Title 37, Education

If the individual meets the requirements of Section 37-173-1(g) and is otherwise licensed by their state’s respective department or agency that licenses such occupations, then the Department of Education shall issue the individual a license through reciprocity.

Teachers and other school personnel shall be subject to criminal history record checks and fingerprinting requirements applicable to other public schools under Section 37-9-17(2) and (3).

(1) Each school providing instruction to children with dyslexia shall certify to the State Department of Education its student enrollment in the same manner as local school districts. (2) The department shall direct the proportionate share of monies generated under federal and st…

No liability shall arise on the part of the state based on the award or use of a Mississippi Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship.

The inclusion of eligible nonpublic schools within options available to Mississippi public school students does not expand the regulatory authority of the state, its officers, or any school district to impose any additional regulation of nonpublic schools beyond those reasonably …

The Mississippi Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship for Students with Dyslexia Program is established to provide the option to attend a public school other than the one to which assigned, or to provide a scholarship to a nonpublic school of choice, for students with a diagnosis of dysle…

(1) Parents or legal guardians may exercise the option to remove their child from a traditional public school setting to be enrolled in a public or nonpublic school which meets the standards for appropriate specific instruction designed to meet the unique learning needs of young …

(1) A student is not eligible for a Mississippi Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship while he or she is:(a) Enrolled in a school operating for the purpose of providing educational services to youth in Department of Juvenile Justice commitment programs;(b) Participating in a homeschool ed…

(1) (a) The parent or legal guardian is not required to accept the offer of enrolling in another public school in lieu of requesting a Mississippi Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship to a nonpublic school. However, if the parent or legal guardian chooses the public school option, the st…

(a) As used in this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:(a) “Board” means the State Board of Education.(b) “Department” means the State Department of Education.(c) “Speech-languag…

(a) A parent or legal guardian who applies for a Mississippi Speech-Language Therapy Scholarship is exercising his or her parental option to place his or her child in a nonpublic school. Each participating parent or legal guardian and student shall adhere to the following:(a) The…

(1) The maximum scholarship granted per eligible student with speech-language impairment shall be an amount equivalent to the state share of per student funding under the total funding formula provided in Sections 37-151-200 through 37-151-215 in the school district in which a st…

(1) Each local school district shall adopt a policy to ensure that students will be screened for speech, language, voice and fluency disorders before the end of Grade 1. (2) If a student fails the screener, the parent or legal guardian will be notified of the results of the scree…

(1) To be eligible to participate in the Mississippi Speech-Language Therapy Scholarship for Students with Speech-Language Impairments Program, a nonpublic school must:(a) Be a state accredited nonpublic special purpose school in the state that is organized to provide and emphasi…

(1) The department shall publicize information regarding the Mississippi Speech-Language Therapy Scholarship on the department’s official website. (2) The department shall annually, by December 15, report to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, and the Speaker of the House of R…

(1) The State Board of Education in conjunction with each nonpublic school operating under the provisions of this chapter, may:(a) Extend the school day or length of the scholastic year;(b) Develop and establish a curriculum that is consistent with the Mississippi Curriculum Fram…

Teachers and other school personnel shall be subject to criminal history record checks and fingerprinting requirements applicable to other public schools under Section 37-9-17(2) and (3).

(1) Each school providing instruction to children with speech-language impairment shall certify to the State Department of Education its student enrollment in the same manner as local school districts. (2) The state shall ensure that each school is treated equitably in the calcul…

No liability shall arise on the part of the state based on the award or use of a Mississippi Speech-Language Therapy Scholarship.

The inclusion of eligible nonpublic schools within options available to Mississippi public school students does not expand the regulatory authority of the state, its officers, or any school district to impose any additional regulation of nonpublic schools beyond those reasonably …

The Mississippi Speech-Language Therapy Scholarship for Students with Speech-Language Impairments Program, which may also be cited as the Nate Rogers Scholarship for Students with Disabilities Program, is established to provide a scholarship to a nonpublic school of choice, for s…

(1) Parents or legal guardians may exercise the option to remove their child from a traditional public school setting to be enrolled in a nonpublic school which meets the standards for appropriate specific instruction designed to meet the unique learning needs of young students w…

(1) A student is not eligible for a Mississippi Speech-Language Therapy Scholarship while he or she is:(a) Enrolled in a school operating for the purpose of providing educational services to youth in Department of Juvenile Justice commitment programs;(b) Participating in a home-s…

(1) Each local school district shall make an initial determination of whether a student has an eligibility ruling of speech-language impairment that qualifies under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to receive services and funding under the provisions of the …

(1) There is established an act prohibiting social promotion to be known as the “Literacy-Based Promotion Act,” the purpose of which is to improve the reading skills of Kindergarten and First- through Third-Grade students enrolled in the public schools so that every student compl…

(1) A Third-Grade student who does not meet the academic requirements for promotion to the Fourth Grade may be promoted by the school district only for good cause. Good cause exemptions for promotion are limited to the following students:(a) Limited English proficient students wh…

(a) Beginning in the 2014-2015 school year, each school district shall take the following actions for retained Third-Grade students:(a) Provide Third-Grade students who are not promoted with intensive instructional services, progress monitoring measures, and supports to remediate…

Each district may provide, where applicable, an intensive acceleration class for any student retained in Grade 3 who was previously retained in Kindergarten or Grades 1 through 3. The focus of the intensive acceleration class should be to increase a student’s reading level at lea…

(1) Within thirty (30) days of final State Board of Education approval of state accountability results, the school board of each school district must publish, in a newspaper having a general circulation within the school district, and report to the State Board of Education and th…

(1) The State Board of Education shall adopt such policies, rules and regulations as may be necessary for the implementation of this chapter. (2) The State Department of Education shall provide such technical assistance and training of teachers/administrators as may be needed to …

The provisions of this chapter which include components necessary to provide for teacher training, instructional materials, remedial education training and administration of an intensive literacy curriculum shall be subject to legislative appropriation.

(a) Immediately upon the determination of a reading deficiency, and subsequently with each quarterly progress report until the deficiency is remediated, the parent or legal guardian of a Kindergarten or First-, Second- or Third-Grade student who exhibits a substantial deficiency …

The State Department of Education shall establish a Mississippi Reading Panel to collaborate with the State Department of Education in recommending appropriate equitable alternative standardized assessments and cut scores to be used to determine promotion to the Fourth Grade of t…

(a) The State Department of Education shall:(a) Select schools most in need for the reading intervention program and create criteria for selection for participation based on number and percentages of students scoring in the lowest two (2) achievement levels on state-adopted yearl…

A public school student may not be assigned a grade level based solely on the student’s age or any other factors that constitute social promotion. Beginning in the 2014-2015 school year, if a student’s reading deficiency is not remedied by the end of the student’s Third-Grade yea…

(1) For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the meaning ascribed herein, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:(a) “District of innovation” means a district that has developed a plan of innovation in compliance with this section and has been approved…

(1) A district which is an applicant to be designated as a district of innovation under Section 37-179-1 shall:(a) Establish goals and performance targets for the district of innovation proposal, which may include:(i) Reducing achievement gaps among groups of public school studen…

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as “The Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs Act.”

(1) To ensure that funds are spent appropriately, the State Department of Education shall adopt rules and policies necessary for the administration of the ESA program, including the auditing of Education Scholarship Accounts, and shall conduct or contract for random audits throug…

(1) The Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) shall prepare a biannual report, beginning in 2018 and every two (2) years thereafter, assessing efficacy of Education Scholarship Accounts, to include the sufficiency of funding, and reco…

(1) To ensure that students are treated fairly and kept safe, all eligible schools shall:(a) Comply with the nondiscrimination policies set forth in 42 USCS 1981;(b) Prior to a participating student’s application for enrollment, provide parents or guardians with details of the sc…

(1) An eligible nonpublic school is autonomous and not an agent of the state or federal government and therefore:(a) The State Department of Education or any other government agency shall not regulate the educational program of a nonpublic school, postsecondary institution or edu…

The State Department of Education may receive and expend contributions from any public or private source to fund ESAs for participating students.

If any provision of this law or its application is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this law which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application and to this end the provisions of this law are severable.

Sections 37-181-1 through 37-181-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, shall stand repealed on July 1, 2028.

(a) The terms used in this chapter shall have the meanings ascribed herein, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:(a) “ESA program” means the Education Scholarship Account (ESA) program created in this chapter.(b) “Eligible student” means any student who has had an activ…