MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2020 Regular Session

To: Education

By: Representative Chism

House Bill 321

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-15-1, 37-15-2 AND 37-15-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO STORE THE PERMANENT AND CUMULATIVE RECORDS OF STUDENTS IN A DIGITAL FORMAT THAT IS COMPATIBLE WITH THE MISSISSIPPI STUDENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MSIS) AND WHICH DOES NOT VIOLATE THE PROVISIONS OF THE FAMILY EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS AND PRIVACY ACT OF 1974 (FERPA); AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

     SECTION 1.  Section 37-15-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     37-15-1.  The State Board of Education shall prepare and provide necessary forms for keeping permanent records and cumulative folders for each pupil in the public schools, including charter schools, of the state in a manner consistent with that prescribed in Sections 37-15-2 and 37-15-3 for the storage of such records.  In the permanent record and cumulative folders, the teachers and principals shall keep information concerning the pupil's date of birth, as verified by the documentation authorized in this section, record of attendance, grades and withdrawal from the school, including the date of any expulsion from the school and a description of the student's act or behavior resulting in the expulsion.  The records also shall contain information pertaining to immunization and such other information as the State Board of Education may prescribe.  The cumulative folder, in addition to that information maintained in the permanent records, also shall contain such other information as the State Board of Education shall prescribe.  It shall be the responsibility of the person in charge of each school to enforce the requirement for evidence of the age of each pupil before enrollment.  If the first prescribed evidence is not available, the next evidence obtainable in the order set forth below shall be accepted:

          (a)  A certified birth certificate;

          (b)  A duly attested transcript of a certificate of baptism showing the date of birth and place of baptism of the child, accompanied by an affidavit sworn to by a parent, grandparent or custodian;

          (c)  An insurance policy on the child's life which has been in force for at least two (2) years;

          (d)  A bona fide contemporary Bible record of the child's birth accompanied by an affidavit sworn to by the parent, grandparent or custodian;

          (e)  A passport or certificate of arrival in the United States showing the age of the child;

          (f)  A transcript of record of age shown in the child's school record of at least four (4) years prior to application, stating date of birth; or

          (g)  If none of these evidences can be produced, an affidavit of age sworn to by a parent, grandparent or custodian.  Any child enrolling in kindergarten or Grade 1 shall present the required evidence of age upon enrollment.  Any child in Grades 2 through 12 not in compliance at the end of sixty (60) days from enrollment shall be suspended until in compliance.

     SECTION 2.  Section 37-15-2, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     37-15-2.  The permanent record provided for in Section 37-15-1 shall be kept, while it is active, in the attendance center office in a fire resistant container.

     The permanent record shall be considered active:  (a) if the student is enrolled in the school; or (b) if he has withdrawn or has been expelled and the students of the class of which he was a member shall not have reached the time of graduation.

     At the point of the student's graduation or at the time when the student would normally have graduated had he not withdrawn or been expelled from school, the student's permanent record shall * * *become a part of the permanent binder in the central fire resistant depository or be stored digitally * * *as designated and provided by the school board of the school district, or, as an alternative method, the records may be maintained in fire resistant storage at the school last attended by the student in a form and manner that is compatible with the Mississippi Student Information System (MSIS) and which does not violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), as amended, 20 USCS Section 1232g and 34 CFR Part 99.  The permanent * * *binding and preservation of the inactive records shall be the duty of the superintendent of the school district * * * who shall maintain a central depository of the records.

     SECTION 3.  Section 37-15-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     37-15-3.  Such cumulative folders as are provided for in Section 37-15-1 shall be kept in the school wherein the pupils are in attendance and stored digitally in a form and manner that is compatible with the Mississippi Student Information System (MSIS) and which does not violate the provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), as amended, 20 USCS Section 1232g and 34 CFR Part 99.  Both the permanent records and the cumulative folders shall be available to school officials, including teachers within the school district who have been determined by the school district to have legitimate educational interests.  In no case, however, shall such records be available to the general public.  Transcripts of courses and grades may be furnished when requested by the parent or guardian or eligible pupil as prescribed in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, 20 USCS Section 1232g and 34 CFR Part 99.  Such records shall be kept for each pupil throughout his entire public school enrollment period.  In the event a pupil transfers to a public school, including a charter school, then the pupil's digital cumulative folder shall be furnished to the head of the school to which the pupil transfers; if a pupil transfers to a private school, then a copy of the pupil's digital cumulative folder shall be furnished to the head of the school to which the pupil transfers.  The permanent record shall be kept permanently by the school district from which the pupil transferred in a digital format as required by this section and Section 37-15-2.

     At no time may a permanent record of a student be destroyed, but cumulative folders may be destroyed by order of the school board of the school district in not less than five (5) years after the permanent record of the pupil has become inactive and has been transferred to the central depository of the district.  * * * Provided, However, * * * that where a school district makes complete copies of inactive permanent records on photographic film, microfilm, or any other acceptable form of medium for storage which may be reproduced as needed, such permanent records may be destroyed after the photographic film or microfilm copy has been stored in the central depository of the district.

     SECTION 4.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2020.

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