MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2023 Regular Session
To: Education
By: Representative Bennett
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 31-7-9 AND 37-61-33, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO PROVIDE EEF CLASSROOM SUPPLY PROCUREMENT CARDS OR CREDENTIALS FOR A DIGITAL SOLUTION TO ELIGIBLE TEACHERS EMPLOYED BY CHARTER SCHOOLS; TO AMEND SECTION 37-28-55, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 31-7-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
31-7-9. (1) (a) The Office of Purchasing, Travel and Fleet Management shall adopt purchasing regulations governing the purchase by any agency of any commodity or commodities and establishing standards and specifications for a commodity or commodities and the maximum fair prices of a commodity or commodities, subject to the approval of the Public Procurement Review Board. It shall have the power to amend, add to or eliminate purchasing regulations. The adoption of, amendment, addition to or elimination of purchasing regulations shall be based upon a determination by the Office of Purchasing, Travel and Fleet Management with the approval of the Public Procurement Review Board, that such action is reasonable and practicable and advantageous to promote efficiency and economy in the purchase of commodities by the agencies of the state. Upon the adoption of any purchasing regulation, or an amendment, addition or elimination therein, copies of same shall be furnished to the State Auditor and to all agencies affected thereby. Thereafter, and except as otherwise may be provided in subsection (2) of this section, no agency of the state shall purchase any commodities covered by existing purchasing regulations unless such commodities be in conformity with the standards and specifications set forth in the purchasing regulations and unless the price thereof does not exceed the maximum fair price established by such purchasing regulations. The Office of Purchasing, Travel and Fleet Management shall furnish to any county or municipality or other local public agency of the state requesting same, copies of purchasing regulations adopted by the Office of Purchasing, Travel and Fleet Management and any amendments, changes or eliminations of same that may be made from time to time.
(b) The Office of Purchasing, Travel and Fleet Management may adopt purchasing regulations governing the use of credit cards, procurement cards and purchasing club membership cards to be used by state agencies, governing authorities of counties and municipalities, school districts and the Chickasawhay Natural Gas District. Use of the cards shall be in strict compliance with the regulations promulgated by the office. Any amounts due on the cards shall incur interest charges as set forth in Section 31-7-305 and shall not be considered debt.
(c) Pursuant to the provision of Section 37-61-33(3), the Office of Purchasing, Travel and Fleet Management of the Department of Finance and Administration is authorized to issue procurement cards or credentials for a digital solution to all public school district classroom teachers, charter school teachers, full- or part-time gifted or special education teachers and other necessary direct support personnel at the beginning of the school year, but no later than August 1 of each year, for the purchase of instructional supplies using Educational Enhancement Funds. The cards will be issued in equal amounts per teacher determined by the total number of qualifying personnel and the then current state appropriation for classroom instructional supplies under the Education Enhancement Fund. All purchases shall be in accordance with state law and teachers are responsible for verification of capital asset requirements when pooling monies to purchase equipment. The cards will expire on a predetermined date at the end of each school year, but not before April 1 of each year. All unexpended amounts will be carried forward, to be combined with the following year's instructional supply fund allocation, and reallocated for the following year. The Department of Finance and Administration is authorized to loan any start-up funds at the beginning of the school year to fund this procurement system for instructional supplies with loan repayment being made from sales tax receipts earmarked for the Education Enhancement Fund.
(d) In a sale of goods or services, the seller shall not impose a surcharge on a buyer who uses a state-issued credit card, procurement card, travel card, or fuel card. The Department of Finance and Administration shall have exclusive jurisdiction to enforce and adopt rules relating to this paragraph. Any rules adopted under this paragraph shall be consistent with federal laws and regulations governing credit card transactions described by this paragraph. This paragraph does not create a cause of action against an individual for a violation of this paragraph.
(2) The Office of Purchasing, Travel and Fleet Management shall adopt, subject to the approval of the Public Procurement Review Board, purchasing regulations governing the purchase of unmarked vehicles to be used by the Bureau of Narcotics and Department of Public Safety in official investigations pursuant to Section 25-1-87. Such regulations shall ensure that purchases of such vehicles shall be at a fair price and shall take into consideration the peculiar needs of the Bureau of Narcotics and Department of Public Safety in undercover operations.
(3) The Office of Purchasing, Travel and Fleet Management shall adopt, subject to the approval of the Public Procurement Review Board, regulations governing the certification process for certified purchasing offices, including the Mississippi Purchasing Certification Program, which shall be required of all purchasing agents at state agencies. Such regulations shall require entities desiring to be classified as certified purchasing offices to submit applications and applicable documents on an annual basis, and in the case of a state agency purchasing office, to have one hundred percent (100%) participation and completion by purchasing agents in the Mississippi Purchasing Certification Program, at which time the Office of Purchasing, Travel and Fleet Management may provide the governing entity with a certification valid for one (1) year from the date of issuance. The Office of Purchasing, Travel and Fleet Management shall set a fee in an amount that recovers its costs to administer the Mississippi Purchasing Certification Program, which shall be assessed to the participating state agencies.
(4) The Office of Purchasing, Travel and Fleet Management shall adopt purchasing regulations authorizing rural water associations to purchase at the state contract price afforded to agencies and governing authorities under this chapter.
SECTION 2. 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 eligible
teachers within the state through the use of procurement cards or a digital solution
capable of tracking, paying and reporting purchases. Classroom supply funds shall
not be expended for administrative purposes. On a date to be determined by the
State Department of Education, but not later than July 1 of each year, local school
districts shall determine and submit to the State Department of Education the number
of teachers eligible to receive an allocation for the current year. For purposes
of this subparagraph, "teacher" means any employee of the school board
of a school district, or the Mississippi School for the Arts, the Mississippi School
for Math and Science, the Mississippi School for the Blind * * *, the Mississippi School for the Deaf or
public charter school, 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, and shall include any full- or part-time gifted
or special education teacher. It is the intent of the Legislature that all classroom
teachers shall utilize these funds in a manner 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. Classroom supply funds allocated under this subparagraph shall supplement,
not replace, other local and state funds available for the same 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. The
local school board shall require each school to issue credentials for a digital
solution selected by or 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 credentials or procurement
cards shall be provided by the State Department of Education to local school districts
on a date determined by the State Department of Education, but not later than August
1 of each year. Local school districts shall issue such credentials or procurement
cards to classroom teachers at the beginning of the school year, but no later than
August 1 of each 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. After initial cards
are issued under the timeline prescribed by this section, the State Department of
Education may issue cards to districts for any classroom teacher hired after July
1 under a timeline prescribed by the State Department of Education. Such credentials
or cards will expire on a predetermined date at the end of each school year, but
not before April 1 of each 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 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 paragraph (a) of this subsection.
(6) Any funds appropriated from the Education Enhancement Fund that are unexpended at the end of a fiscal year shall lapse into the Education Enhancement Fund, except as otherwise provided in subsection (3)(a)(iii) of this section.
SECTION 3. Section 37-28-55, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-28-55. (1) (a) The State Department of Education shall make payments to charter schools for each student in average daily attendance at the charter school equal to the state share of the adequate education program payments for each student in average daily attendance at the school district in which the charter school is located. In calculating the local contribution for purposes of determining the state share of the adequate education program payments, the department shall deduct the pro rata local contribution of the school district in which the student resides, to be determined as provided in Section 37-151-7(2)(a).
(b) Payments made pursuant to this subsection by the State Department of Education must be made at the same time and in the same manner as adequate education program payments are made to school districts under Sections 37-151-101 and 37-151-103. Amounts payable to a charter school must be determined by the State Department of Education. Amounts payable to a charter school over its charter term must be based on the enrollment projections set forth over the term of the charter contract. Such projections must be reconciled with the average daily attendance using months two (2) and three (3) ADA for the current year for which adequate education program funds are being appropriated and any necessary adjustments must be made to payments during the school's following year of operation.
(2) For students attending a charter school located in the school district in which the student resides, the school district in which a charter school is located shall pay directly to the charter school an amount for each student enrolled in the charter school equal to the ad valorem tax receipts and in-lieu payments received per pupil for the support of the local school district in which the student resides. The pro rata ad valorem receipts and in-lieu receipts to be transferred to the charter school shall include all levies for the support of the local school district under Sections 37-57-1 (local contribution to the adequate education program) and 37-57-105 (school district operational levy) and may not include any taxes levied for the retirement of the local school district's bonded indebtedness or short-term notes or any taxes levied for the support of vocational-technical education programs. The amount of funds payable to the charter school by the school district must be based on the previous year's enrollment data and ad valorem receipts and in-lieu receipts of the local school district in which the student resides. The pro rata amount must be calculated by dividing the local school district's months one (1) through nine (9) average daily membership into the total amount of ad valorem receipts and in-lieu receipts, as reported to the State Department of Education by the local school district. The local school district shall pay an amount equal to this pro rata amount multiplied by the number of students enrolled in the charter school, based on the charter school's end of first month enrollment for the current school year. The amount must be paid by the school district to the charter school before January 16 of the current fiscal year. If the local school district does not pay the required amount to the charter school before January 16, the State Department of Education shall reduce the local school district's January transfer of Mississippi Adequate Education Program funds by the amount owed to the charter school and shall redirect that amount to the charter school. Any such payments made under this subsection (2) by the State Department of Education to a charter school must be made at the same time and in the same manner as adequate education program payments are made to school districts under Sections 37-151-101 and 37-151-103.
(3) For students attending a charter school located in a school district in which the student does not reside, the State Department of Education shall pay to the charter school in which the student is enrolled an amount as follows: the pro rata ad valorem receipts and in-lieu payments per pupil for the support of the local school district in which the student resides under Sections 37-57-1 (local contribution to the adequate education program) and 37-57-105 (school district operational levy), however, not including any taxes levied for the retirement of the local school district's bonded indebtedness or short-term notes or any taxes levied for the support of vocational-technical education programs. The amount of funds payable to the charter school by the school district must be based on the previous year's enrollment data and ad valorem receipts and in-lieu receipts of the local school district in which the student resides. The pro rata amount must be calculated by dividing the local school district's months one (1) through nine (9) average daily membership into the total amount of ad valorem receipts and in-lieu receipts, as reported to the State Department of Education by the transferor local school district. The payable amount shall be equal to this pro rata amount multiplied by the number of students enrolled in the charter school, based on the charter school's end of first month enrollment for the current school year. The State Department of Education shall reduce the school district's January transfer of Mississippi Adequate Education Program funds by the amount owed to the charter school and shall redirect that amount to the charter school. Any such payments made under this subsection (3) by the State Department of Education to a charter school must be made at the same time and in the same manner as adequate education program payments are made to school districts under Sections 37-151-101 and 37-151-103.
(4) (a) The State Department of Education shall direct the proportionate share of monies generated under federal and state categorical aid programs, including special education, vocational, gifted and alternative school programs, to charter schools serving students eligible for such aid. The department shall ensure that charter schools with rapidly expanding enrollments are treated equitably in the calculation and disbursement of all federal and state categorical aid program dollars. Each charter school that serves students who may be eligible to receive services provided through such programs shall comply with all reporting requirements to receive the aid.
(b) A charter school shall pay to a local school district any federal or state aid attributable to a student with a disability attending the charter school in proportion to the level of services for that student which the local school district provides directly or indirectly.
(c) Subject to the approval of the authorizer, a charter school and a local school district may negotiate and enter into a contract for the provision of and payment for special education services, including, but not necessarily limited to, a reasonable reserve not to exceed five percent (5%) of the local school district's total budget for providing special education services. The reserve may be used by the local school district only to offset excess costs of providing services to students with disabilities enrolled in the charter school.
(b) A charter school may enter into a contract with a school district or private provider to provide transportation to the school's students.
(6) The State Department of Education shall disburse Education Enhancement Funds for classroom supplies, instructional materials and equipment, including computers and computer software to all eligible charter school teachers on the same basis and in the same manner as it is paid to school districts under Section 37-61-33(3)(a)(iii) for the purpose of issuing procurement cards or credentials for a digital solution to eligible teachers.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2023.