2019 LEGISLATIVE SUMMARY Mississippi School Boards Association Legislative Update and School Law Review April 23, 2019

House Bills 1,752 bills introduced in the House 214 bills assigned to Education 18 bills assigned to Appropriations 10 bills assigned to Ways & Means 9 bills signed into law

Senate Bills 1,123 bills introduced in the Senate 105 bills assigned to Education 11 bills assigned to Appropriations 7 bills assigned to Finance 5 bill signed into law

MSBA Legislative Priorities MSBA Surveys All Board Members and Superintendents Each Board Returns One Completed Survey MSBA Tabulates and Identifies the Top Four Issues and Determines Issues to Support and Oppose

Fully Fund Public Education HB 1643, the K-12 Funding Bill Passed At least 7 other bills were introduced that in some way dealt with MAEP funding. They all died.

Create a Structured Statewide Early Childhood Education At least eight bills that dealt with mandatory kindergarten and/or preschool were introduced, and several attempts were made to amend legislation to include mandatory kindergarten. They all died.

Allowing a Board Member to Be Removed from Office for Violating Accreditation and/or Ethics Standards One bill was introduced that only dealt with appointed municipal district board members. It died.

All School Boards Adopt a Board Member Code of Conduct No bills were introduced to require school boards to adopt a code of conduct.

Support Changing Average Daily Attendance (ADA) to Total Enrollment (ADM) One bill was introduced that dealt with changing from ADA to ADM. It died.

Oppose Electing/appointing all school board members at the same time 2. Restricting local control of school boards 3. Allowing student vouchers to be funded with public funds

Oppose 4. Allowing income tax deduction for parents who send their children to private school or who home school 5. Allowing tax credit scholarships providing scholarships to non-public schools

Oppose 6. Allowing money to be diverted from public schools to non-public schools, home schools, or virtual schools 7. Allowing students attending a C, D, or F school to transfer to an A or B school

House Bills that Passed HB 150 Mississippi Dyslexia Forgivable Loan Program Authorizes loan forgiveness to individuals providing instructional or clinical service as a licensed dyslexia therapist in a public or eligible nonpublic school for the Mississippi Dyslexia Forgivable Loan Program

HB 572 Educator Use of Personal Leave Allows an educator to take personal leave on the day before the first day of school, the last day of school, the day before a holiday, or the day after a holiday in the event of death or funeral of an immediate family member

HB 654 County School Board Trustees Elections Requires a runoff if no candidate receives the majority of votes cast in the election

HB 1182 Corporal Punishment Prohibits the use of corporal punishment in public schools to discipline a student with a disability who has an IEP or a Section 504 plan

HB 1247 Community College’s Board of Trustees Removes the requirement for automatic appointment of a county superintendent of education to serve on a Community College Board of Trustees

HB 1283 The “Mississippi School Safety Act of 2019” Requires school employees to be trained on mental health issues every two years Expands student access to mental health resources Requires an annual inspection and threat assessment be conducted on each campus

HB 1283 The “Mississippi School Safety Act of 2019” Requires each campus to conduct an active shooter drill within the first 60 days of start of school Requires all employees to attend Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE) training annually

HB 1322 Eye Examinations Requires that all children six and younger, whose eye screening indicates a need to have a face-to-face comprehensive eye examination, to have a comprehensive face-to-face eye examination before enrolling in public school for first time

HB 1643 Department of Education Appropriation Includes line item appropriations for the $1500 teacher pay raise Includes funds to cover PERs increase in the MAEP formula

Senate Bills that Passed SB 2050 School Enrollment Allows students whose parents are in the military to enroll in a Mississippi school district based upon the parent's military orders for relocation to our state. The parent must provide proof of legal residence within ten days of arrival.

SB 2447 Career and Technical Grants Provides CTE grants through MDE and the State Workforce Investment Board (SWIB) to schools for students who earn qualifying industry certifications

SB 2449 Education of Students in Juvenile Detention Facilities Defines responsibility of home school district and the sponsoring school district to provide education for students in juvenile detention facilities and defines the school year Requires local school districts to provide student records Requires summer courses focusing on math and language arts for juvenile detention facility students

SB 2625 Mississippi School for the Arts Provides that administrative and instructional employees at the MS School of the Arts be contract employees Provides that noninstructional employees serve at the will and pleasure of the school superintendent Provides that the purchases of equipment and commodities made by the school are exempt from the regulations of the Public Procurement Law

SB 2770 Teachers Salaries Will give teachers and assistant teachers a $1,500 a year pay raise beginning with the 2019/2020 school year

SB 2928 Energy High School Academy Act The Vicksburg-Warren School District and the Claiborne County Board of Education Mississippi Development Authority, a nuclear facility, Warren County, and the State of Mississippi To prescribe the membership of the Energy High School Academy Partnership Council to administer the academy

SB 3049 Department of Finance and Administration, Appropriation Was amended to transfer $2 million dollars to the Department of Education for Education Savings Accounts

Manager of Governmental Relations Paul S. Chamblee Manager of Governmental Relations Mississippi School Boards Association pchamblee@msbaonline.org MSBA 1-888-367-6722 or 601-924-2001 Cell 601-624-5480