MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1997 Regular Session

To: Education

By: Senator(s) Hall

AN ACT TO CODIFY SECTION 43-5-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REESTABLISH AND EMPOWER THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE MISSISSIPPI SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF AND THE MISSISSIPPI SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND; TO AMEND SECTIONS 43-5-1, 43-5-5, 43-5-7, 43-5-8, 43-5-11, 43-5-13, 43-5-15, 43-5-17, 43-5-31, 43-5-33 AND 43-5-39, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO TRANSFER THE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION RELATING TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE MISSISSIPPI SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF AND THE MISSISSIPPI SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE MISSISSIPPI SCHOOLS FOR THE DEAF AND BLIND; TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-33-53, 37-33-54, 37-33-55, 37-33-57 AND 37-33-81, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO TRANSFER THE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF REHABILITATION SERVICES RELATING TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION FOR THE BLIND LAW AND CERTAIN PROGRAMS OF SERVICES FOR HEARING-IMPAIRED STUDENTS TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE MISSISSIPPI SCHOOLS FOR THE DEAF AND BLIND; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 

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

SECTION 1. The following provision shall be codified as Section 43-5-3, Mississippi Code of 1972:

43-5-3. (1) From and after July 1, 1997, the government and control of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind shall be vested in a board of trustees consisting of nine (9) members, including the State Superintendent of Education or an employee of the State Department of Education designated by the State Superintendent of Education, the Dean of the University of Mississippi Medical School or a medical doctor who is a member of the faculty of the medical school and designated by the Dean of the University of Mississippi Medical School, who shall take office as of July 1, 1997. The other seven (7) members shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate as follows: one (1) member from the state at large who has had professional experience involving services for or education of the visually impaired, one (1) member from the state at large who has had professional experience involving services for or education of the hearing impaired, and one (1) member from each of the five (5) congressional districts, as presently constituted, provided that the members from the congressional districts shall include one (1) member who is the parent of a person with impaired hearing and one (1) member who is the parent of a person with impaired vision.

(2) The term of office of the appointees from the state at large shall be seven (7) years. The Governor shall appoint the remaining members of the board on July 1, 1997, to serve terms of office as follows:

(a) The term of the member from the First Congressional District shall expire on July 1, 2000;

(b) The term of the member from the Second Congressional District shall expire on July 1, 2001;

(c) The term of the member from the Third Congressional District shall expire on July 1, 2002;

(d) The term of the member from the Fourth Congressional District shall expire on July 1, 2003; and

(e) The term of the member from the Fifth Congressional District shall expire on July 1, 2004.

(3) At the expiration of a term, members of the board shall be appointed in the manner prescribed in subsection (1) of this section for terms of seven (7) years from the expiration date of the previous term.

In case of the death or resignation of any trustee before the expiration of his or her term of office, the Governor shall appoint some proper person to serve out the unexpired portion of said term.

(4) The members of the board shall be compensated at the rate prescribed in Section 25-3-69, Mississippi Code of 1972, for each day spent in actual discharge of their duties and shall be reimbursed for mileage and actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as prescribed under Section 25-3-41, Mississippi Code of 1972. No board member may incur per diem, travel or other expenses unless previously authorized, by vote, at a meeting of the board, which action shall be recorded in the official minutes of said meeting.

SECTION 2. Section 43-5-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-5-1. (1) * * * The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind is hereby reestablished as provided in Section 43-5-3, and shall retain all powers and duties granted by law for the administration of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind. * * *

(2) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to require any consolidation or combination of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind other than where economies can be realized through the common utilization of maintenance personnel and equipment, physical facilities, vehicles and administrative personnel, where the same can be done without impairment of the effectiveness of the educational programs of the two (2) institutions or the welfare of the students.

(3) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to require any consolidation of services involving curriculum or instructional programs of the two (2) institutions.

(4) The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind, on behalf of each of these institutions, shall have the power to receive and hold property, real and personal, and to accept and use as provided by law, separate from the needs of the other institutions, all bequests, devices and donations made or which may in the future be made to or for it, and shall continue to enjoy the rights and privileges heretofore conferred upon it by law and such as are necessary now, or hereafter, to accomplish the purposes of its own establishment and operation and maintenance hereunder, provided that the same be not inconsistent with or in conflict with this chapter.

SECTION 3. Section 43-5-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-5-5. The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind shall adopt all needful rules and regulations for the government of the schools. The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind shall have authority and control over the pupils and over the properties of each school except where otherwise prescribed by law. The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind shall provide and maintain libraries for each school, and shall provide for proper and needful recreational facilities for the pupils of the separate schools, and encourage their physical and hygienic and religious advancement, including facilities for church attendances on the Sabbath.

SECTION 4. Section 43-5-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-5-7. The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind shall make regular and frequent inspections of each of the two (2) schools, and shall personally visit each school at least once a month during every school session, and shall prescribe when and where and by whom and in what quantities all supplies and sustenance of every kind shall be purchased. As far as practicable the purchases for each school shall be on basis of wholesale rather than at retail prices. The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind shall prepare in writing, monthly, the status of the schools and needs, and the physical and moral conditions of the pupils, and they shall require that the records of each school are preserved, and shall assume such duties as may through legislative enactment hereafter be placed upon the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind.

SECTION 5. Section 43-5-8, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-5-8. The Superintendent of the School for the Blind and the Superintendent of the School for the Deaf and all principals and directors shall be selected by and hold office subject to the will and pleasure of the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind. The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind may provide housing for the two (2) superintendents so employed either on- or off-campus. Each superintendent shall at all times maintain supervision of the physical properties of the school he serves unless otherwise provided. All other personnel shall be competitively appointed by the state superintendent and shall be dismissed only for cause in accordance with the rules and regulations of the State Personnel Board. The state superintendent, subject to the approval of the State Personnel Board, shall fix the amount of compensation or expenses of any of the personnel of the schools, which shall be paid upon the requisition of the state superintendent and warrant issued thereunder by the State Auditor out of the funds appropriated by the Legislature in a lump sum upon the basis of budgetary requirements submitted by the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind or out of funds otherwise made available. The entire expense of administering the schools shall never exceed the amount appropriated therefor, plus funds received from sources other than state appropriations. For a violation of this provision, the superintendent shall be liable, and he and the sureties on his bond shall be required to restore any excess.

SECTION 6. Section 43-5-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-5-11. The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind shall make a report to every annual term of the Legislature, showing the needs and condition and status of the School for the Blind and the School for the Deaf. Such report to the Legislature shall show how the money appropriated to the schools has been expended during the preceding year, beginning and ending with the fiscal year of each school. Such report shall exhibit the salaries paid to teachers, officers and employees and each and every item of receipt and expenditure. Each report shall be balanced and shall begin with the balance at the end of the preceding fiscal year. If any property belonging to the state or either school is used for profit such report shall show the expenses incurred in managing the property and the amount received from the same. Such report shall also show a summary of the gross receipts and gross disbursements for each fiscal year and shall show the money on hand at the beginning of the fiscal period of each school preceding each session of the Legislature and the necessary amount of expenses to be incurred from said date to January 1 next following.

SECTION 7. Section 43-5-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-5-13. Braille print, designated commonly as revised Braille Grade Two, shall be taught in the School for the Blind. The use of this print shall be included in the high school literary courses of students in such school. Every teacher or instructor in the School for the Deaf, whose duties include oral instruction of pupils, shall become acquainted with the most efficient and advanced methods of lipreading, but every teacher shall also master the manual alphabet in order to be able to communicate with pupils who cannot read lips and in order to aid and participate in student activities outside the classrooms. Every pupil entering the school shall be given oral instruction until it is clearly determined whether he can master lipreading to an extent enabling him to progress satisfactorily in his studies, but manual instruction shall be provided in all subjects for all pupils unable to progress satisfactorily under oral instruction alone. The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind may set and determine the additional requirements necessary for each teacher or instructor. All teachers and instructors must enter into written contracts of employment to indicate and cover the period for which they are respectively employed. Complete courses in shorthand and typewriting are to be offered at the School for the Deaf.

SECTION 8. Section 43-5-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-5-15. Each of the two (2) schools shall be open to receive all pupils eligible to attend it, and shall provide for the proper lodging, maintenance, care and education while in attendance. A student shall not be admitted to or continue as a pupil in the School for the Blind whose acuity of vision is, or becomes, habitually greater than fifty percent (50%) of normal vision, and a pupil shall not be admitted or remain as a pupil in the school for the deaf whose ability to hear is customarily sufficient for him or her to attend the public schools provided for normal children. The board, in its discretion, shall establish the age of eligibility for students seeking admission to the schools. No person shall be admitted to either institution as a pupil who is not a bona fide resident of this state or who is not of good moral character.

The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind shall fix the amount to be paid, and the terms of payment, by pupils in each school for board, and the conditions of admission, subject to the provisions of this chapter; and shall admit free of charges, upon the certificate of the county superintendent of education of any county in the state, all pupils eligible to attend the school, provided the amount appropriated by the Legislature is sufficient properly to care for the same. Each school shall provide requisite facilities for every pupil therein to acquire as complete a literary and musical education as practicable; and shall provide and maintain an industrial department in which expert instruction shall be given in such trades and crafts as may be suited to render the pupil therein self-sustaining in after life.

SECTION 9. Section 43-5-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-5-17. The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind shall maintain the two (2) schools at as high a grade of work and education as may be practicable, and shall endeavor to give the pupils the same extent and scope of education that the pupils would receive if attending the public schools of this state; and shall have diplomas or certificates granted unto those pupils who have successfully finished the prescribed courses taught.

SECTION 10. Section 43-5-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-5-31. The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind shall annually call a conference of representatives of state agencies, other governmental and private agencies, and institutions in the manner set forth by Sections 43-5-31 through 43-5-39 for the general purpose of the coordination of programs relating to the training, education and assistance of blind and deaf citizens of the State of Mississippi.

SECTION 11. Section 43-5-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-5-33. The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind shall appoint a director for this conference who may be an employee of the department or an employee of either the School for the Deaf or the School for the Blind.

SECTION 12. Section 43-5-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-5-39. The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind shall include a report of the activities and findings of the conference in the annual report of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind.

SECTION 13. Section 37-33-53, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-33-53. As used in the Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind Law:

(a) "State board" shall mean the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind;

(b) "Department" or "agency" shall mean the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind;

(c) "Director" shall mean the Director of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind;

(d) "Office" shall mean the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind;

(e) "Employment handicap" shall mean blindness as defined in the Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind Law;

(f) "Blind individual" shall mean any person with insufficient vision to perform tasks for which sight is essential;

(g) "Vocational rehabilitation" and "vocational rehabilitation services" shall mean any services, including supported employment and rehabilitation engineering services, provided directly or through public or private instrumentalities, found by the director to be necessary to enable a blind individual to overcome his employment handicap, and to enable him to engage in an occupation, including but not limited to medical and vocational diagnosis; vocational guidance, counseling and placement; rehabilitation training; physical restoration; transportation; occupational licenses; placement equipment, supplies and tools; maintenance; and training equipment, books and materials;

(h) "Rehabilitation training" shall mean all necessary training provided to a blind individual to enable him to overcome his employment handicap, including but not limited to manual, preconditioning, prevocational, vocational, and supplementary training and training provided for the purpose of developing occupational skills and capacities;

(i) "Physical restoration" shall mean any medical, surgical or therapeutic treatment necessary to correct or substantially reduce a blind individual's employment handicap within a reasonable length of time, including but not limited to medical or nursing services, hospital care, convalescent home care, drugs, medical and surgical supplies, and prosthetic appliances; however, curative treatment for acute or transitory conditions is excluded;

(j) "Prosthetic appliance" shall mean any artificial device necessary to support, to take the place of, a part of the body, or to increase the acuity of a sense organ;

(k) "Occupational licenses" shall mean any license, permit or other written authority required by any government unit to be obtained in order to engage in an occupation;

(l) "Maintenance" shall mean money payments not exceeding the estimated cost of subsistence during vocational rehabilitation;

(m) "Regulations" shall mean regulations made by the director with the approval of the state board, including regulations pertaining to independent living services;

(n) "Supported employment" services shall mean any services designed to secure competitive work in an integrated work setting with ongoing support services for individuals who are blind or visually impaired for whom competitive employment has not traditionally occurred or has been interrupted or intermittent as a result of severe handicaps;

(o) "Rehabilitation engineering" services shall mean any service which includes the systematic application of technologies, engineering methodologies or scientific principles to meet needs of and address the barriers confronted by individuals with handicaps in areas which include education, rehabilitation, employment, transportation, independent living and recreation;

(p) "Independent living" services shall mean any vocational rehabilitation service needed by a blind or visually impaired individual to function more independently in his home or community.

SECTION 14. Section 37-33-54, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-33-54. The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind, through the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind, shall administer the Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind Law as prescribed in Sections 37-33-53 through 37-33-75, Sections 43-3-3 through 43-3-15 and Section 43-3-93. The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind shall assign to the office such powers and duties deemed appropriate to carry out the lawful functions of this law and any federal law or regulation.

SECTION 15. Section 37-33-55, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-33-55. Vocational rehabilitation for the blind shall be administered by the director under supervision of the state board, in conformity with federal policies adopted by the state board. The director shall be selected by the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind in accordance with established personnel standards and on the basis of his education, training, experience and administrative ability. The director shall devote his full time to the administration of vocational rehabilitation. In carrying out his duties under the Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind Law, the director:

(a) Shall, with the approval of the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind, make regulations in conformity with the Federal Vocational Rehabilitation Act governing the protection of records and confidential information, the manner and form of filing applications, eligibility and investigations and determinations thereof for vocational rehabilitation services, procedures for fair hearings, and such other regulations as are found necessary to carry out the purposes of that law;

(b) Shall, with the approval of the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind, establish appropriate subordinate administrative units within the office for providing vocational rehabilitation, independent living, supported employment, rehabilitation engineering and other services to children, adolescents and adults pursuant to federal and state regulatory guidelines;

(c) Shall, with the approval of the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind, recommend for appointment of such personnel as may be necessary for the efficient performance of the functions of the office;

(d) Shall prepare and submit to the state board * * * annual reports of activities and expenditures and, before each regular session of the Legislature, shall submit estimates of sums required for carrying out the Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind Law and estimates of the amounts to be made available for this purpose from all sources;

(e) Shall, if the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind so authorizes, make certifications on behalf of the state board for the disbursement of funds available for vocational rehabilitation for the blind;

(f) Shall, with the approval of * * * the state board, take such other action as he deems necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of the Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind Law;

(g) May, with the approval of * * * the state board, delegate to any officer or employee of the office such of his powers and duties, except the making of regulations and the making of recommendations for appointment of personnel, as he finds necessary to carry out the purposes of the Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind Law;

(h) Shall, with the approval of * * * the state board, appoint committees to serve as the governing authority for independent living centers or other entities as required by federal law;

(i) Shall be authorized, in his discretion and with the approval of * * * the state board, to obtain and pay for liability insurance covering each, all or any of the motor vehicles of the office so as to cover the following damages for injury to persons or property, or both, caused by negligence of any duly authorized officer, agent, servant, attorney or employee of the office while operating such motor vehicle in the performance of his official duties, such policy to be written by the licensed resident agent or agents of an insurance company or companies qualified to do and authorized to do business in the State of Mississippi. On each vehicle the insurance policy shall be limited to Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) for personal injury to any one (1) person in any one (1) accident or Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00) for personal injury to two (2) or more persons in any one (1) accident and Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) property damages. The policy of insurance shall contain a provision to the effect that the insurance company shall make no plea of the sovereign immunity doctrine.

All policies shall be subject to the approval of the state board, and premiums thereon shall be paid from funds available to the office.

The department may be sued by anyone affected by the operation of the motor vehicles of the office which are covered by such liability insurance, to the extent of such insurance carried on the vehicle involved. However, immunity from suit is only waived to the extent of such liability insurance carried, and a judgment creditor shall have recourse only to the proceeds or right to proceeds of such liability insurance. No attempt shall be made in the trial of any case to suggest the existence of any insurance which covers in whole or in part any judgment or award rendered in favor of a claimant, but if the verdict rendered by the jury exceeds the limit of applicable insurance, the court on motion shall reduce the amount of the judgment, as against the department only and not as to joint tort-feasors, if any, to a sum equal to the applicable limit stated in the insurance policy.

This paragraph (i) shall stand repealed on the date that the sovereign immunity of the state is waived as provided in Section 11-46-5.

SECTION 16. Section 37-33-57, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-33-57. The director, with the approval of * * * the state board, may accept and use gifts and donations made unconditionally or otherwise for carrying out the purposes of the Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind Law, from either public or private sources. Gifts made under such conditions as in the judgment of the state board are proper and consistent with the provisions of that law may be so accepted and shall be held, invested, reinvested and used in accordance with the conditions of the gift. All monies received as gifts or donations, except conditional gifts requiring other treatment, shall be deposited in the State Treasury and shall constitute a permanent fund to be called the "Special Fund for the Vocational Rehabilitation of Blind Persons," and to be used by the state board for such purposes. The state board shall report annually to the State Legislature, setting forth the condition of vocational rehabilitation of blind persons in Mississippi, the expenditures made from state and federal funds in carrying out the provisions of that law or its purpose, and a detailed statement of all gifts and donations offered and accepted, together with the names of donors and the respective amounts prescribed by each and all the disbursements made therefrom.

SECTION 17. Section 37-33-81, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-33-81. (1) The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind is authorized to enter into contracts with appropriate post-secondary educational institutions in the state for the purpose of implementing and maintaining programs of services for hearing-impaired students.

(2) Such programs shall be funded from funds appropriated to the state board by the Legislature or from any other resource identified and accessed by the state board. The state board shall continue to administer such programs for each year deemed suitable by the state board.

(3) Any funds appropriated to the state board for such purpose for the 1987-1988 fiscal year shall be contracted to the Hinds Community College District for the administration, maintenance and expansion of the existing program for hearing-impaired students at the main campus of Hinds Community College. At any time that the existing program for hearing-impaired students at Hinds Community College is discontinued or is deemed inappropriate by the state board, such funds may be made available to other appropriate educational institutions in the state at which academic, vocational and technical preparation is offered.

SECTION 18. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1997.