Bill Text: MS SB2087 | 2014 | Regular Session | Engrossed

Mississippi Senate Bill 2087 (Prior Session Legislation)

MS State Legislature page for SB2087

Bill Title: Mississippi Community College Board; conform code sections to revised name.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2014-03-06 - Died In Committee [SB2087 Detail]

Download: Mississippi-2014-SB2087-Engrossed.html

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2014 Regular Session

To: Universities and Colleges

By: Senator(s) Polk

Senate Bill 2087

(As Passed the Senate)

AN ACT TO CHANGE THE TERMS "JUNIOR COLLEGE COMMISSION", "STATE BOARD FOR COMMUNITY AND JUNIOR COLLEGES", AND "MISSISSIPPI STATE BOARD FOR COMMUNITY AND JUNIOR COLLEGES" TO "MISSISSIPPI COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD"; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 37-4-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972; TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-211, 25-3-39, 25-9-107, 25-15-303, 29-1-205, 37-3-2, 37-4-3, 37-4-4, 37-4-5, 37-4-7, 37-4-9, 37-4-11, 37-4-13, 37-4-15, 37-13-92, 37-15-38, 37-16-17, 37-29-67, 37-29-69, 37-29-107, 37-29-169, 37-29-268, 37-29-411, 37-29-413, 37-29-459, 37-29-507, 37-29-559, 37-29-601, 37-29-603, 37-29-611, 37-31-205, 37-35-1, 37-35-5, 37-35-7, 37-35-9, 37-35-11, 37-35-13, 37-61-33, 37-63-3, 37-101-3, 37-101-241, 37-101-331, 37-102-3, 37-106-9, 37-149-1, 37-151-75, 37-153-7, 37-153-13, 37-154-1, 37-155-9, 37-155-117, 37-161-5, 37-163-1, 41-23-45, 41-87-5, 43-1-30, 43-59-9, 45-4-3, 57-73-25, 69-2-5, 73-15-25, 75-59-1, 75-60-15, 75-60-27, 75-60-43, 37-29-167, 37-29-451, 37-104-5, 37-33-173, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 37-4-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

37-4-5. The terms "Junior College Commission" and "State Board for Community and Junior Colleges," whenever they appear in the laws of the State of Mississippi, mean the "Mississippi Community College Board."

SECTION 2. Section 23-15-211, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-211. (1) There shall be:

(a) A State Board of Election Commissioners to consist of the Governor, the Secretary of State and the Attorney General, any two (2) of whom may perform the duties required of the board;

(b) A board of election commissioners in each county to consist of five (5) persons who are electors in the county in which they are to act; and

(c) A registrar in each county who shall be the clerk of the circuit court, unless he shall be shown to be an improper person to register the names of the electors in the county.

(2) The board of supervisors of each county shall pay members of the county election commission for attending training events a per diem in the amount provided in Section 23-15-153; however, except as otherwise provided in this section, the per diem shall not be paid to an election commissioner for more than twelve (12) days of training per year and shall only be paid to election commissioners who actually attend and complete a training event and obtain a training certificate.

(3) Included in this twelve (12) days shall be an elections seminar, conducted and sponsored by the Secretary of State. Election commissioners and chairpersons of each political party executive committee, or their designee, shall be required to attend.

(4) Each participant shall receive a certificate from the Secretary of State indicating that the named participant has received the elections training seminar instruction and that each participant is fully qualified to conduct an election. Commissioners of election shall annually file the certificate with the chancery clerk. If any commissioner of election shall fail to file the certificate by April 30 of each year, his office shall be vacated, absent exigent circumstances as determined by the board of supervisors and consistent with the facts. The vacancy shall be declared by the board of supervisors and the vacancy shall be filled in the manner described by law. Prior to declaring the office vacant, the board of supervisors shall give the election commissioner notice and the opportunity for a hearing.

(5) The Secretary of State, upon approval of the board of supervisors, may authorize not more than eight (8) additional training days per year for commissioners of election in one or more counties. The board of supervisors of each county shall pay members of the county election commission for attending training on these days a per diem in the amount provided in Section 23-15-153.

(6) The Secretary of State shall develop a single, comprehensive poll worker training program to assist local election officials in providing uniform, secure elections throughout the state. The program shall include, at a minimum, training on all state and federal election laws and procedures.

(7) The Secretary of State shall develop, in conjunction with the * * * Mississippi Community College Board:

(a) A computer skills training course for all newly elected circuit clerks that shall be completed within one hundred eighty (180) days of the commencement of their term of office; and

(b) A computer skills refresher course for all serving circuit clerks that shall be completed within one hundred eighty (180) days of the commencement of every odd-numbered term of service.

SECTION 3. Section 25-3-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-3-39. (1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no public officer, public employee, administrator, or executive head of any arm or agency of the state, in the executive branch of government, shall be paid a salary or compensation, directly or indirectly, greater than one hundred fifty percent (150%) of the salary fixed in Section 25-3-31 for the Governor, nor shall the salary of any public officer, public employee, administrator, or executive head of any arm or agency of the state, in the executive branch of government, be supplemented with any funds from any source, including federal or private funds. Such salaries shall be completely paid by the state. All academic officials, members of the teaching staffs and employees of the state institutions of higher learning, the * * * Mississippi Community College Board, and community and junior colleges, and licensed physicians who are public employees, shall be exempt from this subsection. All professional employees who hold a bachelor's degree or more advanced degree from an accredited four-year college or university or a certificate or license issued by a state licensing board, commission or agency and who are employed by the Department of Mental Health shall be exempt from this subsection if the State Personnel Board approves the exemption.

(b) The Governor shall fix the annual salary of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Development Authority and the annual salary of the Chief of Staff of the Governor's Office. The salary of the Governor's Chief of Staff shall not be greater than one hundred fifty percent (150%) of the salary of the Governor and shall be completely paid by the state without supplementation from another source. The salary of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Development Authority may be greater than one hundred fifty percent (150%) of the salary of the Governor and may be supplemented with funds from any source, including federal or private funds; however, any state funds used to pay the salary of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Development Authority shall not exceed one hundred fifty percent (150%) of the salary of the Governor. If the executive director's salary is supplemented with private funds, the Mississippi Development Authority shall publish on its website the amount of the supplement and the name of the donor of the private funds.

(2) No public officer, employee or administrator shall be paid a salary or compensation, directly or indirectly, in excess of the salary authorized to be paid the executive head of the state agency or department in which he is employed. The State Personnel Board, based upon its findings of fact, may exempt physicians and actuaries from this subsection when the acquisition of such professional services is precluded based on the prevailing wage in the relevant labor market.

(3) The executive head of any state agency or department appointed by the Governor, in such executive head's discretion, may waive all or any portion of the salary or compensation lawfully established for the position.

SECTION 4. Section 25-9-107, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-9-107. The following terms, when used in this chapter, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context, shall have the following meanings:

(a) "Board" means the State Personnel Board created under the provisions of this chapter.

(b) "State service" means all employees of state departments, agencies and institutions as defined herein, except those officers and employees excluded by this chapter.

(c) "Nonstate service" means the following officers and employees excluded from the state service by this chapter. The following are excluded from the state service:

(i) Members of the State Legislature, their * * *~~staffs~~ staff and other employees of the legislative branch;

(ii) The Governor and staff members of the immediate Office of the Governor;

(iii) Justices and judges of the judicial branch or members of appeals boards on a per diem basis;

(iv) The Lieutenant Governor, staff members of the immediate Office of the Lieutenant Governor and officers and employees directly appointed by the Lieutenant Governor;

(v) Officers and officials elected by popular vote and persons appointed to fill vacancies in elective offices;

(vi) Members of boards and commissioners appointed by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor or the State Legislature;

(vii) All academic officials, members of the teaching staffs and employees of the state institutions of higher learning, the * * * Mississippi Community College Board, and community and junior colleges;

(viii) Officers and enlisted members of the National Guard of the state;

(ix) Prisoners, inmates, student or patient help working in or about institutions;

(x) Contract personnel; provided, that any agency which employs state service employees may enter into contracts for personal and professional services only if such contracts are approved in compliance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the State Personal Service Contract Review Board under Section 25-9-120(3). Before paying any warrant for such contractual services in excess of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), the Auditor of Public Accounts, or the successor to those duties, shall determine whether the contract involved was for personal or professional services, and, if so, was approved by the State Personal Service Contract Review Board;

(xi) Part-time employees; provided, however, part-time employees shall only be hired into authorized employment positions classified by the board, shall meet minimum qualifications as set by the board, and shall be paid in accordance with the Variable Compensation Plan as certified by the board;

(xii) Persons appointed on an emergency basis for the duration of the emergency; the effective date of the emergency appointments shall not be earlier than the date approved by the State Personnel Director, and shall be limited to thirty (30) working days. Emergency appointments may be extended to sixty (60) working days by the State Personnel Board;

(xiii) Physicians, dentists, veterinarians, nurse practitioners and attorneys, while serving in their professional capacities in authorized employment positions who are required by statute to be licensed, registered or otherwise certified as such, provided that the State Personnel Director shall verify that the statutory qualifications are met prior to issuance of a payroll warrant by the Auditor;

(xiv) Personnel who are employed and paid from funds received from a federal grant program which has been approved by the Legislature or the Department of Finance and Administration whose length of employment has been determined to be time-limited in nature. This subparagraph shall apply to personnel employed under the provisions of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973, as amended, and other special federal grant programs which are not a part of regular federally funded programs wherein appropriations and employment positions are appropriated by the Legislature. Such employees shall be paid in accordance with the Variable Compensation Plan and shall meet all qualifications required by federal statutes or by the Mississippi Classification Plan;

(xv) The administrative head who is in charge of any state department, agency, institution, board or commission, wherein the statute specifically authorizes the Governor, board, commission or other authority to appoint said administrative head; provided, however, that the salary of such administrative head shall be determined by the State Personnel Board in accordance with the Variable Compensation Plan unless otherwise fixed by statute;

(xvi) The State Personnel Board shall exclude top-level positions if the incumbents determine and publicly advocate substantive program policy and report directly to the agency head, or the incumbents are required to maintain a direct confidential working relationship with a key excluded official. Provided further, a written job classification shall be approved by the board for each such position, and positions so excluded shall be paid in conformity with the Variable Compensation Plan;

(xvii) Employees whose employment is solely in connection with an agency's contract to produce, store or transport goods, and whose compensation is derived therefrom;

(xviii) Repealed;

(xix) The associate director, deputy directors and bureau directors within the Department of Agriculture and Commerce;

(xx) Personnel employed by the Mississippi Industries for the Blind; provided, that any agency may enter into contracts for the personal services of MIB employees without the prior approval of the State Personnel Board or the State Personal Service Contract Review Board; however, any agency contracting for the personal services of an MIB employee shall provide the MIB employee with not less than the entry-level compensation and benefits that the agency would provide to a full-time employee of the agency who performs the same services;

(xxi) Personnel employed by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks and the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources as law enforcement trainees (cadets); such personnel shall be paid in accordance with the Colonel Guy Groff State Variable Compensation Plan.

(d) "Agency" means any state board, commission, committee, council, department or unit thereof created by the Constitution or statutes if such board, commission, committee, council, department, unit or the head thereof, is authorized to appoint subordinate staff by the Constitution or statute, except a legislative or judicial board, commission, committee, council, department or unit thereof.

SECTION 5. Section 25-15-303, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-15-303. (1) There is created the State and School Employees Health Insurance Management Board, which shall administer the State and School Employees Life and Health Insurance Plan provided for under Section 25-15-3 et seq. The State and School Employees Health Insurance Management Board, hereafter referred to as the "board," shall also be responsible for administering all procedures for selecting third-party administrators provided for in Section 25-15-301.

(2) The board shall consist of the following:

(a) The Chairman of the Workers' Compensation Commission;

(b) The State Personnel Director;

(d) The Commissioner of Higher Education;

(e) The State Superintendent of Public Education;

(f) The Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration;

(g) The Executive Director of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board;

(h) The Executive Director of the Public Employees' Retirement System;

(i) Two (2) appointees of the Governor whose terms shall be concurrent with that of the Governor, one (1) of whom shall have experience in providing actuarial advice to companies that provide health insurance to large groups and one (1) of whom shall have experience in the day-to-day management and administration of a large self-funded health insurance group;

(j) The Chairman of the Senate Insurance Committee, or his designee;

(k) The Chairman of the House of Representatives Insurance Committee, or his designee;

(l) The Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, or his designee; and

(m) The Chairman of the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, or his designee.

The legislators, or their designees, shall serve as ex officio, nonvoting members of the board.

The Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration shall be the chairman of the board.

(3) The board shall meet at least monthly and maintain minutes of the meetings. A quorum shall consist of a majority of the authorized voting membership of the board. The board shall have the sole authority to promulgate rules and regulations governing the operations of the insurance plans and shall be vested with all legal authority necessary and proper to perform this function including, but not limited to:

(a) Defining the scope and coverages provided by the insurance plan;

(b) Seeking proposals for services or insurance through competitive processes where required by law and selecting service providers or insurers under procedures provided for by law; and

The department shall employ a State Insurance Administrator, who shall be responsible for the day-to-day management and administration of the insurance plan. The Department of Finance and Administration shall provide to the board on a full-time basis personnel and technical support necessary and sufficient to effectively and efficiently carry out the requirements of this section.

(4) Members of the board shall not receive any compensation or per diem, but may receive travel reimbursement provided for under Section 25-3-41 except that the legislators shall receive per diem and expenses, which shall be paid from the contingent expense funds of their respective houses in the same amounts as provided for committee meetings when the Legislature is not in session; however, no per diem and expenses for attending meetings of the board shall be paid while the Legislature is in session.

SECTION 6. Section 29-1-205, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

29-1-205. (1) The Department of Finance and Administration, Bureau of Building, Grounds and Real Property Management, is hereby authorized, empowered and directed to sell and convey on behalf of the State of Mississippi to a nationally recognized organization which has as its purpose the recognition and promotion of scholarship, leadership and service among two-year college students throughout the country for the purpose of constructing a national headquarters thereon, the following described state-owned lands. The property authorized to be sold and conveyed is a certain parcel of land situated in the Northwest 1/4 of the Northeast 1/4 of Section 25, T6N, R1E, Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, and being more particularly described as follows, to wit:

Commence at the Southwest corner of Lot 2 of Northeast Heights, a subdivision on file and of record in the office of the Chancery Clerk at Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, in Plat Book 10 at Page 45; run thence Southerly along the extension of the West line of said Lot 2 for a distance of 80.00 feet to a point on the South Line of Eastover Drive; turn thence right through a deflection angle of 89 degrees 13 minutes and run westerly along the South line of Eastover Drive for a distance of 43.84 feet to the POINT OF BEGINNING; thence leaving said South line of Eastover Drive, turn left through a deflection angle of 95 degrees 41 minutes 50 seconds and run Southerly along a line twenty five feet from and parallel to the centerline of a 31 foot asphalt drive for a distance of 118.08 feet; turn thence right through a deflection angle of 3 degrees 07 minutes 37 seconds and continue Southerly along a line twenty five feet from and parallel to the centerline of a 31 foot asphalt drive for a distance of 132.71 feet to a point on the North line of a United Gas Pipe Line Company easement; turn thence right through a deflection angle of 59 degrees 18 minutes 47 seconds and run Southwesterly along the North line of said United Gas Pipe Line Company easement for a distance of 520.00 feet; turn thence right through a deflection angle of 90 degrees 00 minutes 00 seconds and run Northwesterly for a distance of 410.00 feet; turn thence right through a deflection angle of 69 degrees 42 minutes 33 seconds and run Northeasterly for a distance of 238.99 feet to a point on the South line of said Eastover Drive; said point further being on a 2 degrees 27 minutes curve bearing to the right, said curve having a central angle of 8 degrees 58 minutes 45 seconds and a radius of 2258.60 feet; turn thence right through a deflection angle of 53 degrees 12 minutes 08 seconds and run Easterly along the chord of said 2 degrees 27 minutes curve bearing to the right and the South line of said Eastover Drive for a distance of 27.26 feet to the Point of Tangency; turn thence right through a deflection angle of 00 degrees 20 minutes 45 seconds and run Easterly along the South line said Eastover Drive for a distance of 472.74 feet to the POINT OF BEGINNING, containing 5.44 acres more or less.

(2) The Legislature recognizes that Mississippi's public two-year college system is the oldest system of its kind in the nation, and further recognizes that this system enjoys national notoriety and respect for its achievement and promotion of educational, civic, social and cultural excellence. The Legislature declares and finds that the purpose of this legislation is to promote, enhance and foster continued excellence in Mississippi's two-year college system and the overall educational development and improvement of the State of Mississippi and the educational, civic, social, cultural, moral and economic welfare thereof, and that such purposes will be accomplished by the conveyance of the above-described property to an organization within the aforesaid classification for construction of a national headquarters thereon.

(3) The conveyance to be executed by the Department of Finance and Administration, acting through the Bureau of Building, Grounds and Real Property Management, shall be within the limits contained in Sections 29-1-205 and 29-1-209 and contain a provision reserving unto the state all oil, gas and mineral rights of every kind and character. The conveyance shall make provision for reasonable access to the conveyed premises over existing roadways and to existing utility lines for the benefit of the conveyed premises. The conveyance shall include terms granting to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, to the * * * Mississippi Community College Board and to the Mississippi Authority for Educational Television reasonable rights to utilize the improvements to be constructed thereon, or portions thereof, for conference or meeting purposes, specifying the architectural style of the improvements and providing a reasonable setback of wooded undeveloped property contiguous to the improvements in order to maintain the natural environment of the site.

(4) The conveyance herein shall be for such consideration as determined appropriate by the Public Procurement Review Board. Such consideration may be paid or provided in installments over a period of time (not to exceed twenty-five (25) years) and may also be provided in kind. In-kind consideration may include the reasonable use of the improvements constructed on the property by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and its institutions, the * * * Mississippi Community College Board and the community and junior colleges, and the Mississippi Authority for Educational Television and other state agencies, and the provision of leadership training certification programs for community and junior college faculty and others. Such in-kind consideration may also constitute full and fair consideration for the property. In establishing consideration, the board may take into account the appraised value of the property, but shall allow reasonable credit to the purchaser for benefits accruing to the State of Mississippi, including the enhancement of the state's community and junior college program and the promotion of excellence in public education afforded by the location of such organization and its headquarters in this state, the increase in employment made possible, and that the only use which can be made of the conveyed premises is for the organization's national headquarters with reversion to the state otherwise.

SECTION 7. Section 37-3-2, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-3-2. (1) There is established within the State Department of Education the Commission on Teacher and Administrator Education, Certification and Licensure and Development. It shall be the purpose and duty of the commission to make recommendations to the State Board of Education regarding standards for the certification and licensure and continuing professional development of those who teach or perform tasks of an educational nature in the public schools of Mississippi.

(2) The commission shall be composed of fifteen (15) qualified members. The membership of the commission shall be composed of the following members to be appointed, three (3) from each congressional district: four (4) classroom teachers; three (3) school administrators; one (1) representative of schools of education of institutions of higher learning located within the state to be recommended by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning; one (1) representative from the schools of education of independent institutions of higher learning to be recommended by the Board of the Mississippi Association of Independent Colleges; one (1) representative from public community and junior colleges located within the state to be recommended by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board; one (1) local school board member; and four (4) laypersons. All appointments shall be made by the State Board of Education after consultation with the State Superintendent of Public Education. The first appointments by the State Board of Education shall be made as follows: five (5) members shall be appointed for a term of one (1) year; five (5) members shall be appointed for a term of two (2) years; and five (5) members shall be appointed for a term of three (3) years. Thereafter, all members shall be appointed for a term of four (4) years.

(3) The State Board of Education when making appointments shall designate a chairman. The commission shall meet at least once every two (2) months or more often if needed. Members of the commission shall be compensated at a rate of per diem as authorized by Section 25-3-69 and be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses as authorized by Section 25-3-41.

(4) (a) An appropriate staff member of the State Department of Education shall be designated and assigned by the State Superintendent of Public Education to serve as executive secretary and coordinator for the commission. No less than two (2) other appropriate staff members of the State Department of Education shall be designated and assigned by the State Superintendent of Public Education to serve on the staff of the commission.

(b) An Office of Educator Misconduct Evaluations shall be established within the State Department of Education to assist the commission in responding to infractions and violations, and in conducting hearings and enforcing the provisions of Section 37-3-2(11), (12), (13), (14) and (15), Mississippi Code of 1972, and violations of the Mississippi Educator Code of Ethics.

(5) It shall be the duty of the commission to:

(a) Set standards and criteria, subject to the approval of the State Board of Education, for all educator preparation programs in the state;

(b) Recommend to the State Board of Education each year approval or disapproval of each educator preparation program in the state, subject to a process and schedule determined by the State Board of Education;

(c) Establish, subject to the approval of the State Board of Education, standards for initial teacher certification and licensure in all fields;

(d) Establish, subject to the approval of the State Board of Education, standards for the renewal of teacher licenses in all fields;

(e) Review and evaluate objective measures of teacher performance, such as test scores, which may form part of the licensure process, and to make recommendations for their use;

(f) Review all existing requirements for certification and licensure;

(g) Consult with groups whose work may be affected by the commission's decisions;

(h) Prepare reports from time to time on current practices and issues in the general area of teacher education and certification and licensure;

(i) Hold hearings concerning standards for teachers' and administrators' education and certification and licensure with approval of the State Board of Education;

(j) Hire expert consultants with approval of the State Board of Education;

(k) Set up ad hoc committees to advise on specific areas; and

(l) Perform such other functions as may fall within their general charge and which may be delegated to them by the State Board of Education.

(6) (a) Standard License - Approved Program Route. An educator entering the school system of Mississippi for the first time and meeting all requirements as established by the State Board of Education shall be granted a standard five-year license. Persons who possess two (2) years of classroom experience as an assistant teacher or who have taught for one (1) year in an accredited public or private school shall be allowed to fulfill student teaching requirements under the supervision of a qualified participating teacher approved by an accredited college of education. The local school district in which the assistant teacher is employed shall compensate such assistant teachers at the required salary level during the period of time such individual is completing student teaching requirements. Applicants for a standard license shall submit to the department:

(i) An application on a department form;

(ii) An official transcript of completion of a teacher education program approved by the department or a nationally accredited program, subject to the following: Licensure to teach in Mississippi prekindergarten through kindergarten classrooms shall require completion of a teacher education program or a Bachelor of Science degree with child development emphasis from a program accredited by the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) or by the National Association for Education of Young Children (NAEYC) or by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Licensure to teach in Mississippi kindergarten, for those applicants who have completed a teacher education program, and in Grade 1 through Grade 4 shall require the completion of an interdisciplinary program of studies. Licenses for Grades 4 through 8 shall require the completion of an interdisciplinary program of studies with two (2) or more areas of concentration. Licensure to teach in Mississippi Grades 7 through 12 shall require a major in an academic field other than education, or a combination of disciplines other than education. Students preparing to teach a subject shall complete a major in the respective subject discipline. All applicants for standard licensure shall demonstrate that such person's college preparation in those fields was in accordance with the standards set forth by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) or the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC) or, for those applicants who have a Bachelor of Science degree with child development emphasis, the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS);

(iii) A copy of test scores evidencing satisfactory completion of nationally administered examinations of achievement, such as the Educational Testing Service's teacher testing examinations;

(iv) Any other document required by the State Board of Education; and

(v) From and after September 30, 2015, no teacher candidate shall be licensed to teach in Mississippi who did not meet the following criteria for entrance into an approved teacher education program:

1. 21 ACT equivalent or achieve the nationally recommended passing score on the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators examination; and

2. No less than 2.75 GPA on pre-major coursework of the institution's approved teacher education program provided that the accepted cohort of candidates meets or exceeds a 3.0 GPA on pre-major coursework.

(b) Standard License - Nontraditional Teaching Route. From and after September 30, 2015, no teacher candidate shall be licensed to teach in Mississippi under the alternate route who did not meet the following criteria:

(i) 21 ACT equivalent or achieve the nationally recommended passing score on the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators examination; and

(ii) No less than 2.75 GPA on content coursework in the requested area of certification provided that the accepted cohort of candidates of the institution's teacher education program meets or exceeds a 3.0 GPA on pre-major coursework from the approved teacher education program.

Beginning January 1, 2004, an individual who has a passing score on the Praxis I Basic Skills and Praxis II Specialty Area Test in the requested area of endorsement may apply for the Teach Mississippi Institute (TMI) program to teach students in Grades 7 through 12 if the individual meets the requirements of this paragraph (b). The State Board of Education shall adopt rules requiring that teacher preparation institutions which provide the Teach Mississippi Institute (TMI) program for the preparation of nontraditional teachers shall meet the standards and comply with the provisions of this paragraph.

(i) The Teach Mississippi Institute (TMI) shall include an intensive eight-week, nine-semester-hour summer program or a curriculum of study in which the student matriculates in the fall or spring semester, which shall include, but not be limited to, instruction in education, effective teaching strategies, classroom management, state curriculum requirements, planning and instruction, instructional methods and pedagogy, using test results to improve instruction, and a one (1) semester three-hour supervised internship to be completed while the teacher is employed as a full-time teacher intern in a local school district. The TMI shall be implemented on a pilot program basis, with courses to be offered at up to four (4) locations in the state, with one (1) TMI site to be located in each of the three (3) Mississippi Supreme Court districts.

(ii) The school sponsoring the teacher intern shall enter into a written agreement with the institution providing the Teach Mississippi Institute (TMI) program, under terms and conditions as agreed upon by the contracting parties, providing that the school district shall provide teacher interns seeking a nontraditional provisional teaching license with a one-year classroom teaching experience. The teacher intern shall successfully complete the one (1) semester three-hour intensive internship in the school district during the semester immediately following successful completion of the TMI and prior to the end of the one-year classroom teaching experience.

(iii) Upon completion of the nine-semester-hour TMI or the fall or spring semester option, the individual shall submit his transcript to the commission for provisional licensure of the intern teacher, and the intern teacher shall be issued a provisional teaching license by the commission, which will allow the individual to legally serve as a teacher while the person completes a nontraditional teacher preparation internship program.

(iv) During the semester of internship in the school district, the teacher preparation institution shall monitor the performance of the intern teacher. The school district that employs the provisional teacher shall supervise the provisional teacher during the teacher's intern year of employment under a nontraditional provisional license, and shall, in consultation with the teacher intern's mentor at the school district of employment, submit to the commission a comprehensive evaluation of the teacher's performance sixty (60) days prior to the expiration of the nontraditional provisional license. If the comprehensive evaluation establishes that the provisional teacher intern's performance fails to meet the standards of the approved nontraditional teacher preparation internship program, the individual shall not be approved for a standard license.

(v) An individual issued a provisional teaching license under this nontraditional route shall successfully complete, at a minimum, a one-year beginning teacher mentoring and induction program administered by the employing school district with the assistance of the State Department of Education.

(vi) Upon successful completion of the TMI and the internship provisional license period, applicants for a Standard License - Nontraditional Route shall submit to the commission a transcript of successful completion of the twelve (12) semester hours required in the internship program, and the employing school district shall submit to the commission a recommendation for standard licensure of the intern. If the school district recommends licensure, the applicant shall be issued a Standard License - Nontraditional Route which shall be valid for a five-year period and be renewable.

(vii) At the discretion of the teacher preparation institution, the individual shall be allowed to credit the twelve (12) semester hours earned in the nontraditional teacher internship program toward the graduate hours required for a Master of Arts in Teacher (MAT) Degree.

(viii) The local school district in which the nontraditional teacher intern or provisional licensee is employed shall compensate such teacher interns at Step 1 of the required salary level during the period of time such individual is completing teacher internship requirements and shall compensate such Standard License - Nontraditional Route teachers at Step 3 of the required salary level when they complete license requirements.

Implementation of the TMI program provided for under this paragraph (b) shall be contingent upon the availability of funds appropriated specifically for such purpose by the Legislature. Such implementation of the TMI program may not be deemed to prohibit the State Board of Education from developing and implementing additional alternative route teacher licensure programs, as deemed appropriate by the board. The emergency certification program in effect prior to July 1, 2002, shall remain in effect.

A Standard License - Approved Program Route shall be issued for a five-year period, and may be renewed. Recognizing teaching as a profession, a hiring preference shall be granted to persons holding a Standard License - Approved Program Route or Standard License - Nontraditional Teaching Route over persons holding any other license.

(c) Special License - Expert Citizen. In order to allow a school district to offer specialized or technical courses, the State Department of Education, in accordance with rules and regulations established by the State Board of Education, may grant a one-year expert citizen-teacher license to local business or other professional personnel to teach in a public school or nonpublic school accredited or approved by the state. Such person may begin teaching upon his employment by the local school board and licensure by the Mississippi Department of Education. The board shall adopt rules and regulations to administer the expert citizen-teacher license. A Special License - Expert Citizen may be renewed in accordance with the established rules and regulations of the State Department of Education.

(d) Special License - Nonrenewable. The State Board of Education is authorized to establish rules and regulations to allow those educators not meeting requirements in subsection (6)(a), (b) or (c) to be licensed for a period of not more than three (3) years, except by special approval of the State Board of Education.

(e) Nonlicensed Teaching Personnel. A nonlicensed person may teach for a maximum of three (3) periods per teaching day in a public school district or a nonpublic school accredited/approved by the state. Such person shall submit to the department a transcript or record of his education and experience which substantiates his preparation for the subject to be taught and shall meet other qualifications specified by the commission and approved by the State Board of Education. In no case shall any local school board hire nonlicensed personnel as authorized under this paragraph in excess of five percent (5%) of the total number of licensed personnel in any single school.

(f) Special License - Transitional Bilingual Education. Beginning July 1, 2003, the commission shall grant special licenses to teachers of transitional bilingual education who possess such qualifications as are prescribed in this section. Teachers of transitional bilingual education shall be compensated by local school boards at not less than one (1) step on the regular salary schedule applicable to permanent teachers licensed under this section. The commission shall grant special licenses to teachers of transitional bilingual education who present the commission with satisfactory evidence that they (i) possess a speaking and reading ability in a language, other than English, in which bilingual education is offered and communicative skills in English; (ii) are in good health and sound moral character; (iii) possess a bachelor's degree or an associate's degree in teacher education from an accredited institution of higher education; (iv) meet such requirements as to courses of study, semester hours therein, experience and training as may be required by the commission; and (v) are legally present in the United States and possess legal authorization for employment. A teacher of transitional bilingual education serving under a special license shall be under an exemption from standard licensure if he achieves the requisite qualifications therefor. Two (2) years of service by a teacher of transitional bilingual education under such an exemption shall be credited to the teacher in acquiring a Standard Educator License. Nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to prohibit a local school board from employing a teacher licensed in an appropriate field as approved by the State Department of Education to teach in a program in transitional bilingual education.

(g) In the event any school district meets the highest accreditation standards as defined by the State Board of Education in the accountability system, the State Board of Education, in its discretion, may exempt such school district from any restrictions in paragraph (e) relating to the employment of nonlicensed teaching personnel.

(h) Highly Qualified Teachers. Beginning July 1, 2006, any teacher from any state meeting the federal definition of highly qualified, as described in the No Child Left Behind Act, must be granted a standard five-year license by the State Department of Education.

(7) Administrator License. The State Board of Education is authorized to establish rules and regulations and to administer the licensure process of the school administrators in the State of Mississippi. There will be four (4) categories of administrator licensure with exceptions only through special approval of the State Board of Education.

(a) Administrator License - Nonpracticing. Those educators holding administrative endorsement but having no administrative experience or not serving in an administrative position on January 15, 1997.

(b) Administrator License - Entry Level. Those educators holding administrative endorsement and having met the department's qualifications to be eligible for employment in a Mississippi school district. Administrator License - Entry Level shall be issued for a five-year period and shall be nonrenewable.

(c) Standard Administrator License - Career Level. An administrator who has met all the requirements of the department for standard administrator licensure.

(d) Administrator License - Nontraditional Route. The board may establish a nontraditional route for licensing administrative personnel. Such nontraditional route for administrative licensure shall be available for persons holding, but not limited to, a master of business administration degree, a master of public administration degree, a master of public planning and policy degree or a doctor of jurisprudence degree from an accredited college or university, with five (5) years of administrative or supervisory experience. Successful completion of the requirements of alternate route licensure for administrators shall qualify the person for a standard administrator license.

Individuals seeking school administrator licensure under paragraph (b), (c) or (d) shall successfully complete a training program and an assessment process prescribed by the State Board of Education. All applicants for school administrator licensure shall meet all requirements prescribed by the department under paragraph (b), (c) or (d), and the cost of the assessment process required shall be paid by the applicant.

(8) Reciprocity. (a) The department shall grant a standard license to any individual who possesses a valid standard license from another state and meets minimum Mississippi license requirements or equivalent requirements as determined by the State Board of Education. The issuance of a license by reciprocity to a military-trained applicant or military spouse shall be subject to the provisions of Section 73-50-1.

(b) The department shall grant a nonrenewable special license to any individual who possesses a credential which is less than a standard license or certification from another state. Such special license shall be valid for the current school year plus one (1) additional school year to expire on June 30 of the second year, not to exceed a total period of twenty-four (24) months, during which time the applicant shall be required to complete the requirements for a standard license in Mississippi.

(9) Renewal and Reinstatement of Licenses. The State Board of Education is authorized to establish rules and regulations for the renewal and reinstatement of educator and administrator licenses. Effective May 15, 1997, the valid standard license held by an educator shall be extended five (5) years beyond the expiration date of the license in order to afford the educator adequate time to fulfill new renewal requirements established pursuant to this subsection. An educator completing a master of education, educational specialist or doctor of education degree in May 1997 for the purpose of upgrading the educator's license to a higher class shall be given this extension of five (5) years plus five (5) additional years for completion of a higher degree.

(10) All controversies involving the issuance, revocation, suspension or any change whatsoever in the licensure of an educator required to hold a license shall be initially heard in a hearing de novo, by the commission or by a subcommittee established by the commission and composed of commission members for the purpose of holding hearings. Any complaint seeking the denial of issuance, revocation or suspension of a license shall be by sworn affidavit filed with the Commission * * *of on Teacher and Administrator Education, Certification and Licensure and Development. The decision thereon by the commission or its subcommittee shall be final, unless the aggrieved party shall appeal to the State Board of Education, within ten (10) days, of the decision of the committee or its subcommittee. An appeal to the State Board of Education shall be on the record previously made before the commission or its subcommittee unless otherwise provided by rules and regulations adopted by the board. The State Board of Education in its authority may reverse, or remand with instructions, the decision of the committee or its subcommittee. The decision of the State Board of Education shall be final.

(11) The State Board of Education, acting through the commission, may deny an application for any teacher or administrator license for one or more of the following:

(a) Lack of qualifications which are prescribed by law or regulations adopted by the State Board of Education;

(b) The applicant has a physical, emotional or mental disability that renders the applicant unfit to perform the duties authorized by the license, as certified by a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist;

(c) The applicant is actively addicted to or actively dependent on alcohol or other habit-forming drugs or is a habitual user of narcotics, barbiturates, amphetamines, hallucinogens or other drugs having similar effect, at the time of application for a license;

(d) Revocation, suspension or surrender of an applicant's certificate or license by another state shall result in immediate denial of licensure until such time that the records predicating the revocation, suspension or surrender in the prior state have been cleared;

(e) Fraud or deceit committed by the applicant in securing or attempting to secure such certification and license;

(f) Failing or refusing to furnish reasonable evidence of identification;

(g) The applicant has been convicted, has pled guilty or entered a plea of nolo contendere to a felony, as defined by federal or state law;

(h) The applicant has been convicted, has pled guilty or entered a plea of nolo contendere to a sex offense as defined by federal or state law. For purposes of this paragraph (h) and paragraph (g) of this subsection, a "guilty plea" includes a plea of guilty, entry of a plea of nolo contendere, or entry of an order granting pretrial or judicial diversion; or

(i) Probation or post-release supervision for a felony or sex offense conviction, as defined by federal or state law, shall result in the immediate denial of licensure application until expiration of the probationary or post-release supervision period.

(12) The State Board of Education, acting on the recommendation of the commission, may revoke or suspend any teacher or administrator license for specified periods of time for one or more of the following:

(a) Breach of contract or abandonment of employment may result in the suspension of the license for one (1) school year as provided in Section 37-9-57;

(b) Obtaining a license by fraudulent means shall result in immediate suspension and continued suspension for one (1) year after correction is made;

(c) Suspension or revocation of a certificate or license by another state shall result in immediate suspension or revocation and shall continue until records in the prior state have been cleared;

(d) The license holder has been convicted, has pled guilty or entered a plea of nolo contendere to a felony, as defined by federal or state law. For purposes of this paragraph, a "guilty plea" includes a plea of guilty, entry of a plea of nolo contendere, or entry of an order granting pretrial or judicial diversion;

(e) The license holder has been convicted, has pled guilty or entered a plea of nolo contendere to a sex offense, as defined by federal or state law, shall result in immediate suspension or revocation;

(f) The license holder has received probation or post-release supervision for a felony or sex offense conviction, as defined by federal or state law, which shall result in immediate suspension or revocation until expiration of the probationary or post-release supervision period;

(g) The license holder knowingly and willfully committing any of the acts affecting validity of mandatory uniform test results as provided in Section 37-16-4(1);

(h) The license holder has engaged in unethical conduct relating to an educator/student relationship as identified by the State Board of Education in its rules;

(i) The license holder has fondled a student as described in Section 97-5-23, or had any type of sexual involvement with a student as described in Section 97-3-95; or

(j) The license holder has failed to report sexual involvement of a school employee with a student as required by Section 97-5-24.

(13) (a) Dismissal or suspension of a licensed employee by a local school board pursuant to Section 37-9-59 may result in the suspension or revocation of a license for a length of time which shall be determined by the commission and based upon the severity of the offense.

(b) Any offense committed or attempted in any other state shall result in the same penalty as if committed or attempted in this state.

(c) A person may voluntarily surrender a license. The surrender of such license may result in the commission recommending any of the above penalties without the necessity of a hearing. However, any such license which has voluntarily been surrendered by a licensed employee may only be reinstated by a majority vote of all members of the commission present at the meeting called for such purpose.

(14) (a) A person whose license has been revoked or surrendered on any grounds except criminal grounds may petition for reinstatement of the license after one (1) year from the date of revocation or surrender, or after one-half (1/2) of the revoked or surrendered time has lapsed, whichever is greater. A person whose license has been suspended on any grounds or violations under subsection (12) of this section may be reinstated automatically or approved for a reinstatement hearing, upon submission of a written request to the commission. A license suspended, revoked or surrendered on criminal grounds may be reinstated upon petition to the commission filed after expiration of the sentence and parole or probationary period imposed upon conviction. A revoked, suspended or surrendered license may be reinstated upon satisfactory showing of evidence of rehabilitation. The commission shall require all who petition for reinstatement to furnish evidence satisfactory to the commission of good character, good mental, emotional and physical health and such other evidence as the commission may deem necessary to establish the petitioner's rehabilitation and fitness to perform the duties authorized by the license.

(b) A person whose license expires while under investigation by the Office of Educator Misconduct for an alleged violation may not be reinstated without a hearing before the commission if required based on the results of the investigation.

(15) Reporting procedures and hearing procedures for dealing with infractions under this section shall be promulgated by the commission, subject to the approval of the State Board of Education. The revocation or suspension of a license shall be effected at the time indicated on the notice of suspension or revocation. The commission shall immediately notify the superintendent of the school district or school board where the teacher or administrator is employed of any disciplinary action and also notify the teacher or administrator of such revocation or suspension and shall maintain records of action taken. The State Board of Education may reverse or remand with instructions any decision of the commission regarding a petition for reinstatement of a license, and any such decision of the State Board of Education shall be final.

(16) An appeal from the action of the State Board of Education in denying an application, revoking or suspending a license or otherwise disciplining any person under the provisions of this section shall be filed in the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi, on the record made, including a verbatim transcript of the testimony at the hearing. The appeal shall be filed within thirty (30) days after notification of the action of the board is mailed or served and the proceedings in chancery court shall be conducted as other matters coming before the court. The appeal shall be perfected upon filing notice of the appeal and by the prepayment of all costs, including the cost of preparation of the record of the proceedings by the State Board of Education, and the filing of a bond in the sum of Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) conditioned that if the action of the board be affirmed by the chancery court, the applicant or license holder shall pay the costs of the appeal and the action of the chancery court.

(17) All such programs, rules, regulations, standards and criteria recommended or authorized by the commission shall become effective upon approval by the State Board of Education as designated by appropriate orders entered upon the minutes thereof.

(18) The granting of a license shall not be deemed a property right nor a guarantee of employment in any public school district. A license is a privilege indicating minimal eligibility for teaching in the public school districts of Mississippi. This section shall in no way alter or abridge the authority of local school districts to require greater qualifications or standards of performance as a prerequisite of initial or continued employment in such districts.

(19) In addition to the reasons specified in subsections (12) and (13) of this section, the board shall be authorized to suspend the license of any licensee for being out of compliance with an order for support, as defined in Section 93-11-153. The procedure for suspension of a license for being out of compliance with an order for support, and the procedure for the reissuance or reinstatement of a license suspended for that purpose, and the payment of any fees for the reissuance or reinstatement of a license suspended for that purpose, shall be governed by Section 93-11-157 or 93-11-163, as the case may be. Actions taken by the board in suspending a license when required by Section 93-11-157 or 93-11-163 are not actions from which an appeal may be taken under this section. Any appeal of a license suspension that is required by Section 93-11-157 or 93-11-163 shall be taken in accordance with the appeal procedure specified in Section 93-11-157 or 93-11-163, as the case may be, rather than the procedure specified in this section. If there is any conflict between any provision of Section 93-11-157 or 93-11-163 and any provision of this chapter, the provisions of Section 93-11-157 or 93-11-163, as the case may be, shall control.

SECTION 8. Section 37-4-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-4-3. (1) From and after July 1, 1986, there shall be a * * * Mississippi Community College Board which shall receive and distribute funds appropriated by the Legislature for the use of the public community and junior colleges and funds from federal and other sources that are transmitted through the state governmental organization for use by said colleges. This board shall provide general coordination of the public community and junior colleges, assemble reports and such other duties as may be prescribed by law.

(2) The board shall consist of ten (10) members of which none shall be an elected official and none shall be engaged in the educational profession. The Governor shall appoint two (2) members from the First Mississippi Congressional District, one (1) who shall serve an initial term of two (2) years and one (1) who shall serve an initial term of five (5) years; two (2) members from the Second Mississippi Congressional District, one (1) who shall serve an initial term of five (5) years and one (1) who shall serve an initial term of three (3) years; and two (2) members from the Third Mississippi Congressional District, one (1) who shall serve an initial term of four (4) years and one (1) who shall serve an initial term of two (2) years; two (2) members from the Fourth Mississippi Congressional District, one (1) who shall serve an initial term of three (3) years and one (1) who shall serve an initial term of four (4) years; and two (2) members from the Fifth Mississippi Congressional District, one (1) who shall serve an initial term of five (5) years and one (1) who shall serve an initial term of two (2) years. All subsequent appointments shall be for a term of six (6) years and continue until their successors are appointed and qualify. An appointment to fill a vacancy which arises for reasons other than by expiration of a term of office shall be for the unexpired term only. No two (2) appointees shall reside in the same junior college district. All members shall be appointed with the advice and consent of the Senate.

(3) There shall be a chairman and vice chairman of the board, elected by and from the membership of the board; and the chairman shall be the presiding officer of the board. The board shall adopt rules and regulations governing times and places for meetings and governing the manner of conducting its business.

(4) The members of the board shall receive no annual salary, but shall receive per diem compensation as authorized by Section 25-3-69, Mississippi Code of 1972, for each day devoted to the discharge of official board duties and shall be entitled to reimbursement for all actual and necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of their duties, including mileage as authorized by Section 25-3-41, Mississippi Code of 1972.

(5) The board shall name a director for the state system of public junior and community colleges, who shall serve at the pleasure of the board. Such director shall be the chief executive officer of the board, give direction to the board staff, carry out the policies set forth by the board, and work with the presidents of the several community and junior colleges to assist them in carrying out the mandates of the several boards of trustees and in functioning within the state system and policies established by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board. The * * * Mississippi Community College Board shall set the salary of the director of the * * * board. The Legislature shall provide adequate funds for the * * * Mississippi Community College Board, its activities and its staff.

(6) The powers and duties of the * * *~~State Board for Community and Junior Colleges~~ Mississippi Community College Board shall be:

(a) To authorize disbursements of state-appropriated funds to community and junior colleges through orders in the minutes of the board.

(b) To make studies of the needs of the state as they relate to the mission of the community and junior colleges.

(d) To require community and junior colleges to supply such information as the board may request and compile, publish and make available such reports based thereon as the board may deem advisable.

(e) To approve proposed new attendance centers (campus locations) as the local boards of trustees should determine to be in the best interest of the district. Provided, however, that no new community/junior college branch campus shall be approved without an authorizing act of the Legislature.

(f) To serve as the state approving agency for federal funds for proposed contracts to borrow money for the purpose of acquiring land, erecting, repairing, etc. dormitories, dwellings or apartments for students and/or faculty, such loans to be paid from revenue produced by such facilities as requested by local boards of trustees.

(g) To approve applications from community and junior colleges for state funds for vocational-technical education facilities.

(h) To approve any university branch campus offering lower undergraduate level courses for credit.

(i) To appoint members to the Post-Secondary Educational Assistance Board.

(j) To appoint members to the Authority for Educational Television.

(k) To contract with other boards, commissions, governmental entities, foundations, corporations or individuals for programs, services, grants and awards when such are needed for the operation and development of the state public community and junior college system.

(l) To fix standards for community and junior colleges to qualify for appropriations, and qualifications for community and junior college teachers.

(m) To have sign-off approval on the State Plan for Vocational Education which is developed in cooperation with appropriate units of the State Department of Education.

(n) To approve or disapprove of any proposed inclusion within municipal corporate limits of state-owned buildings and grounds of any community college or junior college and to approve or disapprove of land use development, zoning requirements, building codes and delivery of governmental services applicable to state-owned buildings and grounds of any community college or junior college. Any agreement by a local board of trustees of a community college or junior college to annexation of state-owned property or other conditions described in this paragraph shall be void unless approved by the board and by the board of supervisors of the county in which the state-owned property is located.

SECTION 9. Section 37-4-4, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-4-4. The Commissioner of Higher Education, or his designee, and one (1) member of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning to be designated by the chairman of said board, shall attend all regular meetings of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board. Said university representatives shall have no jurisdiction or vote on any matter within the jurisdiction of the board. The Commissioner of Higher Education and any designee who is a state employee shall receive no per diem for attending meetings of the board, but shall be entitled to actual and necessary expense reimbursement and mileage for attending meetings at locations other than Jackson, Mississippi. The designee of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall receive per diem compensation as authorized by Section 25-3-69, Mississippi Code of 1972, for attending said meetings, and shall be entitled to reimbursement for all actual and necessary expense reimbursement and mileage, which shall be paid from funds appropriated to the * * * Mississippi Community College Board.

SECTION 10. Section 37-4-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-4-7. The * * * Mississippi Community College Board shall study the feasibility of developing and implementing a state adopted uniform contract within each community and junior college district. Such study shall include, but not be limited to, the following areas for consideration:

(a) Terms of employment;

(b) Salary schedules;

(d) Health insurance benefits;

(e) Tenure;

(f) Retirement benefits.

SECTION 11. Section 37-4-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-4-9. The * * * Mississippi Community College Board is authorized to receive income from voluntary fees, contributions, donations, other forms of financial assistance, materials or manpower from persons, corporations, organizations and other sources, private or public, to be utilized and expended by the board in carrying out the incentive certification program mandated by the Work Force and Education Act of 1994 in Sections 37-151-63 through 37-151-75 and 37-153-1 through 37-153-13. Additionally, awards or scholarships to industry or to students or both are authorized.

SECTION 12. Section 37-4-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-4-11. (1) The purpose of this section is to insure the uniform management, oversight and accountability of the state-funded Industrial Training Programs, and postsecondary Adult Short-Term Training Programs and Workforce Education Programs administered by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board for adults provided to the citizens of Mississippi.

(2) Effective July 1, 1999, all state-funded Industrial Training Programs and postsecondary Adult Short-term Training Programs administered by and through the State Department of Education on June 30, 1999, shall be transferred to the Workforce Education Program of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board. The Legislature shall appropriate annually to the * * * Mississippi Community College Board funds necessary to administer these programs.

(3) Effective July 1, 1999, all funds, unexpended balances, assets, liabilities and property of the State Department of Education which are used in the delivery of postsecondary Adult Short-Term Training Programs and Industrial Training Programs, excluding funds, unexpended balances, assets, liabilities and property associated with the Research and Curriculum Unit at Mississippi State University, shall be transferred to the Workforce Education Program funds of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board. The State Department of Education also shall transfer to the * * * Mississippi Community College Board all positions and funds employed by the State Department of Education and community colleges which render industrial training, postsecondary adult short-term training or workforce education services, including the seven (7) administrative and support positions providing support to these programs. Sufficient staff positions shall be transferred from the State Department of Education, which will have a reduction in training and educational responsibilities by virtue of this section, to the * * * Mississippi Community College Board to assure that the transferred responsibilities will be properly managed and administered. Any funds available to the State Department of Education for Industrial Training Programs and state-funded postsecondary Adult Short-term Training Programs which are subject to carryover shall be transferred to the Work Force Carryover Fund established by Chapter 498, Laws of 1995, for use by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board, on or before August 15, 1999.

(4) The * * * Mississippi Community College Board shall develop an accountability system that shall report and describe all classes taught in the area of workforce education, the number of persons taught in these classes, and the location and cost of each class taught. To assess the impact of these programs, the * * * Mississippi Community College Board also shall report:

(a) Whether the needs of industry have been met through training program offerings;

(b) Any changes in the income of trainees between the completion of training and the date of the report;

(d) Trainee success in passing proficiency tests, where applicable.

This information shall be reported on a fiscal year basis and shall be provided to the House and Senate Education Committees before December 15 of each year.

SECTION 13. Section 37-4-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-4-13. (1) In negotiating commitments under the Industrial Training Programs with industries seeking to locate or expand in Mississippi, the * * * Mississippi Community College Board may enter into multiyear agreements for such training programs subject to the availability of funds appropriated therefor.

(2) The * * * Mississippi Community College Board shall file a report with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives listing the commitments that are made pursuant to subsection (1) of this section.

SECTION 14. Section 37-4-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-4-15. (1) On or after July 1, 2002, the * * * Mississippi Community College Board shall contract with a competent management consulting or accounting firm to study the state funding formula for community and junior colleges. The study shall accomplish the following specific outcomes:

(a) Evaluate the validity of the current student classifications used in the funding formula and make recommendations for change in the classification system if advisable;

(b) Evaluate the weights assigned to each student classification and make recommendations for change in the current weights if advisable;

(c) Identify the best management practices associated with the production of graduates in each of the student classifications and use such information as a basis for validating any changes in weights referred to in paragraph (b) of this subsection. The study of best practices shall also identify the amount of state funding that is used in program areas at schools exhibiting the best management practices.

(2) The report also shall recommend to the * * * Mississippi Community College Board all reporting requirements and systems needed to collect information necessary to maintain a valid system of weights, student classification and the best practices associated with producing graduates most efficiently. All community and junior colleges shall cooperate with the * * * Mississippi Community College Board in conducting this study and in providing all further information on an annual basis necessary to update the weights for programs established as a result of this study, the best management practices and the student classifications established as a result of this study.

(3) The * * * Mississippi Community College Board shall report its findings to the Chairs of the House and Senate Education Committees and the House and Senate Appropriations Committees no later than December 15, 2002.

SECTION 15. Section 37-13-92, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-13-92. (1) Beginning with the school year 2004-2005, the school boards of all school districts shall establish, maintain and operate, in connection with the regular programs of the school district, an alternative school program or behavior modification program as defined by the State Board of Education for, but not limited to, the following categories of compulsory-school-age students:

(a) Any compulsory-school-age child who has been suspended for more than ten (10) days or expelled from school, except for any student expelled for possession of a weapon or other felonious conduct;

(b) Any compulsory-school-age child referred to such alternative school based upon a documented need for placement in the alternative school program by the parent, legal guardian or custodian of such child due to disciplinary problems;

(c) Any compulsory-school-age child referred to such alternative school program by the dispositive order of a chancellor or youth court judge, with the consent of the superintendent of the child's school district;

(d) Any compulsory-school-age child whose presence in the classroom, in the determination of the school superintendent or principal, is a disruption to the educational environment of the school or a detriment to the interest and welfare of the students and teachers of such class as a whole; and

(e) No school district is required to place a child returning from out-of-home placement in the mental health, juvenile justice or foster care system in alternative school. Placement of a child in the alternative school shall be done consistently, and for students identified under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), shall adhere to the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004. If a school district chooses to place a child in alternative school the district will make an individual assessment and evaluation of that child in the following time periods:

(i) Five (5) days for a child transitioning from a group home, mental health care system, and/or the custody of the Department of Human Services, Division of Youth and Family Services * * *~~custody~~;

(ii) Ten (10) days for a child transitioning from a dispositional placement order by a youth court pursuant to Section 43-21-605; and

(iii) An individualized assessment for youth transitioning from out-of-home placement to the alternative school shall include:

1. A strength-needs assessment.

2. A determination of the child's academic strengths and deficiencies.

3. A proposed plan for transitioning the child to a regular education placement at the earliest possible date.

(2) The principal or program administrator of any such alternative school program shall require verification from the appropriate guidance counselor of any such child referred to the alternative school program regarding the suitability of such child for attendance at the alternative school program. Before a student may be removed to an alternative school education program, the superintendent of the student's school district must determine that the written and distributed disciplinary policy of the local district is being followed. The policy shall include standards for:

(a) The removal of a student to an alternative education program that will include a process of educational review to develop the student's individual instruction plan and the evaluation at regular intervals of the student's educational progress; the process shall include classroom teachers and/or other appropriate professional personnel, as defined in the district policy, to ensure a continuing educational program for the removed student;

(b) The duration of alternative placement; and

(c) The notification of parents or guardians, and their appropriate inclusion in the removal and evaluation process, as defined in the district policy. Nothing in this paragraph should be defined in a manner to circumvent the principal's or the superintendent's authority to remove a student to alternative education.

(3) The local school board or the superintendent shall provide for the continuing education of a student who has been removed to an alternative school program.

(4) A school district, in its discretion, may provide a program of general educational development (GED) preparatory instruction in the alternative school program. However, any GED preparation program offered in an alternative school program must be administered in compliance with the rules and regulations established for such programs under Sections 37-35-1 through

37-35-11 and by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board. The school district may administer the General Educational Development (GED) Testing Program under the policies and guidelines of the GED Testing Service of the American Council on Education in the alternative school program or may authorize the test to be administered through the community/junior college district in which the alternative school is situated.

(5) Any such alternative school program operated under the authority of this section shall meet all appropriate accreditation requirements of the State Department of Education.

(6) The alternative school program may be held within such school district or may be operated by two (2) or more adjacent school districts, pursuant to a contract approved by the State Board of Education. When two (2) or more school districts contract to operate an alternative school program, the school board of a district designated to be the lead district shall serve as the governing board of the alternative school program. Transportation for students attending the alternative school program shall be the responsibility of the local school district. The expense of establishing, maintaining and operating such alternative school program may be paid from funds contributed or otherwise made available to the school district for such purpose or from local district maintenance funds.

(7) The State Board of Education shall promulgate minimum guidelines for alternative school programs. The guidelines shall require, at a minimum, the formulation of an individual instruction plan for each student referred to the alternative school program and, upon a determination that it is in a student's best interest for that student to receive general educational development (GED) preparatory instruction, that the local school board assign the student to a GED preparatory program established under subsection (4) of this section. The minimum guidelines for alternative school programs shall also require the following components:

(a) Clear guidelines and procedures for placement of students into alternative education programs which at a minimum shall prescribe due process procedures for disciplinary and general educational development (GED) placement;

(b) Clear and consistent goals for students and parents;

(d) Direct supervision of all activities on a closed campus;

(e) Attendance requirements that allow for educational and workforce development opportunities;

(f) Selection of program from options provided by the local school district, Division of Youth Services or the youth court, including transfer to a community-based alternative school;

(g) Continual monitoring and evaluation and formalized passage from one (1) step or program to another;

(h) A motivated and culturally diverse staff;

(i) Counseling for parents and students;

(j) Administrative and community support for the program; and

(k) Clear procedures for annual alternative school program review and evaluation.

(8) On request of a school district, the State Department of Education shall provide the district informational material on developing an alternative school program that takes into consideration size, wealth and existing facilities in determining a program best suited to a district.

(9) Any compulsory-school-age child who becomes involved in any criminal or violent behavior shall be removed from such alternative school program and, if probable cause exists, a case shall be referred to the youth court.

(10) The State Board of Education shall promulgate guidelines for alternative school programs which provide broad authority to school boards of local school districts to establish alternative education programs to meet the specific needs of the school district.

(11) Each school district having an alternative school program shall submit a report annually to the State Department of Education describing the results of its annual alternative school program review and evaluation undertaken pursuant to subsection (7)(k). The report shall include a detailed account of any actions taken by the school district during the previous year to comply with substantive guidelines promulgated by the State Board of Education under subsection (7)(a) through (j).

SECTION 16. Section 37-15-38, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-15-38. (1) The following phrases have the meanings ascribed in this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

(a) A dual enrolled student is a student who is enrolled in a community or junior college or state institution of higher learning while enrolled in high school.

(b) A dual credit student is a student who is enrolled in a community or junior college or state institution of higher learning while enrolled in high school and who is receiving high school and college credit for postsecondary coursework.

(2) A local school board, the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the * * *~~State Board for Community Colleges~~ Mississippi Community College Board shall establish a dual enrollment system under which students in the school district who meet the prescribed criteria of this section may be enrolled in a postsecondary institution in Mississippi while they are still in school.

(3) Dual credit eligibility. Before credits earned by a qualified high school student from a community or junior college or state institution of higher learning may be transferred to the student's home school district, the student must be properly enrolled in a dual enrollment program.

(4) Admission criteria for dual enrollment in community and junior college or university programs. The boards of trustees of the community and junior college districts and the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning may recommend to the State Board of Education admission criteria for dual enrollment programs under which high school students may enroll at a community or junior college or university while they are still attending high school and enrolled in high school courses. Students may be admitted to enroll in community or junior college courses under the dual enrollment programs if they meet that individual institution's stated dual enrollment admission requirements.

(5) Tuition and cost responsibility. Tuition and costs for university-level courses and community and junior college courses offered under a dual enrollment program may be paid for by the postsecondary institution, the local school district, the parents or legal guardians of the student, or by grants, foundations or other private or public sources. Payment for tuition and any other costs must be made directly to the credit-granting institution.

(6) Transportation responsibility. Any transportation required by a student to participate in the dual enrollment program is the responsibility of the parent, custodian or legal guardian of the student. Transportation costs may be paid from any available public or private sources, including the local school district.

(7) School district average daily attendance credit. When dually enrolled, the student may be counted, for adequate education program funding purposes, in the average daily attendance of the public school district in which the student attends high school.

(8) High school student transcript transfer requirements. Grades and college credits earned by a student admitted to a dual credit program must be recorded on the high school student record and on the college transcript at the university or community or junior college and high school where the student attends classes. The transcript of the university or community or junior college coursework may be released to another institution or applied toward college graduation requirements.

(9) Determining factor of prerequisites for dual enrollment courses. Each university and community or junior college participating in a dual enrollment program shall determine course prerequisites. Course prerequisites shall be the same for dual enrolled students as for regularly enrolled students at that university or community or junior college.

(10) Process for determining articulation of curriculum between high school, university, and community and junior college courses. All dual credit courses must meet the standards established at the postsecondary level. Postsecondary level developmental courses may not be considered as meeting the requirements of the dual credit program. Dual credit memorandum of understandings must be established between each postsecondary institution and the school district implementing a dual credit program.

(11) Ineligible courses for dual credit programs. Any course that is required for subject area testing as a requirement for graduation from a public school in Mississippi is not eligible for dual credit.

(12) Eligible courses for dual credit programs. Courses eligible for dual credit include, but are not necessarily limited to, foreign languages, advanced math courses, advanced science courses, performing arts, advanced business and technology, and career and technical courses. All courses being considered for dual credit must receive unconditional approval from the superintendent of the local school district and the chief instructional officer at the participating community or junior college or university in order for college credit to be awarded. A university or community or junior college shall make the final decision on what courses are eligible for semester hour credits.

(13) High school Carnegie unit equivalency. One (1) three-hour university or community or junior college course is equal to one (1) high school Carnegie unit.

(14) Course alignment. The universities, community and junior colleges and the State Department of Education shall periodically review their respective policies and assess the place of dual credit courses within the context of their traditional offerings.

(15) Maximum dual credits allowed. It is the intent of the dual enrollment program to make it possible for every eligible student who desires to earn a semester's worth of college credit in high school to do so. A qualified dually enrolled high school student must be allowed to earn an unlimited number of college or university credits for dual credit.

(16) Dual credit program allowances. A student may be granted credit delivered through the following means:

(a) Examination preparation taught at a high school by a qualified teacher. A student may receive credit at the secondary level after completion of an approved course and passing the standard examination, such as an Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate course through which a high school student is allowed CLEP credit by making a three (3) or higher on the end-of-course examination.

(b) College or university courses taught at a high school or designated postsecondary site by a qualified teacher who is an employee of the school district and approved as an instructor by the collaborating college or university.

(c) College or university courses taught at a college, university or high school by an instructor employed by the college or university and approved by the collaborating school district.

(d) Online courses of any public university, community or junior college in Mississippi.

(17) Qualifications of dual credit instructors. A dual credit academic instructor must meet the requirements set forth by the regional accrediting association (Southern Association of College and Schools). University and community and junior college personnel have the sole authority in the selection of dual credit instructors.

A dual credit career and technical education instructor must meet the requirements set forth by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board in the qualifications manual for postsecondary career and technical personnel.

(18) Guidance on local agreements. The Chief Academic Officer of the State Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the Chief Instructional Officers of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board and the State Department of Education, working collaboratively, shall develop a template to be used by the individual community and junior colleges and institutions of higher learning for consistent implementation of the dual enrollment program throughout the State of Mississippi.

(19) Mississippi Works Dual Enrollment-Dual Credit Option. A local school board and the local community colleges board shall establish a Mississippi Works Dual Enrollment-Dual Credit Option Program under which potential or recent student dropouts may dually enroll in their home school and a local community college in a dual credit program consisting of high school completion coursework and a community college credential, certificate or degree program. Students completing the dual enrollment-credit option may obtain their high school diploma while obtaining a community college credential, certificate or degree. The Mississippi Department of Employment Security shall assist students who have successfully completed the Mississippi Works Dual Enrollment-Dual Credit Option in securing a job upon the application of the student or the participating school or community college. The Mississippi Works Dual Enrollment-Dual Credit Option Program will be implemented statewide in the 2012-2013 school year and thereafter. The State Board of Education, local school board and the local community college board shall establish criteria for the Dual Enrollment-Dual Credit Program. Students enrolled in the program will not be eligible to participate in interscholastic sports or other extracurricular activities at the home school district. Tuition and costs for community college courses offered under the Dual Enrollment-Dual Credit Program shall not be charged to the student, parents or legal guardians. When dually enrolled, the student shall be counted for adequate education program funding purposes, in the average daily attendance of the public school district in which the student attends high school, as provided in Section 37-151-7(1)(a). Any transportation required by the student to participate in the Dual Enrollment-Dual Credit Program is the responsibility of the parent or legal guardian of the student, and transportation costs may be paid from any available public or private sources, including the local school district. Grades and college credits earned by a student admitted to this Dual Enrollment-Dual Credit Program shall be recorded on the high school student record and on the college transcript at the community college and high school where the student attends classes. The transcript of the community college coursework may be released to another institution or applied toward college graduation requirements. Any course that is required for subject area testing as a requirement for graduation from a public school in Mississippi is eligible for dual credit, and courses eligible for dual credit shall also include career, technical and degree program courses. All courses eligible for dual credit shall be approved by the superintendent of the local school district and the chief instructional officer at the participating community college in order for college credit to be awarded. A community college shall make the final decision on what courses are eligible for semester hour credits and the local school superintendent, subject to approval by the Mississippi Department of Education, shall make the final decision on the transfer of college courses credited to the student's high school transcript.

SECTION 17. 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.

(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.

SECTION 18. Section 37-29-67, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-29-67. (1) The duties of the board of trustees shall be the general government of the community/junior college and directive of the administration thereof. Subject to the provisions of Sections 37-29-1 through 37-29-273, the board shall have full power to do all things necessary to the successful operation of the district and the college or colleges or attendance centers located therein to insure educational advantages and opportunities to all the enrollees within the district.

(2) The board of trustees shall be authorized to designate a personnel supervisor or other person employed by the district to recommend teachers and to transmit such recommendations to the board of trustees; however, this authorization shall be restricted to no more than two (2) positions for each employment period in the district.

(3) The delineation and enumeration of the powers and purposes set out in Sections 37-29-1 through 37-29-273 shall be deemed to be supplemental and additional, and shall not be construed to restrict the powers of the board of trustees of the district or of any college located therein so as to deny to the said district and the college or colleges therein the rights, privileges and powers previously authorized by statute.

(4) The board of trustees shall have the power to contract, on a shared-savings, lease or lease-purchase basis, for energy efficiency services and/or equipment as prescribed in Section 31-7-14, not to exceed fifteen (15) years.

(5) The board of trustees shall be authorized, with the approval of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board, to change the name of the junior college to community college. The * * * Mississippi Community College Board shall establish guidelines for the implementation of any junior college name change. Any reference to junior college district in this chapter shall hereinafter refer to the junior college district or its successor in name as changed by the board of trustees.

(6) The boards of trustees shall purchase and maintain business property insurance and business personal property insurance on all college-owned buildings and/or contents as required by federal law and regulations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as is necessary for receiving public assistance or reimbursement for repair, reconstruction, replacement or other damage to such buildings and/or contents caused by the Hurricane Katrina Disaster of 2005 or subsequent disasters. The boards of trustees are authorized to expend funds from any available source for the purpose of obtaining and maintaining that property insurance. The boards of trustees are authorized to enter into agreements with the Department of Finance and Administration, local school districts, other community/junior college districts, state institutions of higher learning, community hospitals and/or other state agencies to pool their liabilities to participate in a group business property and/or business personal property insurance program, subject to uniform rules and regulations as may be adopted by the Department of Finance and Administration.

SECTION 19. Section 37-29-69, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-29-69. Any junior college district is hereby authorized and empowered to operate junior college attendance centers at existing sites of junior college plants and facilities and at such other places within the district, subject to the approval of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board, as the board of trustees shall determine to be in the best interest of the district.

Two (2) or more boards of trustees may cooperate in establishing, operating and maintaining attendance centers.

SECTION 20. Section 37-29-107, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-29-107. Subject to the approval of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board, the boards of trustees of junior college districts are hereby authorized and empowered to contract with and borrow money from the United States of America, or any department, instrumentality, agency or agencies thereof, as may be designated or created to make loans or grants, or from private lenders, for the purpose of acquiring land for, and erecting, repairing, remodeling, maintaining, adding to, extending, improving, equipping or acquiring dormitories with or without dining facilities, dwellings or apartments to be located at or near the campuses of such junior colleges, for the use of students, faculty members or officers or employees thereof. The said boards are hereby authorized to supervise the contracting for and the construction and equipping of all facilities constructed and financed hereunder.

SECTION 21. Section 37-29-169, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-29-169. The formula for allocating funds to the state's public junior colleges in support of the purposes set forth in Section 37-29-163 shall be determined by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board based upon need for the program set forth in the application.

Said board shall furnish a copy of the application to the Governor's Office of General Services and a copy to the Board of Economic Development. The Board of Economic Development shall review each application, and if said board finds and determines there exists a need for said training programs, facilities and equipment, it shall issue a certificate of necessity to the * * * Mississippi Community College Board, which certificate of necessity shall be a prerequisite for approval.

The * * * Mississippi Community College Board shall consider each application with reference to adequacy of the past, present and prospective use of the instruction, personnel, curriculum, equipment, budget, operation, facilities, grants, scholarships, tuition, maintenance and other similar administrative and technical data as relates to each junior college. The said board shall, by resolution or order, approve or disapprove the application.

SECTION 22. Section 37-29-268, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-29-268. (1) There is hereby created in the State Treasury a special fund to be designated as the "Community College Repair and Renovation Fund" which shall consist of monies appropriated or otherwise made available therefor by the Legislature. Within the special fund, the State Treasury shall establish a subaccount for each community and junior college. Interest earned on monies in the special fund shall be deposited to the credit of such fund and money shall not lapse at the end of the fiscal year into the State General Fund. Money in the special fund shall be appropriated by the Legislature and allocated by the Bureau of Building, Grounds and Real Property Management, Department of Finance and Administration, for the repair, renovation and improvement of existing facilities owned by the community and junior colleges, including utility infrastructure projects; heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems; and the replacement of furniture and equipment. However, the cost of such repair, renovation and improvement for any one project shall not exceed One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00).

(2) Monies in the special fund shall be allocated to each community college's subaccount as follows:

(a) One-half (1/2) divided equally among the fifteen (15) public community and junior colleges; and

(b) One-half (1/2) divided upon the basis of the number of full-time academic, technical and vocational public community and junior college students actually enrolled and in attendance on the last day of the sixth week of the Fall semester of the preceding year counting only those students who reside within the State of Mississippi. On or before December 1 of each year, the * * * Mississippi Community College Board shall furnish the Bureau of Building, Grounds and Real Property Management, Department of Finance and Administration, the enrollment information required in this paragraph (b), including the percentage of statewide enrollment attributed to each community and junior college.

(3) For the purposes of this section, the term "furniture and equipment" shall be limited to the types of furniture and equipment items previously recorded in the community college's inventory.

SECTION 23. Section 37-29-411, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-29-411. The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College District shall have the powers to do all things necessary to the successful operation of the said district and the college or colleges or attendance centers located therein.

The several colleges of the said district shall be under the direction of the board of trustees and the president and under the local supervision of a dean. The board of trustees shall, by resolution or order, provide for the government, maintenance and operation of each of the colleges within the district.

The said junior college district shall have all the powers of other junior college districts or junior colleges in the State of Mississippi and the delineation and enumeration of the powers and purposes set out in Sections 37-29-401 through 37-29-437 shall be deemed to be supplemental and additional and shall not be construed to restrict the powers of the governing authorities of the district or of any college located therein so as to deny to the said district and the colleges therein the rights, privileges and powers enjoyed by other junior colleges and junior college districts in the State of Mississippi.

The said junior college district shall remain subject to the jurisdiction and control of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board as now established or as the same may be hereafter changed by law, and shall be subject to all rules and regulations and all statutory limitations which are now in effect or may hereafter be imposed, except as the same may be in direct conflict with the provisions of Sections 37-29-401 through 37-29-437.

SECTION 24. Section 37-29-413, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-29-413. The Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College District is hereby authorized and empowered to operate junior college attendance centers at Perkinston, Mississippi, in the vicinity of Gulfport and Biloxi and in the vicinity of Pascagoula and Moss Point and at such other places within the district, subject to the approval of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board, as the board of trustees shall determine to be in the best interest of the district.

SECTION 25. Section 37-29-459, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-29-459. The President and the Board of Trustees of the Copiah-Lincoln Junior College District shall have the powers to do all things necessary for the successful operation of said district and the campuses located therein.

The several colleges of the district shall be under the direction of the board of trustees and the president. The board of trustees shall, by resolution or order, provide for the government, maintenance and operation of each campus of the district.

The President and the Board of Trustees of the Copiah-Lincoln Junior College District shall have the same powers as the presidents and trustees of other junior colleges in the State of Mississippi.

The delineation and enumeration of the powers and purposes set out in Sections 37-29-451 through 37-29-471 shall be deemed to be supplemental and additional and shall not be construed to restrict the powers of the governing authorities of the district or of any college or campus located therein so as to deny any of the rights, privileges and powers enjoyed by other junior colleges and junior college districts in the State of Mississippi.

The said Copiah-Lincoln Junior College District shall remain subject to the jurisdiction and control of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board as now established or as the same may be hereafter changed by law, and shall be subject to all rules and regulations and all statutory limitations which are now in effect or may hereafter be imposed, except as the same may be in direct conflict with the provisions of Sections 37-29-451 through 37-29-471.

SECTION 26. Section 37-29-507, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-29-507. (1) The Board of Trustees of the Meridian Junior College District shall have the power to do all things necessary for the successful operation of the district; and, the duties of such board shall be the general government of the district and the direction of the administration thereof.

(2) The Meridian Junior College District shall have all the powers of other junior colleges and junior college districts in the State of Mississippi; and, the delineation and enumeration of the powers and purposes set out in Sections 37-29-501 through 37-29-515 shall not be construed to restrict the powers of the governing authorities of the district so as to deny to the district any of the rights, privileges and powers enjoyed by other junior colleges and junior college districts in the State of Mississippi.

(3) The Meridian Junior College District shall remain subject to the jurisdiction and control of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board as now established or as the same may be hereafter changed by law and shall be subject to all rules and regulations and all statutory limitations which are now in effect or may hereafter be imposed, except as the same may be in direct conflict with the provisions of Sections 37-29-501 through 37-29-515.

SECTION 27. Section 37-29-559, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-29-559. The President and the Board of Trustees of the Coahoma Community College District shall have the powers to do all things necessary for the successful operation of the district and the campuses located therein.

The college of the district shall be under the direction of the board of trustees and the president. The board of trustees shall, by resolution or order, provide for the government, maintenance and operation of the campus of the district.

The President and the Board of Trustees of the Coahoma Community College District shall have the same powers as the presidents and trustees of other community colleges in the State of Mississippi.

The delineation and enumeration of the powers and purposes set out in Sections 37-29-551 through 37-29-569 shall be deemed to be supplemental and additional and shall not be construed to restrict the powers of the governing authorities of the district or of any college or campus located therein so as to deny any of the rights, privileges and powers enjoyed by other community/junior colleges and community/junior college districts in the State of Mississippi.

The Coahoma Community College District shall remain subject to the jurisdiction of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board as now established or as the same may be hereafter changed by law, and shall be subject to all rules and regulations and all statutory limitations which are now in effect or may hereafter be imposed, except as the same may be in direct conflict with the provisions of Sections 37-29-551 through 37-29-569.

SECTION 28. Section 37-29-601, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-29-601. Whenever the * * * Mississippi Community College Board shall, by a proper resolution, declare the necessity of the formation of nonprofit corporations for the purpose of acquiring or constructing facilities for community and junior colleges under its jurisdiction, any number of natural persons, not less than three (3), who are residents of the State of Mississippi may file with the Secretary of State an application in writing for authority to incorporate a public nonprofit corporation, known as an "educational building corporation." If it shall be made to appear that each of the persons is a duly qualified resident of this state, then the persons filing such application shall be authorized, subject to the prior approval by the board of the form of the articles of incorporation and bylaws thereof, to proceed to form the corporation as provided by the general law of this state with respect to corporations organized not-for-profit except as provided in Sections 37-29-601 through 37-29-613. The Secretary of State, upon receipt of the application, shall forthwith issue a certificate of incorporation.

SECTION 29. Section 37-29-603, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-29-603. Each corporation formed under the provisions of Section 37-29-601 shall have the following powers, together with all powers incidental thereto or necessary to the discharge thereof in corporate form:

(a) To have succession by its corporate name for the duration of time, which may be in perpetuity, specified in its certificate of incorporation;

(b) To sue and be sued and to defend suits against it;

(d) To acquire, whether by purchase, construction or gift, facilities for one or more community or junior college and land therefor;

(e) To equip, maintain, enlarge or improve such facilities;

(f) To lease under such terms and conditions as its board of directors may deem advisable and as shall not conflict with the provisions of Sections 37-29-601 through 37-29-613 to the * * *~~State Board for Community and Junior Colleges~~ Mississippi Community College Board or to such other entity as may be approved by the board subject to prior approval by the board of each issue of bonds;

(g) To issue its bonds for the purpose of defraying the cost of acquiring, constructing, maintaining, enlarging, improving or equipping any of such facilities or land in the manner provided in Section 37-29-601;

(h) To secure the payment of such bonds through the pledge of and lien on such revenues or other sources of income, including lease payments, entering into trust agreements, and the making of such covenants as are provided in Section 37-101-101;

(i) To refund bonds previously issued;

(j) To enter into contracts and agreements or do any act necessary for or incidental to the performance of its duties and the execution of its powers under Sections 37-29-601 through 37-29-613;

(k) To accept gifts from any source whatsoever;

(l) To appoint and employ such officers and agents, including attorneys, as its business may require; and

(m) To provide for such insurance as its board of directors may deem advisable.

SECTION 30. Section 37-29-611, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-29-611. (1) The * * * Mississippi Community College Board is hereby authorized and empowered, in its discretion, to pass proper resolutions declaring the necessity of the formation of nonprofit educational building corporations, as set forth in Section 37-29-601.

(2) When the principal of and the interest on any bonds of an educational building corporation payable from the revenues derived from the operation of facilities owned by the corporation shall have been paid in full, then such facilities shall become the property of the community or junior college on whose campus they are located and title to the facilities shall thereupon immediately vest in the community or junior college on whose campus they are located.

SECTION 31. Section 37-31-205, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-31-205. (1) The State Board of Education shall have the authority to:

(a) Expend funds received either by appropriation or directly from federal or private sources;

(b) Channel funds to secondary schools, community and junior colleges and regional vocational-technical facilities according to priorities set by the board;

(d) Set standards for and approve all vocational and technical education programs in the public school system and community and junior colleges or other agencies or institutions which receive state funds and federal funds for such purposes, including, but not limited to, the following vocational and technical education programs: agriculture, trade and industry, occupational home economics, consumer and homemaking education, distributive education, business and office, health, industrial arts, guidance services, technical education, cooperative education, and all other specialized training not requiring a bachelor's degree, with the exception of programs of nursing education regulated under the provisions of Section 37-129-1. The State Board of Education shall authorize local school boards, within such school board's discretion, to offer distributive education as a one-hour or two-hour block course. There shall be no reduction of payments from state funding for distributive education due to the selection of either the one-hour or two-hour course offering;

(e) Set and publish licensure standards for vocational and technical education personnel. The State Board of Education shall recognize a vocational and technical education teacher's work when school is not in session which is in the teacher's particular field of instruction as a means for the teacher to fulfill the requirements for renewal of the teacher's license. The board shall establish, by rules and regulations, the documentation of such work which must be submitted to the board and the number of actual working hours required to fulfill renewal requirements. If a vocational and technical education teacher who does not have a bachelor's degree takes classes in fulfillment of licensure renewal requirements, such classes must be in furtherance of a bachelor's degree;

(f) Require data and information on program performance from those programs receiving state funds;

(g) Expend funds to expand career information;

(h) Supervise and maintain the Division of Vocational and Technical Education and to utilize, to the greatest extent possible, the division as the administrative unit of the board responsible for coordinating programs and services with local institutions;

(i) Utilize appropriate staff of the State Department of Education to perform services for the vocational student organizations, including, but not limited to, procurement, accounting services, tax services and banking services. The department may also procure and pay for annual audits of the vocational student organizations using vocational funds or other available funds of the State Department of Education. It is the intent of this provision that any related costs be paid with vocational funds appropriated by the Legislature.

(j) Promulgate such rules and regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter in accordance with Section 25-43-1 et seq.;

(k) Set standards and approve all vocational and technical education equipment and facilities purchased and/or leased with state and federal vocational funds;

(l) Encourage provisions for lifelong learning and changing personal career preferences and advancement of vocational and technical education students through articulated programs between high schools and community and junior colleges;

(m) Encourage the establishment of new linkages with business and industry which will provide for a better understanding of essential labor market concepts;

(n) Periodically review the funding and reporting processes required of local school districts by the board or division with the aim of simplifying or eliminating inefficient practices and procedures;

(o) Assist in the development of high technology programs and resource centers to support current and projected industrial needs;

(p) Assist in the development of a technical assistance program for business and industry which will provide for industrial training and services, including the transfer of information relative to new applications and advancements in technology; and

(q) Enter into contracts and agreements with the * * * Mississippi Community College Board for conditions under which vocational and technical education programs in community and junior colleges shall receive state and federal funds which flow through the State Board of Education for such purposes.

(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that no vocational and technical education course or program existing on June 30, 1982, shall be eliminated by the State Board of Education under the authority vested in paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of this section prior to June 30, 1985. It is further the intent of the Legislature that no vocational and technical education teacher or other personnel employed on June 30, 1983, shall be discharged due to licensure standards promulgated by the board under paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of this section, if any such teacher or personnel shall have complied with any newly published licensure standards by June 30, 1985. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to abrogate or affect in any manner the authority of local public school districts or community and junior colleges to eliminate vocational and technical education courses or programs or to discharge any vocational and technical education teacher or other personnel.

(3) The State Board of Education and the * * * Mississippi Community College Board may provide that every vocational and technical education course or program in Mississippi may integrate academic and vocational-technical education through coherent sequences of courses, so that students in such programs achieve both academic and occupational competencies. The boards may expend federal funds available from the 1990 Perkins Act, or other available federal funds, for the alignment of vocational-technical programs with academic programs through the accreditation process and the teacher licensure process.

SECTION 32. Section 37-35-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-35-1. The * * * Mississippi Community College Board is authorized and directed to prescribe rules and regulations, which said rules and regulations when properly promulgated and not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter shall have the force and effect of law, under which a program may be established, maintained and supervised for the purpose of supplying educational advantages to adults, which shall include all persons sixteen (16) years of age and over, not enrolled in school or required to be enrolled in school by the compulsory school attendance law, Section 37-13-91, Mississippi Code of 1972. The aim and purpose of such a program shall be to reduce illiteracy and to provide a general plan of continuing education in the fundamental principles of democratic society, citizenship, public affairs, forums, home family life, arts and crafts, general cultural subjects with priority to be given to academic training through high school and training in technical skills and trades needed by industries, and such other subjects as the * * * Mississippi Community College Board may prescribe for the social and economic advancement of adults. The * * * Mississippi Community College Board is authorized to employ such additional supervisory, secretarial and clerical personnel as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter.

SECTION 33. Section 37-35-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-35-5. For the purpose of supporting the adult education program authorized in this chapter, the * * * Mississippi Community College Board is authorized to accept for and on behalf of the State of Mississippi, federal funds made available to the state for the purpose of adult education. Such funds shall be used by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board for the administration of the program and to supplement the local funds made available by any school district, provided such program is conducted under the rules and regulations established by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board. All programs of adult basic education administered by the State Department of Education on July 1, 1992, shall be continued with at least the same level of funding, until July 1, 1995, provided that such programs are financially and programmatically sound and meet the requirements of federal rules and regulations. Nothing in Sections 37-35-1 through 37-35-11 shall be interpreted in a manner to prevent or interfere with the independent operation or administration of adult education under the Department of Human Services, including but not limited to those programs administered by the Governor's Office of Literacy and Workplace Enhancement, or of any general educational development preparatory instruction and testing administered by a school district in an alternative school program.

SECTION 34. Section 37-35-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-35-7. Any funds that may be appropriated by the State Legislature for the purpose of carrying out a program of adult education may be used to supplement local funds or to meet the minimum requirements of the federal government for a program of adult education in the state, provided such program is conducted under the rules and regulations established by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board.

SECTION 35. Section 37-35-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-35-9. The * * * Mississippi Community College Board is authorized to develop and establish general educational development preparatory classes in secondary schools and community/junior colleges and to provide financial assistance from the state for the specific purpose of preparing persons sixteen (16) years of age and older, not enrolled in school or required to be enrolled in school by the Compulsory School Attendance Law (Section 37-13-91) to successfully write the general educational development test and earn a certificate of equivalency which is equivalent to the high school diploma.

The * * * Mississippi Community College Board is authorized to administer the General Educational Development (GED) Testing Program in accordance with the policies and guidelines of the GED Testing Service of the American Council on Education. Such administration shall include the approval of rules and regulations for the administration, scoring, issuing of transcripts and awarding of diplomas for the GED Testing Program. The * * * Mississippi Community College Board is hereby authorized to assess a fee in an amount not to exceed Five Dollars ($5.00) for issuing an additional copy of a GED transcript or diploma.

This program shall be administered by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board through the secondary schools and community/junior colleges as the local needs indicate and are practical.

Full and general supervision over the program by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board shall insure that duplication of effort by secondary schools and community/junior colleges will be eliminated; however, nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a school district from implementing a program of general educational development (GED) preparatory instruction.

Adult students for general educational development preparatory classes may be accepted by schools and junior colleges from any area of the state provided students are bona fide residents of Mississippi.

Instructors, counselors and supervisors utilized in the teaching of general educational development preparatory classes shall be licensed in the appropriate area as required by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board.

SECTION 36. Section 37-35-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-35-11. The * * * Mississippi Community College Board shall determine policies and procedures for administration of this program.

Funds provided under this section and Section 37-35-9 can be used for matching federal funds if such become available.

Funds provided under this section and Section 37-35-9 shall be allocated to schools and community/junior colleges on an average of twelve (12) to fifteen (15) adult students per class in average attendance, for one hundred fifty (150) hours maximum instruction per class. Funds will be allocated on a basis of target population by county for general educational development preparatory classes based on adults who have from nine (9) to eleven (11) years of schooling as indicated by the 1990 census. Schools and community/junior colleges will receive one hundred percent (100%) of the cost of general educational development preparatory classes. All classes funded under this section and Section 37-35-9 shall be considered temporary and shall be renewed only as long as participation is adequate for continued funding.

An annual report on program activities, adult participation and results shall be prepared by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board and submitted to the Mississippi Legislature within the first month of regular legislative session each year.

SECTION 37. Section 37-35-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-35-13. (1) It is unlawful for anyone knowingly and willfully to do any of the following acts regarding the General Education Development Test (GED):

(a) Give an examinee access to test questions prior to testing;

(b) Copy or reproduce all or any portion of any secure test booklet or completed test;

(d) Make an answer key available to an examinee;

(e) Forge, counterfeit or alter a transcript, diploma, grade report or GED test;

(f) Fail to account for all secure test materials before, during and after testing;

(g) Participate in, direct, aid, counsel, assist in, encourage, fail to report any of the acts prohibited in this section, or engage in any activity with the intent to fraudulently obtain a GED.

(2) Any person violating any provisions of subsection (1) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or be imprisoned for not more than ninety (90) days, or both. Upon conviction, the * * * Mississippi Community College Board may suspend or revoke the GED credential of the person convicted.

(3) The district attorney or county prosecuting attorney shall investigate allegations of violations of this section, either on their own initiative or following the receipt of an allegation, or at the request of the Executive Director of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board.

(4) The district attorney or county prosecuting attorney shall furnish to the Executive Director of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board a report of the findings of any investigation conducted pursuant to this section.

(5) Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit or interfere with the responsibilities of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board in test development or selection, test form construction, standard setting, test scoring and reporting, or any other related activities which in the judgment of the Executive Director of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board are necessary and appropriate.

SECTION 38. Section 37-61-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-61-33. (1) There is created within the State Treasury a special fund to be designated the "Education Enhancement Fund" into which shall be deposited all the revenues collected pursuant to Sections 27-65-75(7) and (8) and 27-67-31(a) and (b).

(2) Of the amount deposited into the Education Enhancement Fund, Sixteen Million Dollars ($16,000,000.00) shall be appropriated each fiscal year to the State Department of Education to be distributed to all school districts. Such money shall be distributed to all school districts in the proportion that the average daily attendance of each school district bears to the average daily attendance of all school districts within the state for the following purposes:

(a) Purchasing, erecting, repairing, equipping, remodeling and enlarging school buildings and related facilities, including gymnasiums, auditoriums, lunchrooms, vocational training buildings, libraries, teachers' homes, school barns, transportation vehicles (which shall include new and used transportation vehicles) and garages for transportation vehicles, and purchasing land therefor.

(b) Establishing and equipping school athletic fields and necessary facilities connected therewith, and purchasing land therefor.

(c) Providing necessary water, light, heating, air-conditioning and sewerage facilities for school buildings, and purchasing land therefor.

(d) As a pledge to pay all or a portion of the debt service on debt issued by the school district under Sections 37-59-1 through 37-59-45, 37-59-101 through 37-59-115, 37-7-351 through 37-7-359, 37-41-89 through 37-41-99, 37-7-301, 37-7-302 and 37-41-81, or debt issued by boards of supervisors for agricultural high schools pursuant to Section 37-27-65, if such pledge is accomplished pursuant to a written contract or resolution approved and spread upon the minutes of an official meeting of the district's school board or board of supervisors. The annual grant to such district in any subsequent year during the term of the resolution or contract shall not be reduced below an amount equal to the district's grant amount for the year in which the contract or resolution was adopted. The intent of this provision is to allow school districts to irrevocably pledge a certain, constant stream of revenue as security for long-term obligations issued under the code sections enumerated in this paragraph or as otherwise allowed by law. It is the intent of the Legislature that the provisions of this paragraph shall be cumulative and supplemental to any existing funding programs or other authority conferred upon school districts or school boards. Debt of a district secured by a pledge of sales tax revenue pursuant to this paragraph shall not be subject to any debt limitation contained in the foregoing enumerated code sections.

(3) The remainder of the money deposited into the Education Enhancement Fund shall be appropriated as follows:

(a) To the State Department of Education as follows:

(i) Sixteen and sixty-one one-hundredths percent (16.61%) to the cost of the adequate education program determined under Section 37-151-7; of the funds generated by the percentage set forth in this section for the support of the adequate education program, one and one hundred seventy-eight one-thousandths percent (1.178%) of the funds shall be appropriated to be used by the State Department of Education for the purchase of textbooks to be loaned under Sections 37-43-1 through 37-43-59 to approved nonpublic schools, as described in Section 37-43-1. The funds to be distributed to each nonpublic school shall be in the proportion that the average daily attendance of each nonpublic school bears to the total average daily attendance of all nonpublic schools;

(ii) Seven and ninety-seven one-hundredths percent (7.97%) to assist the funding of transportation operations and maintenance pursuant to Section 37-19-23; and

(iii) Nine and sixty-one one-hundredths percent (9.61%) for classroom supplies, instructional materials and equipment, including computers and computer software, to be distributed to all school districts in the proportion that the average daily attendance of each school district bears to the average daily attendance of all school districts within the state. Classroom supply funds shall not be expended for administrative purposes. Local school districts shall allocate classroom supply funds equally among all classroom teachers in the school district. For purposes of this subparagraph, "teacher" means any employee of the school board of a school district who is required by law to obtain a teacher's license from the State Department of Education and who is assigned to an instructional area of work as defined by the department, but shall not include a federally funded teacher. Two (2) or more teachers may agree to pool their classroom supply funds for the benefit of a school within the district. It is the intent of the Legislature that all classroom teachers shall be involved in the development of a spending plan that addresses individual classroom needs and supports the overall goals of the school regarding supplies, instructional materials, equipment, computers or computer software under the provisions of this subparagraph, including the type, quantity and quality of such supplies, materials and equipment. This plan shall be submitted in writing to the school principal for approval. Classroom supply funds allocated under this subparagraph shall supplement, not replace, other local and state funds available for the same purposes. School districts need not fully expend the funds received under this subparagraph in the year in which they are received, but such funds may be carried forward for expenditure in any succeeding school year. Any individual teacher or group of teachers with an approved spending plan that has not been fully funded need not expend the funds allocated under this subparagraph in the year in which such funds are received. Such funds may be carried forward for expenditure in any subsequent school year in which the plan is fully funded. However, beginning July 1, 2006, any funds allocated under this subparagraph which are not reserved in an approved spending plan but remain unspent on March 31 of the fiscal year in which the funds were allotted must be utilized by the school where the teacher is employed for instructional supply and equipment purposes. The State Board of Education shall develop and promulgate rules and regulations for the administration of this subparagraph consistent with the above criteria, with particular emphasis on allowing the individual teachers to expend funds as they deem appropriate. Effective with the 2013-2014 school year, the local school board shall require each school to issue procurement cards provided by the Department of Finance and Administration under the provisions of Section 31-7-9(1)(c) for the use of teachers and necessary support personnel in making instructional supply fund expenditures under this section, consistent with the regulations of the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration pursuant to Section 31-7-9. Such procurement cards shall be issued at the beginning of the school year and shall be issued in equal amounts per teacher determined by the total number of qualifying personnel and the current state appropriation for classroom supplies with the Education Enhancement Fund. Such cards will expire on a pre-determined date at the end of each school year. All unexpended amounts will be carried forward, combined with the following year's allocation of Education Enhancement Fund instructional supplies funds and reallocated for the following year;

(b) Twenty-two and nine one-hundredths percent (22.09%) to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning for the purpose of supporting institutions of higher learning; and

(c) Fourteen and forty-one one-hundredths percent (14.41%) to the * * * Mississippi Community College Board for the purpose of providing support to community and junior colleges.

(4) The amount remaining in the Education Enhancement Fund after funds are distributed as provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section shall be disbursed as follows:

(a) Twenty-five Million Dollars ($25,000,000.00) shall be deposited into the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund created pursuant to Section 27-103-203(1), until the balance in such fund reaches the maximum balance of seven and one-half percent (7-1/2%) of the General Fund appropriations in the appropriate fiscal year. After the maximum balance in the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund is reached, such money shall remain in the Education Enhancement Fund to be appropriated in the manner provided for in paragraph (b) of this subsection.

(b) The remainder shall be appropriated for other educational needs.

(5) None of the funds appropriated pursuant to subsection (3)(a) of this section shall be used to reduce the state's General Fund appropriation for the categories listed in an amount below the following amounts:

(a) For subsection (3)(a)(ii) of this section, Thirty-six Million Seven Hundred Thousand Dollars ($36,700,000.00);

(b) For the aggregate of minimum program allotments in the 1997 fiscal year, formerly provided for in Chapter 19, Title 37, Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended, excluding those funds for transportation as provided for in subsection (5)(a) in this section.

SECTION 39. Section 37-63-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-63-3. The Authority for Educational Television shall consist of the State Superintendent of Public Education, or his designee, and six (6) members appointed, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Governor shall appoint four (4) members, one (1) of whom shall be actively engaged as a teacher or principal in a secondary school system in the State of Mississippi and one (1) of whom shall be actively engaged as a teacher or principal in an elementary school system in the State of Mississippi. Beginning July 1, 1994, the appointee actively engaged as a teacher or principal in a secondary school shall be appointed for an initial term of three (3) years. The member actively engaged as a teacher or principal in an elementary school shall be appointed for an initial term of four (4) years. The remaining two (2) gubernatorial appointees shall serve until July 1, 1996. Beginning July 1, 1996, the Governor shall appoint two (2) members for initial terms of three (3) and four (4) years, with the Governor specifically designating which member shall be appointed for three (3) years and which shall be appointed for four (4) years. The * * * Mississippi Community College Board shall appoint one (1) member, and the Board of Trustees of * * *~~the~~ State Institutions of Higher Learning shall appoint one (1) member. After the expiration of the initial terms, all members shall serve for terms of four (4) years. An appointment to fill a vacancy among the gubernatorial appointees, other than by expiration of a term of office, shall be made by the Governor for the balance of the unexpired term.

SECTION 40. Section 37-101-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-101-3. (1) The Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint the members of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, one (1) member from each congressional district of the state as existing as of March 31, 1944, one (1) member from each Supreme Court district and two (2) members from the state at large, with the terms of each to begin on May 8, 1944. One-third (1/3) of the membership of said board so appointed shall be appointed for a period of four (4) years, one-third (1/3) for a period of eight (8) years and one-third (1/3) for a period of twelve (12) years. On the expiration of any of said terms of Office the Governor shall appoint successors, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for terms of twelve (12) years in each case.

The current president, or his/her designee, of the Student Body President's Council of Mississippi (SBPCM) shall have a reserved seat at each meeting of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning. No less than once a year, the board shall seek the advise and counsel of the student body president's organization.

(2) In case of a vacancy on said board by death or resignation of a member or from any other cause than the expiration of such member's term of office, the board shall elect his successor who shall hold office until the end of the next session of the Legislature. During such term of the session of the Legislature, the Governor shall appoint the successor member of the board from the district from which his predecessor was appointed to hold office until the end of the period or term for which said original trustee was appointed, to the end that one-third (1/3) of such trustees' terms shall expire each four (4) years.

(3) The Executive Director of the * * *~~State Board for Community and Junior Colleges~~ Mississippi Community College Board, or his designee, and one (1) member of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board, to be designated by the chairman of said board, shall attend all regular meetings of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning. Said community/junior college representatives shall have no jurisdiction or vote on any matter within the jurisdiction of the board. The Executive Director of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board and any designee who is a state employee shall receive no per diem for attending meetings of the board, but shall be entitled to actual and necessary expense reimbursement and mileage for attending meetings at locations other than Jackson, Mississippi. The designee of the * * *~~State Board for Community and Junior Colleges~~ Mississippi Community College Board shall receive per diem compensation as authorized by Section 25-3-69, Mississippi Code of 1972, for attending said meetings, and shall be entitled to reimbursement for actual expense reimbursement and mileage, which shall be paid from funds appropriated to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning.

SECTION 41. Section 37-101-241, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-101-241. (1) There is hereby created the Commission on College Accreditation. Said commission shall be composed of the Executive Director of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board, the Commissioner of Higher Education, or their designees, and three (3) additional members, one (1) of whom shall be selected by the foregoing two (2) members and who shall represent the private colleges within the state, and two (2) of whom shall be selected by the Mississippi Association of Colleges. The latter three (3) members shall each serve for a term of three (3) years.

(2) The commission shall meet and organize by electing from among its membership a chairman, a vice chairman and a secretary. The commission shall keep full and complete minutes and records of all its proceedings and actions.

(3) The commission shall have the power and authority, and it shall be its duty, to prepare an approved list of community, junior and senior colleges and universities or other entities which offer one or more postsecondary academic degrees and are domiciled, incorporated or otherwise located in the State of Mississippi. Postsecondary academic degrees include, but are not limited to, associate, bachelor, masters and doctorate degrees. The commission shall adopt standards which are in keeping with the best educational practices in accreditation and receive reports from the institutions seeking to be placed on the approved list.

(4) The above-described community, junior and senior colleges and universities or other entities must be approved annually by the commission in order to grant diplomas of graduation, degrees or offer instruction.

(5) The commission shall petition the chancery court of the county in which a person or agent offers one or more postsecondary academic degrees subject to the provisions of this chapter or advertises for the offering of such degrees without having first obtained approval by the commission, for an order enjoining such offering or advertising. The court may grant such injunctive relief upon a showing that the respondent named in the petition is offering or advertising one or more postsecondary academic degrees without having obtained prior approval of the commission. The Attorney General or the district attorney of the district, including the county in which such action is brought, shall, upon request of the commission, represent the commission in bringing any such action.

(6) The provisions of subsection (5) shall not apply to community, junior and senior colleges and universities with the main campus in Mississippi that were chartered, authorized or approved by the commission prior to July 1, 1988.

(7) The provisions of this section shall not apply to the proprietary schools and colleges subject to regulation under Section 75-60-1 et seq.

(8) The Commission on College Accreditation may promulgate rules and regulations and establish appropriate fees for the implementation of this section.

(9) The commission shall have the power and authority, and it shall be its duty, to execute site visits when deemed necessary by the commission. The members of the commission and commission-appointed evaluation teams shall receive reasonable traveling expenses and other authorized expenses incurred in the performance of commission duties, together with other expenses of the operation of the commission. The members of the Commission on College Accreditation shall serve without salary compensation but shall receive a per diem and mileage as authorized by law including time of going to and returning from site visits of said commission, together with actual travel and hotel expenses incident to the site visits of the commission, and in the discharge of duties prescribed by the commission.

SECTION 42. Section 37-101-331, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-101-331. It is the express intent of the Legislature that the capital renovation and repair needs of state community and junior colleges be comprehensively addressed by appropriate legislation during the 1989 Regular Legislative Session; and, to that end, the * * * Mississippi Community College Board is hereby directed to prepare a complete report detailing:

(a) Repair and renovation needs;

(b) The financing capabilities of each community and junior college district; and

(c) The total millage levied in each community and junior college district for the support of the district, the amount of revenue generated in each district by the millage imposed, and an assessment of what capital renovation and repair needs can be financed under existing levying authority.

The board shall submit such report to the Legislature on or before January 3, 1989, in order that the Legislature be made fully cognizant of such needs and capabilities. The Governor's Office of General Services is directed to provide the fullest degree of reasonable cooperation to the * * * Mississippi Community College Board in the preparation of this report.

SECTION 43. Section 37-102-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-102-3. The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall not permit its universities to offer courses for college credit at the lower undergraduate level at an off-campus site unless approved by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board. The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, in cooperation with the * * * Mississippi Community College Board, shall study the need and advisability of offering (a) courses for college credit at the lower undergraduate level, and (b) advanced centers for technology partnerships for industrial training and professional development for credit and noncredit courses, at the following off-campus sites by four-year public state institutions of higher learning: the Mississippi Gulf Coast counties; Greenville, Mississippi; Columbus, Mississippi; McComb, Mississippi; Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Meridian, Mississippi; Laurel, Mississippi; and any other proposed area of the state. Any such study shall take into account the ongoing programs of the community and junior colleges in the State of Mississippi when said board authorizes off-campus programs created under this chapter. It is the intent of the Legislature to meet the educational needs of students who do not have ready access to the educational opportunities that they desire. It is the further intent of this chapter that university off-campus programs established hereunder will in no way usurp the responsibilities of the public junior colleges of the State of Mississippi. The board shall establish such rules and regulations as it deems necessary and proper to carry out the purposes and intent of this chapter.

SECTION 44. Section 37-106-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-106-9. (1) There is hereby created the Postsecondary Education Financial Assistance Board which shall consist of the following three (3) members: one (1) person to be appointed by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning from its membership for an initial period of four (4) years; one (1) person to be appointed by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board for an initial period of three (3) years; and one (1) person to be appointed by the Governor for an initial period of two (2) years. All subsequent appointments shall be for a period of four (4) years. Vacancies shall be filled for the length of the unexpired term only. The board shall elect from its membership a chairman.

(2) The agency shall designate one (1) member of its staff to serve as director, to administer the provisions of this financial assistance program. The director shall be assigned by the agency sufficient staff, professional and clerical, funds and quarters to administer this program.

(3) The director:

(a) Subject to the review of the board, shall have the power of final approval of any application submitted;

(b) Subject to the approval of the board and the agency, shall have authority to promulgate the necessary rules and regulations for effective administration of this chapter, including the method of making application for assistance authorized by this chapter.

SECTION 45. Section 37-149-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-149-1. (1) There is established within the State Department of Education, the Mississippi Teacher Center for the purpose of insuring that the children of our state are taught by quality professionals. The center shall serve as an interagency center focused on teacher recruitment, enhanced training and initial instructional support.

(2) The center shall have a staff which shall consist of one (1) director, one (1) administrative assistant and professional teacher recruiters. A steering committee shall be established which shall consist of one (1) member from each of the following: the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, the * * * Mississippi Community College Board, the State Board of Education, the Board of the Mississippi Association of Independent Colleges, the Board of the Mississippi Association of Colleges of Teacher Education, trustees of the local school boards, teachers and the private sector. The members of the steering committee shall be appointed by the State Superintendent with the approval of the board. The steering committee shall direct the work and establish policies for the purpose of operating the center.

(3) The center shall provide leadership for the following initiatives:

(a) The initiation and monitoring of high school programs for teacher recruitment;

(b) The initiation and monitoring of college level programs for teacher recruitment;

(d) The sponsorship of a teacher renewal institute;

(e) The continuation of the Teacher Corps program;

(f) The enhancement of the William Winter Scholarship program;

(g) Research for the development of professional teaching standards;

(h) Provide additional scholarships for any targeted populations needing potential teachers; and

(i) Provide assistance to local school districts in identifying and locating specific teacher needs.

(4) (a) The Legislature recognizes that a highly qualified teacher in every public classroom in this state is fundamental to a quality education. The Legislature also recognizes that Mississippi has a serious shortage of qualified teachers to serve in the public schools of this state and that it has a responsibility to enact public policy in an effort to remedy that shortage of qualified teachers.

(b) There is hereby established a Mississippi "Troops to Teachers" pilot program in the State Department of Education to assist in the recruitment, licensure, referral, placement and compensation of military personnel interested in beginning a second career in public education as a teacher. The Teacher Center in the State Department of Education shall collaborate with the national "Troops to Teachers" program to establish the criteria and procedures for allocation of funds provided by the federal government to administer the pilot program to ensure the most effective placement of such teachers around the state taking into consideration the degree of teacher shortage in each school district.

(c) The Legislature shall appropriate funds necessary for the support of this pilot program which will not supplant federal funds provided for that purpose. The Office of the Governor shall transfer any federal funds provided for the Mississippi "Troops to Teachers" program to the State Department of Education for the administration of this program.

(d) The Department of Education shall report to the Legislature no later than January 1, 2009, on the status of the implementation of the Mississippi "Troops to Teachers" program and the need for its continuation.

SECTION 46. Section 37-151-75, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-151-75. The * * * Mississippi Community College Board is designated as the primary support agency to the career centers and district councils. The state board may exercise the following powers:

(a) To provide the career centers the assistance necessary to accomplish the purposes of Sections 37-151-63 through 37-151-75;

(b) To provide the career centers consistent standards and benchmarks to guide development of the local workforce development system and to provide a means by which the outcomes of local services can be measured;

(c) To develop the staff capacity to provide, broker or contract for the provision of technical assistance to the career centers, including, but not limited to:

(i) Training local staff in methods of recruiting, assessment and career counseling;

(ii) Establishing rigorous and comprehensive local pre-employment training programs;

(iii) Developing local institutional capacity to deliver Total Quality Management training;

(iv) Developing local institutional capacity to transfer new technologists into the marketplace;

(v) Expanding the Skills Enhancement Program and improving the quality of adult literacy programs; and

(vi) Developing data for strategic planning;

(d) To collaborate with the Department of Economic and Community Development and other economic development organizations to increase the community college systems' economic development potential;

(e) To administer presented and approved certification programs by the community colleges for tax credits and partnership funding for corporate training;

(f) To create and maintain an evaluation team that examines which kinds of curricula and programs and what forms of quality control of training are most productive so that the knowledge developed at one (1) institution of education can be transferred to others;

(g) To develop internal capacity to provide services and to contract for services from universities and other providers directly to local institutions;

(h) To develop and administer an incentive certification program; and

(i) To develop and hire staff and purchase equipment necessary to accomplish the goals set forth in this section.

SECTION 47. Section 37-153-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-153-7. (1) There is created the Mississippi State Workforce Investment Board. The Mississippi State Workforce Investment Board shall be composed of thirty-nine (39) voting members, of which a majority shall be representatives of business and industry in accordance with the federal Workforce Investment Act.

(a) The Governor shall appoint the following members of the board to serve a term of four (4) years:

(i) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Association of Supervisors, or his/her designee;

(ii) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Municipal League;

(iii) One (1) elected mayor;

(iv) One (1) elected county supervisor;

(v) Two (2) representatives of labor organizations, who have been nominated by state labor federations;

(vi) Two (2) representatives of individuals and organizations that have experience with respect to youth activities;

(vii) One (1) representative of the Mississippi Association of Planning and Development Districts;

(viii) One (1) representative from each of the four (4) workforce areas in the state, who has been nominated by the community colleges in each respective area, with the consent of the elected county supervisors within the respective workforce area; and

(ix) Nineteen (19) representatives of business owners nominated by business and industry organizations, which may include representatives of the various planning and development districts in Mississippi.

(b) The following state officials shall be members of the board:

(i) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security;

(ii) The Executive Director of the Department of Rehabilitation Services;

(iii) The State Superintendent of Public Education;

(iv) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Development Authority;

(v) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services;

(vi) The Executive Director of the * * * ~~State Board for Community and Junior Colleges~~ Mississippi Community College Board.

(d) Four (4) legislators, who shall serve in a nonvoting capacity, two (2) of whom shall be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor from the membership of the Mississippi Senate, and two (2) of whom shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House from the membership of the Mississippi House of Representatives.

(e) The membership of the board shall reflect the diversity of the State of Mississippi.

(f) The Governor shall designate the Chairman of the Mississippi State Workforce Investment Board from among the voting members of the board, and a quorum of the board shall consist of a majority of the voting members of the board.

(g) The voting members of the board who are not state employees shall be entitled to reimbursement of their reasonable expenses incurred in carrying out their duties under this chapter, from any funds available for that purpose.

(h) The Mississippi Department of Employment Security shall be responsible for providing necessary administrative, clerical and budget support for the State Workforce Investment Board.

(2) The Mississippi Department of Employment Security shall establish limits on administrative costs for each portion of Mississippi's workforce development system consistent with the federal Workforce Investment Act or any future federal workforce legislation.

(3) The Mississippi State Workforce Investment Board shall have the following duties:

(a) Develop and submit to the Governor a strategic plan for an integrated state workforce development system that aligns resources and structures the system to more effectively and efficiently meet the demands of Mississippi's employers and job seekers. This plan will comply with the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, as amended;

(b) Assist the Governor in the development and continuous improvement of the statewide workforce investment system that shall include:

(i) Development of linkages in order to assure coordination and nonduplication among programs and activities; and

(ii) Review local workforce development plans that reflect the use of funds from the federal Workforce Investment Act, Wagner-Peyser Act and the Mississippi Comprehensive Workforce Training and Education Consolidation Act;

(c) Recommend the designation of local workforce investment areas as required in Section 116 of the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998. There shall be four (4) workforce investment areas that are generally aligned with the planning and development district structure in Mississippi. Planning and development districts will serve as the fiscal agents to manage Workforce Investment Act funds, oversee and support the local workforce investment boards aligned with the area and the local programs and activities as delivered by the one-stop employment and training system. The planning and development districts will perform this function through the provisions of the county cooperative service districts created under Sections 19-3-101 through 19-3-115; however, planning and development districts currently performing this function under the Interlocal Cooperation Act of 1974, Sections 17-13-1 through 17-13-17, may continue to do so;

(d) Assist the Governor in the development of an allocation formula for the distribution of funds for adult employment and training activities and youth activities to local workforce investment areas;

(e) Recommend comprehensive, results-oriented measures that shall be applied to all Mississippi's workforce development system programs;

(f) Assist the Governor in the establishment and management of a one-stop employment and training system conforming to the requirements of the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, as amended, recommending policy for implementing the Governor's approved plan for employment and training activities and services within the state. In developing this one-stop career operating system, the Mississippi State Workforce Investment Board, in conjunction with local workforce investment boards, shall:

(i) Design broad guidelines for the delivery of workforce development programs;

(ii) Identify all existing delivery agencies and other resources;

(iii) Define appropriate roles of the various agencies to include an analysis of service providers' strengths and weaknesses;

(iv) Determine the best way to utilize the various agencies to deliver services to recipients; and

(v) Develop a financial plan to support the delivery system that shall, at a minimum, include an accountability system;

(g) Assist the Governor in reducing duplication of services by urging the local workforce investment boards to designate the local community/junior college as the operator of the WIN Job Center. Incentive grants of Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000.00) from federal Workforce Investment Act funds may be awarded to the local workforce boards where the community/junior college district is designated as the WIN Job Center. These grants must be provided to the community and junior colleges for the extraordinary costs of coordinating with the Workforce Investment Act, advanced technology centers and advanced skills centers. In no case shall these funds be used to supplant state resources being used for operation of workforce development programs;

(h) To provide authority, in accordance with any executive order of the Governor, for developing the necessary collaboration among state agencies at the highest level for accomplishing the purposes of this chapter;

(i) To monitor the effectiveness of the workforce development centers and WIN job centers;

(j) To advise the Governor, public schools, community/junior colleges and institutions of higher learning on effective school-to-work transition policies and programs that link students moving from high school to higher education and students moving between community colleges and four-year institutions in pursuit of academic and technical skills training;

(k) To work with industry to identify barriers that inhibit the delivery of quality workforce education and the responsiveness of educational institutions to the needs of industry;

(l) To provide periodic assessments on effectiveness and results of the overall Mississippi comprehensive workforce development system and district councils; and

(m) To assist the Governor in carrying out any other responsibility required by the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, as amended.

(4) The Mississippi State Workforce Investment Board shall coordinate all training programs and funds in the State of Mississippi.

Each state agency director responsible for workforce training activities shall advise the Mississippi State Workforce Investment Board of appropriate federal and state requirements. Each such state agency director shall remain responsible for the actions of his agency; however, each state agency and director shall work cooperatively, and shall be individually and collectively responsible to the Governor for the successful implementation of the statewide workforce investment system. The Governor, as the Chief Executive Officer of the state, shall have complete authority to enforce cooperation among all entities within the state that utilize federal or state funding for the conduct of workforce development activities.

SECTION 48. Section 37-153-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-153-13. The * * * Mississippi Community College Board is designated as the primary support agency to the workforce development centers. The * * * Mississippi Community College Board may exercise the following powers:

(a) To provide the workforce development centers the assistance necessary to accomplish the purposes of this chapter;

(b) To provide the workforce development centers consistent standards and benchmarks to guide development of the local workforce development system and to provide a means by which the outcomes of local services can be measured;

(c) To develop the staff capacity to provide, broker or contract for the provision of technical assistance to the workforce development centers, including, but not limited to:

(i) Training local staff in methods of recruiting, assessment and career counseling;

(ii) Establishing rigorous and comprehensive local preemployment training programs;

(iii) Developing local institutional capacity to deliver total quality management training;

(iv) Developing local institutional capacity to transfer new technologists into the marketplace;

(v) Expanding the Skills Enhancement Program and improving the quality of adult literacy programs; and

(vi) Developing data for strategic planning;

(d) To collaborate with the Mississippi Development Authority and other economic development organizations to increase the community college systems' economic development potential;

(e) To administer presented and approved certification programs by the community colleges for tax credits and partnership funding for corporate training;

(g) To develop internal capacity to provide services and to contract for services from universities and other providers directly to local institutions;

(h) To develop and administer an incentive certification program;

(i) To develop and hire staff and purchase equipment necessary to accomplish the goals set forth in this section; and

(j) To collaborate, partner and contract for services with community-based organizations and disadvantaged businesses in the delivery of workforce training and career information especially to youth, as defined by the federal Workforce Investment Act, and to those adults who are in low income jobs or whose individual skill levels are so low as to be unable initially to be aided by a workforce development center. Community-based organizations and disadvantaged businesses must meet performance-based certification requirements set by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board.

SECTION 49. Section 37-154-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-154-1. (1) To improve quality of life, education and employment opportunities for all citizens, the appropriate agencies of the State of Mississippi listed in subsection (2) of this section shall develop and maintain a State Longitudinal Data System (SLDS). The system will allow stakeholders and policymakers access data on state residents from birth to the workforce to drive accountability and investment decisions. The system will include data from multiple state agencies and entities. The system will provide decision makers a tool to develop policies to support objectives, including, but not limited to:

(a) Enabling Mississippians to secure and retain employment and receive better pay after completing training or postsecondary degrees;

(b) Enabling Mississippi to meet the education and job skill demands of business and industry;

(c) Developing an early warning system, which allows the state to intervene early, improving the graduation rates in high school and college;

(d) Identifying teachers, teaching methods and programs that lead to positive student outcomes; and

(e) Encouraging the sharing of electronic data across educational and other entities.

(2) Individual state agencies and state entities will send data from their internal system to the Statewide Longitudinal Data System. These initial agencies and entities shall provide data to the SLDS under the provisions developed by the SLDS Governing Board established in Section 37-154-3:

(a) Mississippi Department of Education (MDE);

(b) * * * ~~(SBCJC)~~Mississippi Community College Board;

(d) State Workforce Investment Board (SWIB);

(e) Mississippi Department of Employment Security (MDES);

(f) Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS); and

(g) State Early Childhood Advisory Council (SECAC).

Any agencies or entities added to SLDS shall provide a representative to the SLDS Governing Board and be governed in the same manner as the initial agencies and entities.

(3) The system will be based on an existing system currently housed, developed and maintained by the National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center (nSPARC) at Mississippi State University. The initial agencies participating in the SLDS Governing Board and nSPARC have worked collaboratively to secure funding through the United States Department of Education to expand and enhance the capacity of the state's existing technology infrastructure for the purposes of developing the SLDS. The State Data Center, operated by the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services (ITS), will provide application hosting services for the SLDS until such time the SLDS Governing Board approves that another entity should perform these services.

SECTION 50. Section 37-155-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-155-9. In addition to the powers granted by any other provision of this article, the board of directors shall have the powers necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes and provisions of this article, the purposes and objectives of the trust fund and the powers delegated by any other law of the state or any executive order thereof, including, but not limited to, the following express powers:

(a) To adopt and amend bylaws;

(b) To adopt such rules and regulations as are necessary to implement the provisions of this article;

(c) To invest any funds of the trust fund in any instrument, obligation, security or property that constitutes legal investments for public funds in the state and to name and use depositories for its investments and holdings;

(d) To execute contracts and other necessary instruments;

(e) To impose reasonable requirements for residency for beneficiaries at the time of purchase of the contract and to establish rules to govern purchase of contracts for beneficiaries who are nonresidents at the time the purchaser enters into the prepaid tuition contract;

(f) To impose reasonable limits on the number of contract participants in the trust fund at any given period of time;

(g) To contract for necessary goods and services, to employ necessary personnel, and to engage the services of consultants for administrative and technical assistance in carrying out the responsibilities of the trust fund;

(h) To solicit and accept gifts, including bequeathments or other testamentary gifts made by will, trust or other disposition, grants, loans and other aids from any personal source or to participate in any other way in any federal, state or local governmental programs in carrying out the purposes of this article. Any gifts made to the board under this subsection shall be deductible from taxable income of the state in the tax year;

(i) To define the terms and conditions under which payments may be withdrawn or refunded from the trust fund, including, but not limited to, the amount paid in and an additional amount in the nature of interest at a rate that corresponds, at a minimum, to the prevailing interest rates for savings accounts provided by banks and savings and loan associations and impose reasonable charges for such withdrawal or refund;

(j) To ensure applicability to private and out-of-state tuitions:

(i) Under the program, a state purchaser may enter into a prepaid tuition contract with the board under which the purchaser agrees to attend a public institution of higher education in Mississippi;

(ii) If the beneficiary of a plan described by Section 37-155-11 enrolls in any in-state or out-of-state regionally accredited private four- or two-year college or an out-of-state regionally accredited, state-supported, nonprofit four- or two-year college or university, or any in-state or out-of-state regionally accredited graduate institution, the board shall pay to the institution an amount up to, but not greater than, the undergraduate tuition and required fees that the board would have paid had the beneficiary enrolled in an institution of higher education covered by the plan selected in the prepaid tuition contract. The beneficiary is responsible for paying a private undergraduate or graduate institution or an out-of-state public undergraduate or graduate institution the amount by which the tuition and required fees of the institution exceed the tuition and required fees paid by the board;

(k) To impose reasonable time limits on the use of the tuition benefits provided by the program;

(l) To provide for the receipt of contributions to the trust fund in lump sums or installment payments;

(m) To adopt an official seal and rules;

(n) To sue and be sued;

(o) To establish agreements or other transactions with federal, state and local agencies, including state universities and community colleges;

(p) To appear in its own behalf before boards, commissions or other governmental agencies;

(q) To segregate contributions and payments to the fund into various accounts and funds;

(r) To require and collect administrative fees and charges in connection with any transaction and impose reasonable penalties, including default, for delinquent payments or for entering into an advance payment contract on a fraudulent basis;

(s) To procure insurance against any loss in connection with the property, assets and activities of the fund or the board;

(t) To require that purchasers of advance payment contracts verify, under oath, any requests for contract conversions, substitutions, transfers, cancellations, refund requests or contract changes of any nature;

(u) To administer the fund in a manner that is sufficiently actuarially sound to meet the obligations of the program. The board shall annually evaluate or cause to be evaluated the actuarial soundness of the fund. If the board perceives a need for additional assets in order to preserve actuarial soundness, the board may adjust the terms of subsequent advance payment contracts to ensure such soundness;

(v) To establish a comprehensive investment plan for the purposes of this section. The comprehensive investment plan shall specify the investment policies to be utilized by the board in its administration of the fund. The board may authorize investments in:

(i) Bonds, notes, certificates and other valid general obligations of the State of Mississippi, or of any county, or of any city, or of any supervisors district of any county of the State of Mississippi, or of any school district bonds of the State of Mississippi; notes or certificates of indebtedness issued by the Veterans' Home Purchase Board of Mississippi, provided such notes or certificates of indebtedness are secured by the pledge of collateral equal to two hundred percent (200%) of the amount of the loan, which collateral is also guaranteed at least for fifty percent (50%) of the face value by the United States government, and provided that not more than five percent (5%) of the total investment holdings of the system shall be in Veterans' Home Purchase Board notes or certificates at any time; real estate mortgage loans one hundred percent (100%) insured by the Federal Housing Administration on single family homes located in the State of Mississippi, where monthly collections and all servicing matters are handled by Federal Housing Administration approved mortgagees authorized to make such loans in the State of Mississippi;

(ii) State of Mississippi highway bonds;

(iii) Funds may be deposited in federally insured institutions domiciled in the State of Mississippi or a custodial bank which appears on the State of Mississippi Treasury Department's approved depository list and/or safekeeper list;

(iv) Corporate bonds of investment grade as rated by Standard & Poor's or by Moody's Investment Service, with bonds rated BAA/BBB not to exceed five percent (5%) of the book value of the total fixed income investments; or corporate short-term obligations of corporations or of wholly owned subsidiaries of corporations, whose short-term obligations are rated A-3 or better by Standard and Poor's or rated P-3 or better by Moody's Investment Service;

(v) Bonds of the Tennessee Valley Authority;

(vi) Bonds, notes, certificates and other valid obligations of the United States, and other valid obligations of any federal instrumentality that issues securities under authority of an act of Congress and are exempt from registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission;

(vii) Bonds, notes, debentures and other securities issued by any federal instrumentality and fully guaranteed by the United States. Direct obligations issued by the United States of America shall be deemed to include securities of, or other interests in, any open-end or closed-end management type investment company or investment trust registered under the provisions of 15 USCS Section 80(a)-1 et seq., provided that the portfolio of such investment company or investment trust is limited to direct obligations issued by the United States of America, United States government agencies, United States government instrumentalities or United States government sponsored enterprises, and to repurchase agreements fully collateralized by direct obligations of the United States of America, United States government agencies, United States government instrumentalities or United States government sponsored enterprises, and the investment company or investment trust takes delivery of such collateral for the repurchase agreement, either directly or through an authorized custodian. The State Treasurer and the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration shall review and approve the investment companies and investment trusts in which funds may be invested;

(viii) Interest-bearing bonds or notes which are general obligations of any other state in the United States or of any city or county therein, provided such city or county had a population as shown by the federal census next preceding such investment of not less than twenty-five thousand (25,000) inhabitants and provided that such state, city or county has not defaulted for a period longer than thirty (30) days in the payment of principal or interest on any of its general obligation indebtedness during a period of ten (10) calendar years immediately preceding such investment;

(ix) Shares of stocks, common and/or preferred, of corporations created by or existing under the laws of the United States or any state, district or territory thereof; provided:

(A) The maximum investments in stocks shall not exceed fifty percent (50%) of the book value of the total investment fund of the system;

(B) The stock of such corporation shall:

1. Be listed on a national stock exchange; or

2. Be traded in the over-the-counter market, provided price quotations for such over-the-counter stocks are quoted by the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System (NASDAQ);

(C) The outstanding shares of such corporation shall have a total market value of not less than Fifty Million Dollars ($50,000,000.00);

(D) The amount of investment in any one (1) corporation shall not exceed three percent (3%) of the book value of the assets of the system; and

(E) The shares of any one (1) corporation owned by the system shall not exceed five percent (5%) of that corporation's outstanding stock;

(x) Bonds rated Single A or better, stocks and convertible securities of established non-United States companies, which companies are listed on only primary national stock exchanges of foreign nations; and in foreign government securities rated Single A or better by a recognized rating agency; provided that the total book value of investments under this paragraph shall at no time exceed twenty percent (20%) of the total book value of all investments of the system. The board may take requisite action to effectuate or hedge such transactions through foreign banks, including the purchase and sale, transfer, exchange or otherwise disposal of, and generally deal in foreign exchange through the use of foreign currency, interbank forward contracts, futures contracts, options contracts, swaps and other related derivative instruments, notwithstanding any other provisions of this article to the contrary;

(xi) Covered call and put options on securities traded on one or more of the regulated exchanges;

(xii) Institutional investment trusts managed by a corporate trustee or by a Securities and Exchange Commission registered investment advisory firm retained as an investment manager by the board of directors, and institutional class shares of investment companies and unit investment trusts registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 where such funds or shares are comprised of common or preferred stocks, bonds, money market instruments or other investments authorized under this section. Any investment manager or managers approved by the board of directors shall invest such funds or shares as a fiduciary;

(xiii) Pooled or commingled real estate funds or real estate securities managed by a corporate trustee or by a Securities and Exchange Commission registered investment advisory firm retained as an investment manager by the board of directors. Such investment in commingled funds or shares shall be held in trust; provided that the total book value of investments under this paragraph shall at no time exceed five percent (5%) of the total book value of all investments of the system. Any investment manager approved by the board of directors shall invest such commingled funds or shares as a fiduciary;

(w) All investments shall be acquired by the board at prices not exceeding the prevailing market values for such securities;

(x) Any limitations herein set forth shall be applicable only at the time of purchase and shall not require the liquidation of any investment at any time. All investments shall be clearly marked to indicate ownership by the system and to the extent possible shall be registered in the name of the system;

(y) Subject to the above terms, conditions, limitations and restrictions, the board shall have power to sell, assign, transfer and dispose of any of the securities and investments of the system, provided that the sale, assignment or transfer has the majority approval of the entire board. The board may employ or contract with investment managers, evaluation services or other such services as determined by the board to be necessary for the effective and efficient operation of the system;

(z) Except as otherwise provided herein, no trustee and no employee of the board shall have any direct or indirect interest in the income, gains or profits of any investment made by the board, nor shall any such person receive any pay or emolument for his services in connection with any investment made by the board. No trustee or employee of the board shall become an endorser or surety, or in any manner an obligor for money loaned by or borrowed from the system;

(aa) All interest derived from investments and any gains from the sale or exchange of investments shall be credited by the board to the account of the system;

(bb) To delegate responsibility for administration of the comprehensive investment plan to a consultant the board determines to be qualified. Such consultant shall be compensated by the board. Directly or through such consultant, the board may contract to provide such services as may be a part of the comprehensive investment plan or as may be deemed necessary or proper by the board or such consultant, including, but not limited to, providing consolidated billing, individual and collective record keeping and accounting, and asset purchase, control and safekeeping;

(cc) To annually prepare or cause to be prepared a report setting forth in appropriate detail an accounting of the fund and a description of the financial condition of the program at the close of each fiscal year. Such report shall be submitted to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and members of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, the * * * Mississippi Community College Board and the State Board of Education on or before March 31 each year. In addition, the board shall make the report available to purchasers of advance payment contracts. The board shall provide to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the * * * Mississippi Community College Board by March 31 each year complete advance payment contract sales information including projected postsecondary enrollments of beneficiaries. The accounts of the fund shall be subject to annual audits by the State Auditor or his designee;

(dd) To solicit proposals for the marketing of the Mississippi Prepaid Affordable College Tuition Program. The entity designated pursuant to this paragraph shall serve as a centralized marketing agent for the program and shall solely be responsible for the marketing of the program. Any materials produced for the purpose of marketing the programs shall be submitted to the board for review. No such materials shall be made available to the public before the materials are approved by the board. Any educational institution may distribute marketing materials produced for the program; however, all such materials shall have been approved by the board prior to distribution. Neither the state nor the board shall be liable for misrepresentation of the program by a marketing agent; and

(ee) To establish other policies, procedures and criteria necessary to implement and administer the provisions of this article.

For efficient and effective administration of the program and trust fund, the board may authorize the State of Mississippi Treasury Department and/or the State Treasurer to carry out any or all of the powers and duties enumerated above.

SECTION 51. Section 37-155-117, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-155-117. (1) The board shall furnish, without charge, to each account owner an annual statement of the following:

(a) The amount contributed by the account owner under the savings trust agreement;

(b) The annual earnings and accumulated earnings on the savings trust account; and

(c) Any other terms and conditions that the board deems by rule is necessary or appropriate, including those necessary to conform the savings trust account with the requirements of Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or other applicable federal law or regulations.

(2) The board shall furnish an additional statement complying with subsection (1) to an account owner or beneficiary on written request. The board may charge a reasonable fee for each statement furnished under this subsection.

(3) The board shall prepare or cause to be prepared an annual report setting forth in appropriate detail an accounting of the funds and a description of the financial condition of the program at the close of each fiscal year. Such report shall be submitted to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and members of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, the * * * Mississippi Community College Board and the State Board of Education. In addition, the board shall make the report available to account owners of savings trust agreements. The accounts of the fund shall be subject to annual audits by the State Auditor or his designee.

SECTION 52. Section 37-161-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-161-5. (1) There is established a commission to be known as the "Lifelong Learning Commission."

(2) The commission shall consist of four (4) members, who shall serve ex officio, as follows:

(a) The Governor of the State of Mississippi, who shall serve as chairman;

(b) The State Superintendent of Public Education;

(c) The Commissioner of the * * *~~State Board for Community and Junior Colleges~~ Mississippi Community College Board; and

(d) The Commissioner of Higher Education.

(3) The duties of the Lifelong Learning Commission shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following:

(a) To assess the dropout crisis in Mississippi and recommend action steps to address it;

(b) To create a set of common definitions for graduation and dropout rates which can be used to compare the commission's progress relative to other states;

(d) To encourage more rigor and relevance in the high school experience;

(e) To facilitate the transferability of education from secondary to postsecondary institutions;

(f) To raise state awareness on the need for improving Mississippi's high schools;

(g) To develop a series of best practices policy actions that state policymakers and legislators can implement to achieve system-wide high school reform; and

(h) To convene town hall meetings around the state, when the commission determines necessary, where students, teachers, administrators and parents can discuss high school, the senior year and impediments to greater success.

(4) The commission may prepare an annual report for the consideration of the Chairmen of the House and Senate Education and Universities and Colleges Committees pertaining to the information gathered in the performance of its duties.

(5) The commission members shall meet at those times and places deemed necessary by the commission. The commission may use any available resources to fulfill its mission.

SECTION 53. Section 37-163-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-163-1. (1) There is created an Education Achievement Council whose purpose is to sustain attention to the state's goal of increasing the educational attainment and skill levels of the state's working-age population benchmark to the national average by 2025.

(2) The Education Achievement Council shall consist of twenty-three (23) members:

(a) The Chairmen of the House and Senate Universities and Colleges Committees;

(b) The Chairmen of the House and Senate Education Committees;

(d) Two (2) members of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning;

(e) The Chairman of the State Board of Education, or his designee;

(f) The Chairman and one (1) member of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board, or his designee;

(g) The State Superintendent of Public Education, or his designee;

(h) The Commissioner of Higher Education, or his designee;

(i) The Executive Director of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board, or his designee;

(j) Three (3) presidents of state institutions of higher learning appointed by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, one (1) of which must be from a historically black institution of higher learning;

(k) Three (3) community and junior college presidents appointed by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board;

(l) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, or his designee;

(m) The President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mississippi Economic Council; and

(n) The Chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, or their designees.

(3) The Education Achievement Council shall work collaboratively with the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the * * * Mississippi Community College Board to achieve the state's goal, and shall not displace any governing or coordinating responsibilities.

(4) The Education Achievement Council shall:

(a) Establish the education achievement goals for the state;

(b) Develop and prescribe appropriate planning processes;

(c) Establish appropriate benchmarks to measure progress, including degrees awarded per one hundred (100) full-time equivalent (FTE) students calculated using completed credit hours; conduct the necessary studies and analysis;

(d) Research and develop a new funding mechanism for public community colleges and state institutions of higher learning based upon productivity goals and accomplishments as well as enrollment, and submit a report thereon with necessary legislation to the Governor and the appropriate committees of the Legislature on or before November 1, 2012, for consideration at the 2013 Regular Session; and

(e) Contract for any professional services that it deems necessary to complete its work.

(5) The Education Achievement Council shall monitor and report on the state's progress toward these education achievement goals by preparing an annual state report card compiled from the annual reports prepared and submitted by each state institution of higher learning and community and junior college in the state. The state's annual report shall be made available on the Education Achievement Council website, as well as the websites of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the * * * Mississippi Community College Board.

(6) Each state institution of higher learning and community and junior college shall be required to develop and publish an annual report as prescribed by the Education Achievement Council. By November 1 of each year, as prescribed by the Education Achievement Council, each institution's annual report shall be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the county and posted on the institution's website in printable form. The public notice shall include information on the report's availability on the institution's website, with the website address, and the locations where a copy of the report may be obtained.

(7) Within sixty (60) days of March 24, 2010, the Education Achievement Council shall meet and organize by selecting from its membership a chairman, vice chairman and secretary each for a one-year term of office. A majority of the membership will constitute a quorum. In the selection of its officers and the adoption of rules, resolutions and reports, an affirmative majority vote shall be required. All members must be notified in writing of all meetings at least five (5) days before the date on which a meeting is scheduled.

(8) The Legislature may appropriate funds to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning for the administrative, contractual costs, travel and other expenses of the Education Achievement Council.

(9) Members of the Education Achievement Council who are not legislators, state officials or state employees may be compensated at the per diem rate authorized by Section 25-3-41 for mileage and actual expense incurred in the performance of their duties. Legislative members of the Education Achievement Council may be paid from the contingent expense funds of their respective houses, but only with the specific approval of the Senate Rules Committee or House Management Committee; however, no per diem or expense is authorized for attending meetings of the Education Achievement Council when the Legislature is in session. Nonlegislative members may be paid from any funds made available for that purpose.

(10) The Commissioner of Higher Education, or his designee, shall serve as the principal staff to support the Education Achievement Council. The Commissioner of Higher Education and the Executive Director of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board shall provide appropriate staff to support the work of the Education Achievement Council.

SECTION 54. Section 41-23-45, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

41-23-45. The State Department of Health shall prepare written educational information on the risks associated with meningitis and hepatitis A and B and the availability and effectiveness of available vaccines for these diseases. The department shall provide this written educational information to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the * * * Mississippi Community College Board to be used to inform students about meningitis and hepatitis A and B. This information shall be sent to students with their letters of acceptance for admission or included in the students' admission packets.

SECTION 55. Section 41-87-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

41-87-5. Unless the context requires otherwise, the following definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter:

(a) "Eligible infants and toddlers" or "eligible children" means children from birth through thirty-six (36) months of age who need early intervention services because they:

(i) Are experiencing developmental delays as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures in one or more of the following areas:

(A) Cognitive development;

(B) Physical development, including vision or hearing;

(D) Social or emotional development;

(E) Adaptive development * * *.;

(ii) Have a diagnosed physical or mental condition, as defined in state policy, that has a high probability of resulting in developmental delay * * *.;

(iii) Are at risk of having substantial developmental delays if early intervention services are not provided due to conditions as defined in state policy. (This category may be served at the discretion of the lead agency contingent upon available resources.)

(b) "Early intervention services" are developmental services that:

(i) Are provided under public supervision;

(ii) Are provided at no cost except where federal or state law provides for a system of payments by families, including a schedule of sliding fees;

(iii) Are designed to meet the developmental needs of an infant or toddler with a disability in any one or more of the following areas:

(A) Physical development;

(B) Cognitive development;

(D) Social or emotional development; or

(E) Adaptive development;

(iv) Meet the requirements of Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the early intervention standards of the State of Mississippi;

(v) Include, but are not limited to, the following services:

(A) Assistive technology devices and assistive technology services;

(B) Audiology;

(D) Health services necessary to enable a child to benefit from other early intervention services;

(E) Medical services only for diagnostic or evaluation purposes;

(F) Nutrition services;

(G) Occupational therapy;

(H) Physical therapy;

(I) Psychological services;

(J) Service coordination (case management);

(K) Social work services;

(L) Special instruction;

(M) Speech-language pathology;

(N) Transportation and related costs that are necessary to enable an infant or toddler and her/his family to receive early intervention services; and

(O) Vision services;

(vi) Are provided by qualified personnel as determined by the state's personnel standards, including:

(A) Audiologists;

(B) Family therapists;

(D) Nutritionists;

(E) Occupational therapists;

(F) Orientation and mobility specialists;

(G) Pediatricians and other physicians;

(H) Physical therapists;

(I) Psychologists;

(J) Social workers;

(K) Special educators;

(L) Speech and language pathologists;

(vii) Are provided, to the maximum extent appropriate, in natural environments, including the home, and community settings in which children without disabilities would participate;

(viii) Are provided in conformity with an individualized family service plan.

(d) "Lead agency" means the State Department of Health.

(e) "Participating agencies" includes, but is not limited to, the State Department of Education, the Department of Human Services, the State Department of Health, the Division of Medicaid, the State Department of Mental Health, the University Medical Center, the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the * * * Mississippi Community College Board.

(f) "Local community" means a county either jointly, severally, or a portion thereof, participating in the provision of early intervention services.

(g) "Primary service agency" means the agency, whether a state agency, local agency, local interagency council or service provider which is designated by the lead agency to serve as the fiscal and contracting agent for a local community.

(h) "Multidisciplinary team" means a group comprised of the parent(s) or legal guardian and the service providers, as appropriate, described in paragraph (b) of this section, who are assembled for the purposes of:

(i) Assessing the developmental needs of an infant or toddler;

(ii) Developing the individualized family service plan; and

(iii) Providing the infant or toddler and his or her family with the appropriate early intervention services as detailed in the individualized family service plan.

(i) "Individualized family service plan" means a written plan designed to address the needs of the infant or toddler and his or her family as specified under Section 41-87-13.

(j) "Early intervention standards" means those standards established by any agency or agencies statutorily designated the responsibility to establish standards for infants and toddlers with disabilities, in coordination with the council and in accordance with Part C of IDEA.

(k) "Early intervention system" means the total collaborative effort in the state that is directed at meeting the needs of eligible children and their families.

(l) "Parent," for the purpose of early intervention services, means a parent, a guardian, a person acting as a parent of a child, foster parent, or an appointed surrogate parent. The term does not include the state if the child is a ward of the state where the child has not been placed with individuals to serve in a parenting capacity, such as foster parents, or when a surrogate parent has not been appointed. When a child is the ward of the state, a Department of Human Services representative will act as parent for purposes of service authorization.

(m) "Policies" means the state statutes, regulations, Governor's orders, directives by the lead agency, or other written documents that represent the state's position concerning any matter covered under this chapter.

(n) "Regulations" means the United States Department of Education's regulations concerning the governance and implementation of Part C of IDEA, the Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities.

SECTION 56. Section 43-1-30, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-1-30. (1) There is created the Mississippi TANF Implementation Council. It shall serve as the independent, single state advisory and review council for assuring Mississippi's compliance with the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193), as amended. The council shall further cooperation between government, education and the private sector in meeting the needs of the TANF program. It shall also further cooperation between the business and labor communities, education and training delivery systems, and between businesses in developing highly skilled workers for high skill, high paying jobs in Mississippi.

(2) The council shall be comprised of thirteen (13) public members and certain ex officio nonvoting members. All public members of the council shall be appointed as follows by the Governor:

Ten (10) members shall be representatives from business and industry, provided that no fewer than five (5) members are from the manufacturing and industry sector who are also serving as members of private industry councils established within the state, and one (1) member may be a representative of a nonprofit organization. Three (3) members shall be recipients or former recipients of TANF assistance appointed from the state at large.

The ex officio nonvoting members of the council shall consist of the following, or their designees:

(a) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services;

(b) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security;

(d) The State Superintendent of Public Education;

(e) The Director of the * * * Mississippi Community College Board;

(f) The Executive Director of the Division of Medicaid;

(g) The Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections; and

(h) The Director of the Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service.

(3) The Governor shall designate one (1) public member to serve as chairman of the council for a term of two (2) years and until a successor as chairman is appointed and qualified.

(4) The term of office for public members appointed by the Governor shall be four (4) years and until their successors are appointed and qualified.

(5) Any vacancy shall be filled for the unexpired term by the Governor in the manner of the original appointment, unless otherwise specified in this section.

(6) Public members shall receive a per diem as authorized in Section 25-3-69, for each day actually engaged in meetings of the council, and shall be reimbursed for mileage and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties, as provided in Section 25-3-41.

(7) The council shall:

(a) Annually review and recommend policies and programs to the Governor and the Legislature that will implement and meet federal requirements under the TANF program.

(b) Annually review and recommend policies and programs to the Governor and to the Legislature that will enable citizens of Mississippi to acquire the skills necessary to maximize their economic self-sufficiency.

(c) Review the provision of services and the use of funds and resources under the TANF program, and under all state-financed job training and job retraining programs, and advise the Governor and the Legislature on methods of coordinating such provision of services and use of funds and resources consistent with the laws and regulations governing such programs.

(d) Assist in developing outcome and output measures to measure the success of the Department of Human Services' efforts in implementing the TANF program. These recommendations shall be made to the Department of Human Services at such times as required in the event that the department implements new programs to comply with the TANF program requirements.

(e) Collaborate with the Mississippi Development Authority, local planning and development districts and local industrial development boards, and shall develop an economic development plan for the creation of manufacturing jobs in each of the counties in the state that has an unemployment rate of ten percent (10%) or more, which shall include, but not be limited to, procedures for business development, entrepreneurship and financial and technical assistance.

(8) A majority of the members of the council shall constitute a quorum for the conduct of meetings and all actions of the council shall be by a majority of the members present at a meeting.

(9) The council shall adopt rules and regulations as it deems necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this section and under applicable federal human resources programs.

(10) The council may make and enter into contracts and interagency agreements as may be necessary and proper.

(11) The council is authorized to commit and expend monies appropriated to it by the Legislature for its authorized purposes. The council is authorized to solicit, accept and expend public and private gifts, grants, awards and contributions related to furtherance of its statutory duties.

(12) Funds for the operations of the council shall be derived from federal funds for the operation of state councils pursuant to applicable federal human resources programs and from such other monies appropriated to it by the Legislature.

SECTION 57. Section 43-59-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-59-9. There is established an interagency council comprised of representatives of state agencies, including, but not limited to, the State Department of Health, State Department of Mental Health, Department of Human Services, State Department of Education, Department of Public Safety, Mississippi Development Authority, Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, * * * Mississippi Community College Board, Attorney General's Office, Secretary of State's Office and Mississippi Department of Corrections. Each of these agencies shall report to the commission annually through its representative, addressing the current health, employment, educational and overall status of women and the agency's actions to improve women's status. The commission, in its discretion, may call a meeting of the full council; however, full council meetings may not be called more frequently than once during a fiscal year.

SECTION 58. Section 45-4-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

45-4-3. (1) There is hereby created the Board on Jail Officer Standards and Training, which shall consist of nine (9) members.

(2) The members shall be appointed as follows:

(a) Two (2) members to be appointed by the Mississippi Association of Supervisors.

(b) Three (3) members to be appointed by the Mississippi Association of Sheriffs.

(d) One (1) member to be appointed by the Governor.

(e) One (1) member to be appointed by the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police.

(f) One (1) member to be appointed by the Mississippi Municipal League.

The initial appointments to the board shall be made no later than twenty (20) days after July 1, 1999, as follows:

The Mississippi Association of Supervisors shall appoint one (1) member for a term of one (1) year and one (1) member for a term of three (3) years.

The Mississippi Association of Sheriffs shall appoint one (1) member for a term of one (1) year, one (1) member for a term of two (2) years and one (1) member for a term of three (3) years.

The * * * Mississippi Community College Board shall appoint one (1) member for a term of two (2) years.

The Governor shall appoint one (1) member for a term of two (2) years.

The Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police shall appoint one (1) member for a term of two (2) years not later than twenty (20) days after July 1, 2000.

The Mississippi Municipal League shall appoint one (1) member for a term of two (2) years not later than twenty (20) days after July 1, 2000.

Upon the expiration of the terms of the initial appointees to the board, each subsequent appointment shall be made for a term of three (3) years, beginning on the date of the expiration of the previous term. A vacancy in any appointed position on the board prior to the expiration of a term shall be filled by appointment for the balance of the unexpired term.

(3) Members of the board shall serve without compensation, but shall be entitled to receive reimbursement for any actual and reasonable expenses incurred as a necessary incident to such service, including mileage, as provided in Section 25-3-41, Mississippi Code of 1972.

(4) There shall be a chairman and a vice chairman of the board, elected by and from the membership of the board. The board shall adopt rules and regulations governing times and places for meetings and governing the manner of conducting its business, but the board shall meet at least every three (3) months. Any member who is absent for three (3) consecutive regular meetings of the board may be removed by a majority vote of the board.

(5) The Governor shall call an organizational meeting of the board not later than thirty (30) days after July 1, 1999.

(6) The board shall report annually to the Governor and the Legislature on its activities, and may make such other reports as it deems desirable.

SECTION 59. Section 57-73-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

57-73-25. (1) A fifty percent (50%) income tax credit shall be granted to any employer (as defined in subsection (4) of this section) sponsoring skills training. The fifty percent (50%) credit shall be granted to employers that participate in employer-sponsored training programs through any community/junior college in the district within which the employer is located or training approved by such community/junior college. The credit is applied to qualified training expenses, which are expenses related to instructors, instructional materials and equipment, and the construction and maintenance of facilities by such employer designated for training purposes which is attributable to training provided through such community/junior college or training approved by such community/junior college. The credits allowed under this section shall only be used by the actual employer qualifying for the credits. The credit shall not exceed fifty percent (50%) of the income tax liability in a tax year and may be carried forward for the five (5) successive years if the amount allowable as credit exceeds the income tax liability in a tax year; however, thereafter, if the amount allowable as a credit exceeds the tax liability, the amount of excess shall not be refundable or carried forward to any other taxable year. The credit authorized under this section shall not exceed Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00) per employee during any one (1) year. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted in any manner as to prevent the continuing operation of state-supported university programs.

(2) Employer-sponsored training shall include an evaluation by the local community or junior college that serves the employer to ensure that the training provided is job related and conforms to the definition of "skills training" as hereinafter defined.

(3) Employers shall be certified as eligible for the tax credit by the local community or junior college that serves the employer and the Department of Revenue.

(4) For the purposes of this section:

(a) "Skills training" means any employer-sponsored training by an appropriate community/junior college or training approved by such community/junior college that enhances skills that improve job performance. If the employer provides preemployment training, the portion of the preemployment training that involves skills training shall be eligible for the credit.

(b) "Employer-sponsored training" means training provided by the appropriate community/junior college in the district within which the employer is located or training approved by such community/junior college.

(5) The tax credits provided for in this section shall be in addition to all other tax credits heretofore granted by the laws of the state.

(6) A community/junior college may commit to provide employer-sponsored skills training programs for an employer for a multiple number of years, not to exceed five (5) years.

(7) The * * * Mississippi Community College Board shall make a report to the Legislature by January 30 of each year summarizing the number of participants, the junior or community college through which the training was offered and the type training offered.

(8) This section shall stand repealed from and after July 1, 2016.

SECTION 60. Section 69-2-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

69-2-5. (1) The Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service shall act as a clearinghouse for the dissemination of information regarding programs and services which may be available to help those persons and businesses which have been adversely affected by the present emergency in the agricultural community. The Cooperative Extension Service shall develop a plan of assistance which shall identify all programs and services available within the state which can be of assistance to those affected by the present emergency. The Department of Agriculture and Commerce, Department of Finance and Administration, Department of Human Services, Department of Mental Health, State Department of Health, Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, * * * Mississippi Community College Board, Research and Development Center, Mississippi Development Authority, Department of Employment Security, Office of the Governor, Board of Vocational and Technical Education, Mississippi Authority for Educational Television, and other agencies of the state which have programs and services that can be of assistance to those affected by the present emergency, shall provide information regarding their programs and services to the Cooperative Extension Service for use in the clearinghouse. The types of programs and services shall include, but not be limited to, financial counseling, farm and small business management, employment services, labor market information, job retraining, vocational and technical training, food stamp programs, personal counseling, health services, and free or low cost legal services. The clearinghouse shall provide a single contact point to provide program information and referral services to individuals interested or needing services from state-funded assistance programs affecting agriculture, horticulture, aquaculture and other agribusinesses or related industries. Such assistance information shall identify all monies available under the Small Business Financing Act, the Business Investment Act, the Emerging Crops Fund legislation and any other sources which may be used singularly or combined, to provide a comprehensive financing package. The provisions of this section in establishing a single contact point for information and referral services shall not be construed to authorize the hiring of additional personnel.

(2) The Cooperative Extension Service may accept monetary or in-kind contributions, gifts and grants for the establishment or operation of the clearinghouse.

(3) The Cooperative Extension Service shall establish a method for the dissemination of information to those who can be benefited by the existing programs and services of the state.

(4) The Cooperative Extension Service shall file an annual report with the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House of Representatives regarding the efforts which have been made in the clearinghouse operation. The report shall also recommend any additional measures, including legislation, which may be needed or desired in providing programs and benefits to those affected by the agricultural emergency.

SECTION 61. Section 73-15-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

73-15-25. In addition to all other powers and duties now vested by law in the State Department of Education, it is hereby empowered and required, acting in this behalf by and through its Division of Vocational Education, to:

* * *1.(a) Contract with the * * * Mississippi Community College Board to establish by rules and regulations and promulgate uniform standards for the accreditation of schools of practical nursing in this state insofar as concerns the eligibility of graduates of such schools to take the examination to become licensed practical nurses;

* * *2.(b) Contract with the * * * Mississippi Community College Board to issue to such schools certificates of accreditation as may be proper under such standards.

SECTION 62. Section 75-59-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

75-59-1. No person, firm or corporation shall contract to furnish correspondence courses to persons within the state unless such person, firm or corporation shall have obtained a permit from the office of the Secretary of State, either (a) the State Department of Education, (b) the * * * Mississippi Community College Board, or (c) the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, whichever is appropriate, and the Office of the Attorney General. An application for a permit shall be made on forms furnished by the Secretary of State, the State Department of Education, the * * * Mississippi Community College Board or the Board of Trustees of Institutions of Higher Learning, as the case may be, and the Attorney General and such application shall designate an agent for the service of summons within the state; shall contain the name and address of the applicant; the type of courses offered with a brief summary of the course of studies offered; and one (1) copy of all textbooks or other teaching aids and training materials which are incorporated in the course of study shall be filed with said application. The applicant shall pay the Secretary of State a fee of Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00). The applicant shall file a bond with his application in the sum of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) conditioned to satisfy any judgment rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction, in favor of any person who has sustained damages as a result of the breach of a contract of instruction by the permittee. Such bond shall be executed by the permittee and a resident surety company qualified to transact business within the state. Such permit shall be valid for one (1) year from the date thereof. Suits against the permittee and his surety may be brought in the county where the plaintiff resides, or the county where the defendant has his principal place of business, or where his resident agent resides. This chapter shall not apply to any business school or business college holding a current certificate or license issued under the applicable law of this state. In addition, this chapter shall not apply to religious instructions offered by a recognized church denomination; provided, however, that no fee or charge of any kind whatever may be levied or collected directly or indirectly for such instructions or certificates issued in connection therewith or incidental thereto. No person shall be granted a permit unless he is an individual of good moral character.

SECTION 63. Section 75-60-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

75-60-15. (1) An initial application fee shall accompany each application for certificate of registration, and a renewal fee shall accompany each application for renewal of registration.

(2) If a renewal fee is not paid at least thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of a school's certificate of registration, in addition to the renewal fee, there shall be a delinquent fee collected. No portion of any license fee shall be subject to refund.

(3) A certificate of registration shall be issued or denied within sixty (60) days after receipt of the application by the commission.

(4) No new program of study shall be offered by any school holding a certificate of registration until it is registered with and approved by the commission in accordance with procedures which shall be established by the commission. After such course is registered in accordance with the approval procedures provided for herein, it shall be included as a part of any renewal of a certificate of registration. Each application for the original registration of a new program registration fee to be determined by the commission.

(5) A certificate of registration shall be valid only for the school and courses for which it is issued and shall not include other schools or additional locations of a school unless each such additional location (a) offers only courses which are identical to courses offered at the registered location and (b) is under the same ownership, management and control as that of the registered location except as may be provided otherwise in this section. Such additional locations meeting such requirements shall be identified as "annexes" on a certificate application. Gross tuition revenues for the registered location and all annexes shall be combined for the purpose of determining fees payable under this section.

(6) The fees submitted with applications for initial or renewal of registration are not returnable to the applicant, even though a certificate of registration is not issued, unless the Commission on Proprietary School and College Registration determines that a financial hardship will result.

(7) The amount of fees authorized in this section and in Section 75-60-27 shall be determined by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board after receiving recommendations from the commission.

SECTION 64. Section 75-60-27, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

75-60-27. The application for an agent permit and an application for renewal thereof shall be accompanied by fees determined by the * * * Mississippi Community College Board. All fees collected for the issuance or renewal of agent permits shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the Commission on Proprietary School and College Registration.

SECTION 65. Section 75-60-43, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

75-60-43. The State Department of Education shall supply to the * * * Mississippi Community College Board all records, regulations and forms relating to proprietary school and college registration. All certificates and permits for proprietary schools and colleges issued by the State Department of Education shall be valid until their normal expiration dates unless suspended or revoked for cause.

SECTION 66. Section 37-29-167, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-29-167. Any state public junior college desiring any benefit available under the provisions of the Mississippi Junior College Vocational and Technical Training Law of 1964 shall make application in triplicate therefor to the * * *~~junior college commission~~ Mississippi Community College Board, and submit the same in the form and manner as said commission may direct.

The board of trustees of the junior college district is required and it is empowered to allocate local matching funds on at least a fifty-fifty basis to supplement state funds, and the commission shall determine the rules and conditions appertaining to same.

The board of trustees is authorized to receive all grants, scholarships or donations in carrying out the provisions of said law.

SECTION 67. Section 37-29-451, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-29-451. There is hereby created the Copiah-Lincoln Junior College District comprised of the territory lying within Adams, Copiah, Franklin, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lincoln and Simpson Counties and having boundaries coinciding with the external boundaries thereof. The said district shall be and is hereby constituted a legal political governmental subdivision and a body corporate. The board of trustees of said district, with the consent of the * * *~~Junior College Commission~~ Mississippi Community College Board, is hereby empowered to change the name of the district.

SECTION 68. Section 37-104-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-104-5. As used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings:

(a) "Authority" means the members of the State Bond Commission, which is composed of the Governor, the Attorney General, and the State Treasurer, under Section 31-17-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, acting as the Educational Facilities Authority for Private, Nonprofit Institutions of Higher Learning.

(b) "Private institution of higher learning" means a nonprofit university, college or junior college within the State of Mississippi, authorized by law to provide a program of education beyond the high school level, which is not under the jurisdiction of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning or the * * * Mississippi Community College Board, and which is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

(c) "Educational facility" means any facility or structure, including, but not limited to, a housing or dormitory facility, academic building, library, laboratory, research facility, classroom, athletic facility, health care facility, maintenance, storage or utility facility, student union building, administration building, and parking facility, and any other facility or structure related thereto, which is essential, useful or convenient for the instruction of students, the conducting of research or the operation and conduct of a private institution of higher learning, and the land underlying said facility or structure, but shall not include any facility or structure used or to be used for sectarian instruction or as a place of religious worship nor any facility which is used or to be used primarily in connection with any part of the program of a school or department of divinity for any religious denomination or sect.

(d) "Educational facility project" means the construction, enlargement, repair, improvement, alteration, remodeling, reconstruction, equipping or acquisition of an educational facility.

(e) "Cost of the educational facility project" means the cost of construction, enlargement, repair, improvement, alteration, remodeling, reconstruction, equipping or acquisition of an educational facility; the cost of all lands, properties, rights-of-way, easements, franchises and interests acquired, used for or in connection with the educational facility; the cost of demolishing or removing buildings or structures on land so acquired, including the cost of acquiring any lands to which such buildings or structures may be moved; the cost of all machinery and equipment; financing charges, interest prior to and during construction, enlargement, repair, improvement, alteration, remodeling, reconstruction, or equipping of the said educational facility and for one (1) year after completion of said construction, enlargement, repair, improvement, alteration, remodeling, reconstruction, equipping or acquisition; the cost of engineering, architectural, financial and legal services; the cost of all plans, surveys and specifications; studies, estimates of cost and of revenues, and other expenses necessary or incident to determining the feasibility or practicability of the project; administrative expenses; the cost of such other expenses as may be necessary or incident to the financing herein authorized of the construction, enlargement, repair, improvement, alteration, remodeling, reconstruction, equipping or acquisition of any educational facility and the placing of said project in operation. Any obligations or expenses incurred for any of the foregoing purposes shall be regarded as a cost of the educational facility project and may be paid or reimbursed as such out of the proceeds of revenue bonds issued under the provisions of this chapter for such educational facility project.

(f) "Participating private institution of higher learning" means a private institution of higher learning which, pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, undertakes an educational facility project, and the financing thereof, or undertakes the refinancing of an educational facility project.

(g) "Revenue bonds" means revenue bonds issued by the Authority, under the provisions of this chapter, to finance or refinance an educational facility project at a participating private institution of higher learning and payable from monies received by the Authority from the participating private institution of higher learning pursuant to the bond loan agreement as defined herein.

(h) "Bond loan agreement" means an agreement between the participating private institution of higher learning and the Authority for the purposes of: (i) establishing the terms for the payment of the revenue bonds by the participating private institution of higher learning; (ii) establishing the collateral of the participating private institution of higher learning which the parties determine to be necessary to secure the payment of the revenue bonds; (iii) establishing the terms for the payment by the Authority to the participating private institution of higher learning of the proceeds from the sale of the revenue bonds for the payment of the costs of the educational facilities project by the participating private institution of higher learning; and (iv) setting forth all other matters relating to the revenue bonds.

SECTION 69. Section 37-33-173, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-33-173. (1) As used in this section:

(a) "Certification" means the credentials that has been granted or recognized, or both, by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID), or any other national certifying body that is recognized by the Mississippi Office on Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ODHH), including, but not limited to: RID/NAD National Interpreter Certification (NIC)(NIC, NIC Advanced, NIC Master), NAD (III, IV or V), Comprehensive Skills Certificate (CSC), Certificate of Interpretation (CI), Certificate of Transliteration (CT), Ed:K-12 (Educational Interpreter Performance Appraisal [EIPA] Level 4 or 5), Certified Deaf Interpreter (CDI). It further includes the documentation that supports the certification level the interpreter has achieved.

(b) "Deaf or hard of hearing person" means a person who has either no hearing or who has significant hearing loss so as to need the services of an interpreter to communicate. "Deafblind person" means a person who has either the dual loss of hearing and sight or who has significant hearing and vision losses so as to need the services of an interpreter to communicate.

(c) "Interpreter training program" means a postsecondary degree program of at least two (2) years in duration that is accredited by the * * *~~Mississippi~~ Mississippi Community College Board, the Mississippi institutions of higher learning or a comparable agency in another state.

(d) "Interpreter" means an individual who is certified or credentialed by the National Association of the Deaf, the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, any other national certifying organization which is recognized by the Mississippi Office on Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ODHH), or an individual who holds a valid ODHH-approved quality assurance screening level. Registered interpreters are required to adhere to professional standards and a Code of Ethics as established by the National Association of the Deaf and the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.

(e) "Interpreting" is the process of providing accessible communication between and among consumers who are deaf or hard of hearing and those who are hearing. This process includes, but is not limited to, communication between persons who use American Sign Language, English, cued speech and oral communication. It may also include various other modalities that involve visual, gestural and tactile methods.

(f) "Quality assurance level (QA level)" means the level granted through an ODHH-approved quality assurance screening evaluation. It further includes the documentation that supports the QA level the interpreter has achieved.

(g) "Register" means the process whereby the certification and quality assurance level of qualified interpreters are documented and maintained so as to permit those individuals to act as an interpreter for pay in the State of Mississippi.

(h) "Registering authority" means the agency that registers the credentials an interpreter holds, issues the registration documentation to do business in the State of Mississippi, and maintains the records to support the registration. The registering authority is the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services, Office on Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

(i) "EIPA" means the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment.

(2) (a) Commencing on July 1, 2005, no person, except as noted in subsection (2)(f), shall do any of the following with respect to providing interpreting services for consumers who are deaf or hard of hearing for a fee or other remuneration unless the person is registered with the registering authority:

(i) Engage in the practice of, or offer to engage in the practice of, interpreting for a fee.

(ii) Use the title of interpreter in connection with the person's name.

(iii) Assume the identity of an interpreter.

(iv) Use the title of interpreter in advertisements or descriptions.

(v) Perform the function of or convey the impression that the person is an interpreter.

(b) On or after July 1, 2010, no person shall provide interpreting services and/or represent himself or herself as an interpreter for deaf or hard of hearing consumers for compensation unless such person is registered with the registering authority according to the provisions of this section. To register as an interpreter, one must satisfy one (1) of the following requirements: (i) hold certification recognized by the National Association of the Deaf or the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, (ii) hold a quality assurance screening level that is accepted by the Registering Authority, or (iii) score 3.0 or higher on the EIPA.

(c) In situations where there is extreme hardship or where deaf and hard of hearing consumers would be left with no interpreting services, a provisional permit may be granted on an annual basis, provided that documentation of improved interpreting skills is shown.

(d) The registering authority shall be charged with the responsibility for keeping all records and verifying the accuracy of the credentials of each applicant.

(e) Registration shall be for a period of two (2) years, and is renewable.

(f) The following shall be exceptions to subsection (2)(a)(b)(c):

(i) A person may engage in the practice of interpreting for religious services without being registered under the provisions of this section.

(ii) Students enrolled in an approved Interpreter Training Program (ITP) are granted a student level registration provided the ITP has an instructor who also is registered under the provisions of this section and the student pays the appropriate fees.

(iii) A graduate of an approved Interpreter Training Program (ITP) can continue to utilize their student level for two (2) years without registering provided they are supervised by an interpreter who is registered under the provisions of this section and the graduate pays the appropriate fees.

(g) The registering authority shall establish an Advisory Council to assist in writing the rules and setting the fees for registering. The Advisory Council shall have three (3) members. One (1) member shall be a deaf consumer; one (1) member shall be a registered interpreter who is actively engaged in the interpreting business; and one (1) member shall be at large. The Advisory Council may ask additional persons who are knowledgeable about the process and business of interpreting to assist them with the business of the council as needed.

(3) The deaf, hard of hearing, or deafblind consumer(s) and the hearing person(s) who employ, contract or otherwise engage the services of an interpreter are the principal parties in the interpreted communication or conversation, and as such hold exclusive rights to any information conveyed therein. Interpreters may not disclose or be compelled to disclose, through reporting or testimony or by subpoena, the contents of the conversations, except an interpreter working in conjunction with and paid by a state agency, private organization or primary or secondary school for the therapeutic, educational or rehabilitation purposes. This communication remains confidential, but may be shared with the appropriate agency or educational staff working to assist the deaf, hard of hearing or deafblind person.

(4) The registering authority shall develop forms and assist in referring grievances to the appropriate professional organization and/or authorities.

(5) The registering authority shall have oversight authority regarding in-state quality assurance evaluations to ensure that proper assessment tools, methods and procedures are followed and that evaluators are trained and qualified, as well as the authority to employ personnel as necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.

(6) Whoever is in violation of subsection (2) or (3) is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) nor more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), and may be imprisoned for not more than six (6) months.

(7) Mississippi shall recognize interpreters who are licensed and/or certified in other states with equal or higher certification than the interpreting levels prescribed by the rules and regulations incumbent in this section. A nonresident interpreter may work up to fifteen (15) days per year without seeking a valid permit from the registering authority. The person who utilizes a nonresident interpreter is charged with the responsibility of verifying the credentials and type of interpreting the interpreter is qualified to do. If a nonresident interpreter works more than fifteen (15) calendar days per year in the State of Mississippi for compensation or other remuneration, the interpreter must become registered under the provisions of this section and pay the appropriate fees.

(8) The registering authority shall establish fair and equitable rules and a fee schedule, not to exceed One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) per annual registration, to cover the cost of administering this section. The rules and fee schedule will be published for the general public.

SECTION 70. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.

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