Bill Text: MS HB1151 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: School enrollment; authorize child transferred to out of school district to remain enrolled after parent's retirement from that school.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Failed) 2021-02-02 - Died In Committee [HB1151 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2021-HB1151-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2021 Regular Session
To: Education
By: Representatives Brown (20th), Hopkins
House Bill 1151
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-15-29 AND 37-15-31, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE A SCHOOL EMPLOYEE'S CHILD WHO WAS LAWFULLY TRANSFERRED TO A SCHOOL OUTSIDE THE CHILD'S DISTRICT OF RESIDENCE WHEN THE CHILD'S PARENT WAS EMPLOYED AS AN INSTRUCTIONAL OR LICENSED EMPLOYEE AT THAT SCHOOL TO CONTINUE TO BE ENROLLED IN AND ATTEND THE SCHOOL FOLLOWING THE PARENT'S RETIREMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 37-15-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-15-29. (1) Except as
provided in subsections (2) * * * through (5) of this
section, no minor child may enroll in or attend any school except in the school
district of his residence, unless such child be lawfully transferred from the
school district of his residence to a school in another school district in
accord with the statutes of this state * * *.
(2) Those children whose
parent(s) or legal guardian(s) are instructional personnel or * * * licensed employees of a
school district may, at such employee's discretion, enroll in
and attend the school or schools of their parent's or legal guardian's
employment regardless of the residence of the child. Upon the retirement of
a parent or legal guardian of a child lawfully enrolled in and attending a
school in a school district other than the school district of the child's
residence under this subsection, the child, in the discretion of the parent or
legal guardian, may continue to enroll in and attend the school from which the
parent or legal guardian retired.
(3) No child shall be
required to be transported in excess of thirty (30) miles on a school bus from
his or her home to school, or in excess of thirty (30) miles from school to his
or her home, if there is another school in an adjacent school district located
on a shorter school bus transportation route by the nearest traveled road.
Those children residing in such geographical situations may, at the discretion
of their parent(s) or legal guardian(s), enroll in and attend the nearer
school, regardless of the residence of the child. In the event the parent or
legal guardian of such child and the school board are unable to agree on the
school bus mileage required to transport the child from his or her home to
school, an appeal shall lie to the State Board of Education, or its designee,
whose decision shall be final. The school districts involved in the appeal
shall provide the * * *
State Department of Education with any school bus route information
requested, including riding the buses as necessary, in order to measure the bus
routes in question, as needed by the State Board of Education in considering
the appeal.
(4) Those children lawfully
transferred from the school district of his residence to a school in another
school district prior to July 1, 1992, may, at the discretion of their
parent(s) or legal guardian(s), continue to enroll in and attend school
in the transferee school district. * * * Further, * * * the brother(s) and sister(s) of * * * those children lawfully transferred
prior to July 1, 1992, may also, at the discretion of their parent(s) or legal
guardian(s), enroll in and attend school in the transferee school
district.
(5) Those children whose parent(s) or legal guardian(s) are active members of the United States Armed Forces or civilian military personnel and reside on a military base, may, at the discretion of their parent(s) or legal guardian(s), enroll in and attend the school district of their parent's or legal guardian's choosing, regardless of the residence of the child, provided the school district where the student resides or in an adjacent school district and the parent's or guardian's choice of school district does not violate the provision of subsection (3) of this section prohibiting the transportation of students in excess of thirty (30) miles.
SECTION 2. Section 37-15-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-15-31. (1) (a) Except as provided in subsections (2) through (5) of this section, upon the petition in writing of a parent or guardian resident of the school district of an individual student filed or lodged with the president or secretary of the school board of a school district in which the pupil has been enrolled or is qualified to be enrolled as a student under Section 37-15-9, or upon the aforesaid petition or the initiative of the school board of a school district as to the transfer of a grade or grades, individual students living in one school district or a grade or grades of a school within the districts may be legally transferred to another school district, by the mutual consent of the school boards of all school districts concerned, which consent must be given in writing and spread upon the minutes of such boards.
(b) The school board
of the transferring school district to which such petition may be addressed
shall act thereon not later than its next regular meeting subsequent to the
filing or lodging of the petition, and a failure to act within that time shall
constitute a rejection of such request. The school board of the other school
district involved (the transferee board) shall act on such
request for transfer as soon as possible after the transferor board shall have
approved * * *
such transfer and no later than the next regular meeting of the transferee
board, and a failure of such transferee board to act within such time shall
constitute a rejection of such request. If such a transfer is approved by the
transferee board, then such decision shall be final. If such a transfer should
be refused by the school board of either school district, then such decision
shall be final.
(c) Any legal guardianship formed for the purpose of establishing residency for school district attendance purposes shall not be recognized by the affected school board.
(2) (a) Upon the petition in writing of any parent or guardian who is a resident of Mississippi and is an instructional or licensed employee of a school district, but not a resident of such district, the school board of the employer school district shall consent to the transfer of such employee's dependent school-age children to its district and shall spread the same upon the minutes of the board. Upon the petition in writing of any parent or guardian who is not a resident of Mississippi and who is an instructional or licensed employee of a school district in Mississippi, the school board of the employer school district shall consent to the transfer of such employee's dependent school-age children to its district and shall spread the same upon the minutes of the board.
(b) The school board of any school district, in its discretion, may adopt a uniform policy to allow the enrollment and attendance of the dependent children of noninstructional and nonlicensed employees, who are residents of Mississippi but are not residents of their district. Such policy shall be based upon the employment needs of the district, implemented according to job classification groups and renewed each school year.
(c) The employer transferee school district shall notify in writing the school district from which the pupil or pupils are transferring, and the school board of the transferor school district shall spread the same upon its minutes.
(d) Any such agreement by school boards for the legal transfer of a student shall include a provision providing for the transportation of the student. In the absence of such a provision the responsibility for transporting the student to the transferee school district shall be that of the parent or guardian.
(e) Any school district which accepts a student under the provisions of this subsection shall not assess any tuition fees upon such transferring student in accordance with the provisions of Section 37-19-27.
(f) Upon the retirement of a parent or legal guardian of a child lawfully enrolled in and attending a school in a school district other than the school district of the child's residence under this subsection, the child, in the discretion of the parent or legal guardian, may continue to enroll in and attend the school from which the parent or legal guardian retired if the parent or legal guardian is a resident of Mississippi.
(3) Upon the petition in writing of any parent or legal guardian of a school-age child who is a resident of an adjacent school district residing in the geographical situation described in Section 37-15-29(3), the school board of the school district operating the school located in closer proximity to the residence of the child shall consent to the transfer of the child to its district, and shall spread the same upon the minutes of the board. Any such agreement by school boards for the legal transfer of a student under this subsection shall include a provision for the transportation of the student by either the transferor or the transferee school district. In the event that either the school board of the transferee or the transferor school district shall object to the transfer, it shall have the right to appeal to the State Board of Education whose decision shall be final. However, if the school boards agreeing on the legal transfer of any student shall fail to agree on which district shall provide transportation, the responsibility for transporting the student to the transferee school district shall be that of the parent or guardian.
(4) Upon the petition in writing of any parent or legal guardian of a school-age child who was lawfully transferred to another school district prior to July 1, 1992, as described in Section 37-15-29(4), the school board of the transferee school district shall consent to the transfer of such child and the transfer of any school-age brother and sister of such child to its district, and shall spread the same upon the minutes of the board. (5) (a) If the board of trustees of a municipal separate school district with added territory does not have a member who is a resident of the added territory outside the corporate limits, upon the petition in writing of any parent or legal guardian of a
school-age child who is a resident of the added territory outside the corporate limits, the board of trustees of the municipal separate school district and the school board of the school district adjacent to the added territory shall consent to the transfer of the child from the municipal separate school district to the adjacent school district. The agreement must be spread upon the minutes of the board of trustees of the municipal separate school district and the school board of the adjacent school district. The agreement must provide for the transportation of the student. In the absence of such a provision, the parent or legal guardian shall be responsible for transporting the student to the adjacent school district. Any school district that accepts a student under this subsection may not assess any tuition fees against the transferring student.
(b) Before September 1 of each year, the board of trustees of the municipal separate school district shall certify to the State Department of Education the number of students in the added territory of the municipal separate school district who are transferred to the adjacent school district under this subsection. The municipal separate school district also shall certify the total number of students in the school district residing in the added territory plus the number of those students who are transferred to the adjacent school district. Based upon these figures, the department shall calculate the percentage of the total number of students in the added territory who are transferred to the adjacent school district and shall certify this percentage to the levying authority for the municipal separate school district. The levying authority shall remit to the school board of the adjacent school district, from the proceeds of the ad valorem taxes collected for the support of the municipal separate school district from the added territory of the municipal separate school district, an amount equal to the percentage of the total number of students in the added territory who are transferred to the adjacent school district.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2021.
