Bill Text: MS HB542 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Online Career-track Program; authorize school districts to create and accept out-of-district students for enrollment in.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2021-02-02 - Died In Committee [HB542 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2021-HB542-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2021 Regular Session
To: Education
By: Representative Bell (21st)
House Bill 542
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-16-17, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE A SCHOOL DISTRICT TO OFFER AN ONLINE CAREER TRACK PROGRAM AND TO ACCEPT STUDENTS FROM OUTSIDE THE DISTRICT FOR ENROLLMENT IN THE PROGRAM; TO REQUIRE THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO TRANSFER, FOR EACH STUDENT RESIDING IN A SCHOOL DISTRICT ENROLLED IN AN ONLINE PROGRAM IN ANOTHER DISTRICT, AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO THE STUDENT'S HOME SCHOOL DISTRICT'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE ADEQUATE EDUCATION PROGRAM AND LOCAL OPERATIONAL TAX LEVY TO THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OPERATING THE ONLINE PROGRAM; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO WITHHOLD SUCH AMOUNT FROM THE TRANSFERRING SCHOOL DISTRICT'S JANUARY PAYMENT OF ADEQUATE EDUCATION PROGRAM FUNDS; TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-15-29 AND 37-15-31, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE A SCHOOL DISTRICT TO ALLOW A STUDENT ACCEPTED INTO AN ONLINE PROGRAM OPERATED BY A DISTRICT OTHER THAN THAT IN WHICH THE STUDENT RESIDES TO TRANSFER FROM THE STUDENT'S HOME DISTRICT TO THE DISTRICT PROVIDING THE ONLINE PROGRAM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 37-16-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-16-17. (1) Purpose. (a) The purpose of this section is to create a quality option in Mississippi's high schools for students not wishing to pursue a baccalaureate degree, which shall consist of challenging academic courses and modern career-technical studies. The goal for students pursuing the career track is to graduate from high school with a standard diploma and credit toward a community college certification in a career-technical field. These students also shall be encouraged to take the national assessment in the career-technical field in which they become certified.
(b) The State Board of Education shall develop and adopt course and curriculum requirements for career track programs offered by local public school boards in accordance with this section. The Mississippi Community College Board and the State Board of Education jointly shall determine course and curriculum requirements for the career track program.
(2) Alternative career track; description; curriculum. (a) A career track shall provide a student with greater technical skill and a strong academic core and shall be offered to each high school student enrolled in a public school district. The career track program shall be linked to postsecondary options and shall prepare students to pursue either a degree or certification from a postsecondary institution, an industry-based training or certification, an apprenticeship, the military, or immediate entrance into a career field. The career track shall be designed primarily for those students who are not college bound and shall provide them with alternatives to entrance into a four-year university or college after high school graduation.
(b) Students pursuing a career track shall be afforded the opportunity to dually enroll in a community or technical college or to participate in a business internship or work-study program, when such opportunities are available and appropriate.
(c) Each public school district shall offer a career track program approved by the State Board of Education.
(d) Students in a career track program shall complete an academic core of courses and a career and technical sequence of courses.
(e) The twenty-one (21) course unit requirements for the career track shall consist of the following:
(i) At least four (4) English credits, including English I and English II.
(ii) At least three (3) mathematics credits, including Algebra I.
(iii) At least three (3) science credits, including one (1) unit of biology.
(iv) At least three (3) social studies credits, including one (1) unit of U.S. History and one (1) unit of Mississippi Studies/U.S. Government.
(v) At least one-half (1/2) credit in health or physical education.
(vi) At least four (4) credits in career and technical education courses in the dual enrollment-dual credit programs authorized under Section 37-15-38.
(vii) At least one (1) credit in integrated technology with optional end of course testing.
(viii) At least two and one-half (2-1/2) credits in additional electives or career and technical education courses required by the local school board, as approved by the State Board of Education. Academic courses within the career track of the standard diploma shall provide the knowledge and skill necessary for proficiency on the state subject area tests.
(3) Nothing in this section shall disallow the development of a dual enrollment program with a technical college so long as an individual school district, with approval from the State Department of Education, agrees to implement such a program in connection with a technical college and the agreement is also approved by the proprietary school's commission.
(4) * * *
Online Career Track Program Availability. (a) Purpose.
The purpose of this subsection is to create greater equity in the availability of
and access to career readiness education in Mississippi through
leveraging technology and the innovative leadership of Mississippi public
school districts.
(b) A public school district may offer an online career track program and, at the option of that school district and notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, allow Mississippi students from outside the district's service area to enroll in the online career track program. If a school district operating an online career track program chooses to allow students from outside the district's service area to enroll, the district must adopt a policy governing the enrollment procedures before June 1 of the year in which enrollment will be accepted. The enrollment policy must include, at a minimum, provisions addressing the following:
(i) The timeframe in which applications will be accepted from out-of-district students for both the fall and spring semesters;
(ii) Provision of notice of the application to the district in which the student resides within five (5) days of receipt of the application;
(iii) The operation of a lottery if more out-of-district students apply than can be accommodated by the program;
(iv) Any requirements or prerequisites for acceptance into any specific career track program;
(v) An opportunity for parental input and hearing before a denial of an application for any reason other than lack of program capacity; and
(vi) Engagement policies and a process with provision of fair warnings and opportunities for corrective actions before removal from the program for lack of engagement.
(c) For each student enrolling in an online career track program operated by a school district in which the student does not reside, the State Department of Education shall pay to the school district operating the program an amount as follows: the pro rata ad valorem receipts and in-lieu payments per pupil for the support of the local school district in which the student resides under Sections 37-57-1 (local contribution to the adequate education program) and 37-57-105 (school district operational levy), excluding any taxes levied for the retirement of the local school district's bonded indebtedness or short-term notes or any taxes levied for the support of vocational-technical education programs. The amount of funds payable to the school district operating the program by a school district in which a student enrolled in the online program resides must be based on the previous year's enrollment data and ad valorem receipts and in-lieu receipts in that school district. The pro rata amount must be calculated by dividing, for the school district in which the student resides, the district's months one (1) through nine (9) average daily membership into the total amount of ad valorem receipts and in-lieu receipts, as reported to the State Department of Education by that school district. The payable amount from that school district to the district operating the online program will be equal to this pro rata amount multiplied by the number of students enrolled in the online career track program, based on the end of first month enrollment for the current school year. The State Department of Education shall reduce each school district's January transfer of Mississippi Adequate Education Program funds by the amount owed to the district operating the online career track program and shall redirect that amount to that school district. Any payments made under this subsection by the State Department of Education to a district accepting nonresident students in an online career track program must be made at the same time and in the same manner as adequate education program payments are made to school districts under Sections 37-151-101 and 37-151-103.
(d) For purposes of all accountability reporting, the State Department of Education shall include any student who enrolls in an online career track program under this subsection with the data and reporting for the public school district operating that program.
SECTION 2. Section 37-15-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-15-29. (1) Except as
provided in subsections (2) * * * through (6) 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 * * *.
(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.
(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.
(6) A child who is accepted for enrollment in an online career track program operated under Section 37-16-17(4) by a school district other than the district in which the student resides may enroll in and attend the school district as a student in the online program regardless of the residence of the child.
SECTION 3. Section 37-15-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-15-31. (1) (a) Except
as provided in subsections (2) through( * * *6) 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.
(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.
(6) Upon the acceptance for enrollment in an online career track program operated under Section 37-16-17(4) by a school district of a school-age child who is a resident of a school district other than the district operating the online program, the school board of the school district operating the online program shall consent to the transfer of the child to its district for the purpose of enrolling as a student in the online program, and the school board shall cause the same to be spread upon the minutes of the board.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2021.
