 12 to update Appendix I: Glossary (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 criteria for the issuance of a Two-Year Provisional license via Reciprocity to individuals seeking Mississippi educator licensure through the use of certain valid license types that are less than standard and issued by an educator licensing authority outside of Mississippi (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   9. I. Approval to begin the Administrative Procedures Act process: To revise Miss. Admin. Code 7 – 4: Part 4: Licensure Guidelines K- 12 to expand existing criteria related to the one-time one-year extension of a provisional nonrenewable entry-level teaching license obtained by way of completion of prelicensure requirements as part of nontraditional teacher preparation programs that lead to a standard Mississippi teaching license (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   10. J. Approval of Blue Mountain Christian University’s request to modify its existing approved initial licensure-track programs: Bachelor of Science in Education in Biology 7-12, Elementary Education K-3 and K-6, English 7-12, Mathematics 7-12, Social Science 7-12, Spanish K-12, and Bachelor of Music Education with emphasis areas of Instrumental K-12 and Vocal K-12 (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   11. K. Approval of Blue Mountain Christian University’s request to modify its existing approved initial licensure-track program: Bachelor of Science in Education in Physical Education K-12 (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   12. L. Approval of Mississippi College’s request to delete two (2) approved traditional teacher educator preparation initial licensure- track Bachelor of Education Programs in Biology 7-12 and Chemistry 7-12 and two (2) licensure-track Master of Education programs in Athletic Administration K-12 and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) K-12 (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   13. M. Approval of Mississippi College’s request to modify course titles and clinical hours within its existing approved licensure-track Master of Education in Educational Leadership (K-12) program (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   14. N. Approval of Mississippi College’s request to modify course codes and titles within its existing Elementary Education (K-6) approved supplemental endorsement program (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   15. O. Approval of Mississippi College’s request to modify required courses, by removing courses, aligning equivalent course work, and reducing the number of required hours within its approved Mild/Moderate Disability (7-12) supplemental endorsement program (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   16. P. Approval of Mississippi State University’s request to modify required courses for its existing Computer Science (K-6) and Computer Science (7-12) approved supplemental endorsement programs (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   17. Q. Approval of Tougaloo College’s request to modify required courses within its existing approved Reading (K-12) supplemental endorsement program (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   18. R. Approval of The University of Mississippi’s request to modify required courses within its existing initial licensure-track Bachelor of Arts in Education Early Childhood PreK-K (Child Development) program (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   19. S. Approval of The University of Mississippi’s request to modify course codes within its existing Elementary Education (K-6) approved supplemental endorsement program (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   20. T. Approval of The University of Mississippi’s request to establish a licensure-track Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Elementary Education (K-6) program (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   21. U. Approval of William Carey University’s request to modify required courses within its existing approved Mild/Moderate Disability (7-12) supplemental endorsement program (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   22. V. Approval of William Carey University’s request to modify required courses within its existing approved Reading (K-12) supplemental endorsement program (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   23. W. Approval of William Carey University’s request to establish a licensure-track Interscholastic Athletic Administration K-12 Supplemental Endorsement, pending SBE approval of the request to establish the newly proposed Athletic Administrator supplemental endorsement licensure criteria to be included in the Guidelines for Mississippi Educator Licensure K-12 (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
   24. X. Approval to revise student teacher ratio requirements beginning with the 2025-2026 school year and begin the Administrative Procedures Act process for the following: (Paula Vanderford) Back-up material
       1. A. To revise the Mississippi Public School Accountability Standards, 2025 specifically, Process Standard 28.6
       2. B. To revise the Mississippi Nonpublic School Accountability Standards, 2025 specifically, Process Standard 24.7

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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