MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2023 Regular Session
To: Education
By: Representative Scott
AN ACT TO BE KNOWN AS THE "DROPOUT PREVENTION AND STUDENT RE-ENGAGEMENT ACT"; TO DECLARE THE LEGISLATIVE INTENT TO DECREASE THE HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT RATE AND INCREASE THE GRADUATION RATE; TO DEFINE TERMS USED IN THIS ACT; TO AMEND SECTION 37-13-80, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE OFFICE OF DROPOUT PREVENTION TO USE CERTAIN FUNDING TO IMPLEMENT THIS ACT; TO REQUIRE THE OFFICE TO COLLABORATE WITH LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES TO REDUCE THE STATEWIDE AND LOCAL STUDENT DROPOUT RATES AND TO INCREASE THE STATEWIDE AND LOCAL GRADUATION AND COMPLETION RATES IN THE STATE; TO REQUIRE THE OFFICE TO TAKE CERTAIN ACTIONS WITH REGARD TO THE EVALUATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICIES USED BY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES IN ANALYZING DROPOUT RATES AND GRADUATION AND COMPLETION RATES; TO REQUIRE THE OFFICE TO IDENTIFY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES FAILING TO MEET THEIR ESTABLISHED GRADUATION AND COMPLETION RATE EXPECTATIONS; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO PROVIDE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO CERTAIN LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES; TO REQUIRE THE OFFICE TO REVIEW THE EXISTING RESEARCH AND DATA AND COMPILE A REPORT OF EFFECTIVE DROPOUT PREVENTION AND STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND RE-ENGAGEMENT POLICIES AND STRATEGIES IMPLEMENTED BY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES WITHIN THIS STATE AND IN OTHER STATES; TO AMEND SECTION 37-13-85, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE OFFICE OF COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE ENFORCEMENT TO ANALYZE DATA COLLECTED BY THE LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES FOR PURPOSES OF COMPILING A REPORT TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE BOARD AND THE LEGISLATURE; TO REQUIRE HIGH PRIORITY AND PRIORITY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES TO CONDUCT A PRACTICES ASSESSMENT; TO REQUIRE HIGH PRIORITY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES TO ADOPT A STUDENT GRADUATION AND COMPLETION PLAN AND PRESCRIBE ITS REQUIRED COMPONENTS; TO REQUIRE LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES TO NOTIFY A STUDENT'S PARENT IF THE STUDENT DROPS OUT OF SCHOOL; TO ESTABLISH THE STUDENT RE-ENGAGEMENT GRANT PROGRAM FUND IN THE STATE TREASURY FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES FOR USE IN PROVIDING EDUCATIONAL SERVICES AND SUPPORTS TO STUDENTS AND TO PROVIDE FOR ITS FUNDING; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Dropout Prevention and Student Re-Engagement Act."
SECTION 2. (1) The Legislature finds and declares that:
(a) The State of Mississippi has placed a high priority on reducing the number of student dropouts in Mississippi, including establishing the goal of decreasing the high school dropout rate and increasing the graduation rate for cohort classes on a systematic basis to eighty-five percent (85%);
(b) Serious gaps continue to exist in the graduation rates among ethnic and economic groups in Mississippi;
(c) Students with disabilities also continue to achieve a significantly lower graduation rate than other student groups;
(d) Studies clearly show that a student's level of education attainment will directly influence the student's level of achievement and success throughout the rest of his or her life;
(e) The National Center for Education Statistics reports that, in comparing employment rates and levels of education attainment across the country, the unemployment rate for persons who drop out of high school is nearly double the overall average unemployment rate for all education levels; and
(f) Studies further show that students who drop out of school are more likely to be involved in crime or delinquency and to lose lifelong opportunities for personal achievement, resulting in economic and social costs to the state.
(2) The Legislature concludes that:
(a) It is imperative that the State Department of Education's Office of Dropout Prevention provide focus, coordination, research and leadership to assist local educational agencies in implementing coordinated efforts to reduce the high school dropout rate and increase the high school graduation and completion rates and the levels of student engagement and re-engagement; and
(b) In order to significantly reduce the statewide dropout rate and increase the rates of student engagement and re-engagement, the Office of Dropout Prevention must additionally provide leadership in creating and facilitating systemic approaches that involve intersystem collaboration between local educational agencies and the Mississippi Department of Human Services, state institutions of higher learning, career and technical education providers, providers of adult basic education, providers of general educational development (GED) programs, offices of workforce development, school-based student support personnel and family education programs.
SECTION 3. As used in this act, the following words and phrases have the meanings ascribed in this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(a) "Completion" means a student graduates from high school or receives a certificate or other designation of high school completion, such as a general educational development certificate.
(b) "Department" means the State Department of Education.
(c) "Dropout prevention" means school and community-based initiatives to promote positive social, emotional, familial, and educational factors that maintain and strengthen student engagement and address barriers and conditions that may lead a student to drop out of school.
(d) "Expanded learning opportunity programs" means programs that provide kindergarten through twelfth grade supervised learning activities that may include, but need not be limited to, after-school programs, before-school programs, summer school programs, weekend programs, and extended-day and extended-year programs.
(e) "Graduation" means a student meets the locally defined requirements for a high school diploma.
(f) "Grant program" means the student re-engagement grant program established in Section 10 of this act.
(g) "High priority local educational agency" means a local education provider that the office identifies pursuant to Section 37-13-80(11) as being most in need of technical assistance and support.
(h) "Local educational agency" means a school district, board of cooperative services or the State Department of Education.
(i) "Office" means the Office of Dropout Prevention created within the State Department of Education under Section
37-13-80.
(j) "Parent" means the father or mother to whom a child has been born, or the father or mother to whom the child has been legally adopted, or the student's legal guardian or legal custodian.
(k) "Priority local educational agency" means a local educational agency that the office identifies as being in significant need of technical assistance and support.
(l) "Board" means the State Board of Education.
(m) "Student engagement" means a student's sense of
belonging, safety and involvement in school which leads to academic achievement, regular school attendance and graduation. Elements of promoting student engagement include providing rigorous and relevant instruction, creating positive relationships with teachers and counselors, providing social and emotional support services for students and their families, creating partnerships with community organizations and families which foster learning outside of the classroom, and cultivating regular school attendance.
(n) "Student graduation and completion plan" means a local educational agency's plan for reducing the student dropout rate and increasing the rates of student engagement, re-engagement, graduation and completion.
(o) "Student re-engagement" means that a student reenrolls in high school after dropping out before completion. Student re-engagement usually results from a local education agency's use of evidence or research based strategies to reach out to students who have dropped out of school and to assist those students in transitioning back into school and obtaining their high school diplomas or otherwise completing high school.
(p) "Student support personnel" means a licensed or certified school counselor, school psychologist, school social worker, school nurse or other licensed or certified mental health professional qualified under state law to provide support services to children and adolescents.
SECTION 4. Section 37-13-80, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-13-80. (1) There is created the Office of Dropout Prevention within the State Department of Education. The office shall be responsible for the administration of a statewide dropout prevention program.
(2) The State Superintendent of Public Education shall appoint a director for the Office of Dropout Prevention, who shall meet all qualifications established by the State Superintendent of Public Education and the State Personnel Board. The director shall be responsible for the proper administration of the Office of Dropout Prevention and any other regulations or policies that may be adopted by the State Board of Education. However, if for any reason within the two-year period beginning July 1, 2014, a new director for the Office of Dropout Prevention is employed by the department, the employment of such individual shall not be subject to the rules and regulations of the State Personnel Board, except as otherwise provided in Section 25-9-127(4).
(3) Each school district shall implement a dropout prevention program approved by the Office of Dropout Prevention of the State Department of Education by the 2012-2013, and annually thereafter, school year.
(4) Each local school district will be held responsible for reducing and/or eliminating dropouts in the district. The local school district will be responsible for the implementation of dropout plans focusing on issues such as, but not limited to:
(a) Dropout Prevention initiatives that focus on the needs of individual local education agencies;
(b) Establishing policies and procedures that meet the needs of the districts;
(c) Focusing on the student-centered goals and objectives that are measurable;
(d) Strong emphasis on reducing the retention rates in grades kindergarten, first and second;
(e) Targeting subgroups that need additional assistance to meet graduation requirements; and
(f) Dropout recovery initiatives that focus on students age seventeen (17) through twenty-one (21), who dropped out of school.
(5) The Office of Dropout Prevention
may provide technical assistance upon written request by the local school
district. The Office of Dropout Prevention will collaborate with program
offices within the * * *
State Department of Education to develop and implement policies and initiatives
to reduce the state's dropout rate.
(6) Each school district's dropout prevention plan shall address how students will transition to the home school district from the juvenile detention centers.
(7) It is the intent of the Legislature that, through the statewide dropout prevention program and the dropout prevention programs implemented by each school district, the graduation rate for cohort classes will be increased to not less than eighty-five percent (85%) by the 2018-2019 school year. The Office of Dropout Prevention shall establish graduation rate benchmarks for each two-year period from the 2008-2009 school year through the 2018-2019 school year, which shall serve as guidelines for increasing the graduation rate for cohort classes on a systematic basis to eighty-five percent (85%) by the 2018-2019 school year.
(8) The department shall direct any increases in the amount of federal monies received by the department for programs under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 20 USCS Section 6301 et seq., programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 USCS Section 1400, et seq., or other federal programs to assist in funding the activities of the office as specified in this act.
(9) The department may solicit, accept and expend gifts, grants and donations from public or private entities to fund the operations of the office, including the employment of personnel for the office and execution of the duties and responsibilities specified in this act. Notwithstanding any provision of this act to the contrary, the department is not required to implement the provisions of this act until such time that the department has received an amount in gifts, grants and donations from public or private entities which the department deems sufficient to adequately fund the operations of the office.
(10) The office shall collaborate with local educational agencies to reduce the statewide and local student dropout rates and to increase the statewide and local graduation and completion rates. To accomplish this purpose, the office shall assist local
educational agencies in:
(a) Analyzing student data pertaining to student dropout rates, graduation rates, completion rates, mobility rates, truancy rates, suspension and expulsion rates, safety or discipline incidences, and student academic growth data at the state and local levels; and
(b) Creating and evaluating student graduation and
completion plans.
(11) To accomplish the purposes specified in subsection (10) of this section, the office also shall:
(a) Review state policies and assist local educational agencies in reviewing their policies pertaining to attendance,
truancy, disciplinary actions under the local educational agency's code of conduct, behavioral expectations, dropout prevention, and student engagement and re-engagement to identify effective strategies for and barriers to reducing the student dropout rates and increasing student engagement and re-engagement within the state;
(b) Identify and recommend best practices and effective strategies to reduce student dropout rates and increase student engagement and re-engagement;
(c) Develop interagency agreements and cooperate with other state and federal agencies and with private, nonprofit agencies to collect and review student data, and develop and recommend methods for reducing student dropout rates and increasing student engagement and re-engagement. To the extent possible, the office shall collaborate with, at a minimum:
(i) Career and technical educational agencies;
(ii) General educational development service providers;
(iii) The State Department of Health;
(iv) The Mississippi Department of Human Services;
(v) The Mississippi Department of Corrections;
(vi) State institutions of higher education;
(vii) Offices of workforce development;
(viii) Expanded learning opportunity and family education programs;
(ix) Adult basic education and English-as-a-second-language programs;
(x) Organizations that provide services for pregnant and parenting teens and students with special health and education needs; and
(xi) Private, nonprofit organizations that provide
services for homeless families and youth.
(d) Solicit public and private gifts, grants and donations to assist in the implementation of this act; and
(e) Evaluate the effectiveness of local educational agency's efforts in reducing the statewide student dropout rate and increasing the statewide graduation and completion rates, and report progress in implementing the provisions of this act.
(12) (a) The office shall collaborate with other divisions
within the department to identify, annually through the accreditation process, those local educational agencies that do
not meet their established graduation and completion rate
expectations. Of those local educational agencies identified, the
office shall use criteria adopted by rule of the board to determine the following:
(i) Which local educational agencies are most in need of improvement and assistance, which the office shall recognize as high priority local educational agencies; and
(ii) Which local educational agencies are in significant need of improvement and assistance, which the office shall recognize as priority local educational agencies.
(b) The office shall provide technical assistance to each high priority local educational agency and to each priority local educational agency as provided in this act.
(13) In addition to the assistance specified in this section, the office shall provide technical assistance in the areas of dropout prevention and student engagement and re-engagement to the high priority local educational agencies and, to the extent practicable within existing resources, to priority local educational agencies. Technical assistance may include, but need not be limited to, the following:
(a) Training in implementing identified, effective,
research-based strategies for dropout prevention and student
engagement and re-engagement;
(b) Assistance in estimating the cost of implementing the identified strategies in the schools operated or approved by the high priority or priority local educational agency and analyzing the cost-effectiveness of the strategies; and
(c) Identification and recommendation of effective
approaches applied by other Mississippi local educational agencies
which may be situated similarly to the high priority or priority
local educational agency.
SECTION 5. (1) On or before December 31, 2023, and each year thereafter, the Office of Dropout Prevention shall review the existing research and data from this state and other states and compile a report of effective dropout prevention and student engagement and re-engagement policies and strategies implemented by local educational agencies within this state and in other states. The office may use the findings and recommendations in the report to provide technical assistance to high priority and priority local educational agencies, to assist high priority and priority local educational agencies in creating student graduation and completion plans, and to recommend to the State Board of Education and the Legislature state policies concerning dropout prevention and student engagement and re-engagement. High priority and priority local education providers may use the report to review their policies, to formulate new policies and strategies, and to create and evaluate their student graduation and completion plans.
(2) In preparing the report of effective policies and strategies, the office, at a minimum, shall consult, share information, and coordinate efforts with:
(a) The Governor's office;
(b) Local educational agencies within Mississippi which have maintained low student dropout rates and high rates of student engagement and re-engagement in previous years;
(c) State and national experts in dropout rate reduction and student engagement and re-engagement strategies who are knowledgeable about successful policies and practices from other states and local governments in other states; and
(d) Federal government officials who administer dropout
rate reduction and student engagement and re-engagement initiatives and programs.
(3) The office periodically shall review and revise the report of effective policies and strategies as necessary to maintain the report's relevance and applicability. The office shall post the initial report of effective strategies and later
revisions on the department's website.
SECTION 6. Section 37-13-85, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-13-85. The Office of Compulsory School Attendance Enforcement shall have the following powers and duties, in addition to all others imposed or granted by law:
(a) To establish any policies or guidelines concerning the employment of school attendance officers which serve to effectuate a uniform system of enforcement under the Mississippi Compulsory School Attendance Law throughout the state, and to designate the number of school attendance officers which shall be employed to serve in each school district area;
(b) To supervise and assist school attendance officer supervisors in the performance of their duties;
(c) To establish minimum standards for enrollment and attendance for the state and each individual school district, and to monitor the success of the state and districts in achieving the required levels of performance;
(d) To provide to school districts failing to meet the established standards for enrollment and attendance assistance in reducing absenteeism or the dropout rates in those districts;
(e) To establish any qualifications, in addition to those required under Section 37-13-89, for school attendance officers as the office deems necessary to further the purposes of the Mississippi Compulsory School Attendance Law;
(f) To develop and implement a system under which school districts are required to maintain accurate records that document enrollment and attendance in such a manner that the records reflect all changes in enrollment and attendance, and to require school attendance officers to submit information concerning public school attendance on a monthly basis to the office;
(g) To prepare the form of the certificate of enrollment required under the Mississippi Compulsory School Attendance Law and to furnish a sufficient number of the certificates of enrollment to each school attendance officer in the state;
(h) To provide to the State Board of Education statistical information concerning absenteeism, dropouts and other attendance-related problems as requested by the State Board of Education;
(i) To provide for the certification of school attendance officers;
(j) To provide for a course of training and education for school attendance officers, and to require successful completion of the course as a prerequisite to certification by the office as school attendance officers;
(k) To adopt any guidelines or policies the office deems necessary to effectuate an orderly transition from the supervision of school attendance officers by district attorneys to the supervision by the school attendance officer supervisors;
(l) Beginning on July 1, 1998, to require school attendance officer supervisors to employ persons employed by district attorneys before July 1, 1998, as school attendance officers without requiring such persons to submit an application or interview for employment with the State Department of Education;
(m) To adopt policies
or guidelines linking the duties of school attendance officers to the
appropriate courts, law enforcement agencies and community service providers; * * *
(n) To adopt any other
policies or guidelines that the office deems necessary for the enforcement of
the Mississippi Compulsory School Attendance Law; however, the policies or
guidelines shall not add to or contradict with the requirements of Section 37-13-91 * * *; and
(p) To annually analyze data collected by the department from local educational agencies throughout the state concerning student attendance and the implementation of school attendance policies and practices, and to assess the overall incidence, causes and effects of student dropout, engagement and re-engagement in Mississippi. Before February 15, 2024, and each year thereafter, the office shall provide local educational agencies, the State Board of Education, the Education Committees of the Mississippi Senate and the House of Representatives or any successor committees, and the Governor's office with the assessment and any recommended strategies to address student dropout, engagement and re-engagement in Mississippi. The Office of Compulsory School Attendance Enforcement may combine this assessment and recommendation with the report required by the Office of Dropout Prevention under Section 37-13-80.
SECTION 7. (1) (a) Each high priority and priority local educational agency shall conduct a practices assessment as described in subsection (2) of this section. Each high priority and priority local educational agency's practices assessment must consider community partnerships with state and local government agencies and community-based organizations and current practices and policies as they relate to different types of dropout students or students at risk of dropping out.
(b) Each high priority local educational agency shall complete its initial practices assessment no later than June 30, 2024. Each priority local educational agency shall complete its Initial practices assessment no later than June 30, 2025. Following completion of the initial practices assessment, each high priority and priority local educational agency shall review and update the practices assessment in accordance with timelines adopted by rule of the State Board of Education.
(c) Each local educational agency that is not a high priority or priority local educational agency may conduct a practices assessment and periodically review and update the practices assessment. A local educational agency that chooses to conduct a practices assessment under this paragraph must comply with the provisions of subsection (4) of this section.
(2) Each practices assessment, at a minimum, must address the high priority or priority local educational agency's:
(a) Attendance and truancy reporting and enforcement policies and definitions;
(b) Risk factors and remedies applicable to students who are failing one or more courses, have experienced traumatic life events, or have lost academic interest or motivation, as well as students whose presence or actions are perceived to be detrimental to other students;
(c) Interaction with the judicial system in enforcing the Mississippi Compulsory School Attendance Law;
(d) Interaction with the juvenile justice system in:
(i) Assisting in administering juvenile diversion programs and coordinating supports for all students transitioning out of the juvenile justice system to aid in the continuation of those students' education, especially for those students involved in the juvenile justice system as a result of school-related violations of the local educational agency's code of conduct or crimes committed on school property; and
(ii) Coordinating with juvenile probation officers regarding school-related conditions of probation;
(e) Coordination with the Mississippi Department of Human Services and other youth services providers;
(f) Grading policies;
(g) Policies for grade repetition and remediation;
(h) Course completion requirements and policies; and
(i) Policies and practices relating to:
(i) The use of individual career and academic plans;
(ii) Ethnicity, language and cultural barriers between students' homes and school;
(iii) English-language acquisition;
(iv) Student acquisition of behavioral, social and emotional skills;
(v) Students' health care needs;
(vi) Alternative and flexible educational strategies;
(vii) Family involvement and family support services;
(viii) Expanded learning opportunity programs;
(ix) Staff development in implementing evidence-based strategies;
(x) Innovations to address barriers to school engagement and success;
(xi) Outreach services to re-engage students who drop out of school; and
(xii) Review and analysis of data regarding dropout rates, graduation rates, school completion rates, truancy rates, the number of students who are habitually truant, suspension rates and expulsion rates.
(3) The Office of Dropout Prevention shall provide technical assistance to high priority local educational agencies to assist them in completing their practices assessments. The office may provide technical assistance to priority local educational agencies as allowable, subject to an appropriation of funds for the administration of this act. In addition, at the request of a high priority or priority local educational agency and to the extent practicable within available resources, the office shall provide a template, which includes any student data that is pertinent to the high priority or priority local educational agency and to which the office has access, to assist the high priority or priority local educational agency in preparing its practices assessment.
(4) Upon completing its practices assessment or any updates
to the assessment, each high priority and priority local educational agency shall transmit the assessment to the department for publication on the Internet.
SECTION 8. (1) (a) Based on the completed practices assessment, each high priority local educational agency shall adopt a student graduation and completion plan for the schools operated or approved by the high priority local educational agency. Each priority local educational agency shall adopt a student graduation and completion plan not later than October 1, 2024. Following adoption of the initial student graduation and completion plan, each high priority and priority local education provider shall review and update the student graduation and completion plan in accordance with timelines adopted by rule of the State Board of Education. In setting the dates for adoption of the initial student graduation and completion plans and the timelines for reviewing and updating the student graduation and completion plans, the board shall ensure that the dates are consistent with the dates by which each local educational agency is required to adopt the plan required by its accreditation category or its annual performance review.
(b) Each local educational agency that is not a high priority or priority local educational agency may adopt a student graduation and completion plan and periodically
review and update the plan. A local educational agency that chooses to adopt a student graduation and completion plan under this paragraph (b) must comply with the provisions of subsection (6) of this section.
(2) Each high priority and priority local educational agency's student graduation and completion plan shall include, at a minimum, the following:
(a) The percentage by which the high priority or priority local educational agency anticipates reducing the student truancy rate and dropout rate and the timeline for achieving the reductions;
(b) The percentage by which the high priority or priority local educational agency anticipates increasing the student attendance, graduation and completion rates and the timeline for achieving the increases;
(c) Other objectives that the high priority or priority local educational agency identifies that are designed to result in improved dropout prevention, improved student attendance, and improved student engagement and re-engagement within the schools operated or approved by the high priority or priority local educational agency;
(d) The manner in which the high priority or priority local educational agency measures success in achieving the goals and objectives of the student graduation and completion plan;
(e) The manner in which school staff and parents will work together to address the risk factors and remedies for students; and
(f) A description of the supports that the high priority or priority local educational agency will provide to a student who leaves a public school before graduation or completion, which, at a minimum, must include an explanation of the educational alternatives available to the student to assist him or her in re-engaging in school and other information to assist with his or her transition into other educational settings, including, but not limited to, an adult basic education, general educational development or English-as-a-second-language program, or the workforce development or job training.
(3) In designing its student graduation and completion plan, each high priority or priority local educational agency is
encouraged to:
(a) Include a variety of innovative dropout reduction efforts in the plan, including new schools and programs that provide educational environments that are specifically designed to promote student re-engagement, including policies and programs that create alternative pathways to high school graduation; and
(b) Review existing supports and resources that the high priority or priority local educational agency may leverage to support implementation of the plan, including, but not limited to, any federal monies available under the Safe and Drug-free Schools and Communities Act, 20 USCS Section 7101 et seq.
(4) Each high priority or priority local educational agency, in adopting its student graduation and completion plan, also shall adopt a process to annually review and evaluate the effectiveness of the plan. Each high priority or priority local educational agency that is a school district shall include its practices assessment and its student graduation and completion plan with the plan the school district is required to adopt based on its accreditation level.
(5) The Office of Dropout Prevention shall provide technical assistance to high priority local educational agencies to assist them in completing their student graduation and completion plans. The office may provide technical assistance to priority local educational agencies as allowable, subject to the availability of funds.
(6) Upon adopting its student graduation and completion plan or any updates to the plan, each high priority or priority local educational agency shall transmit the plan to the department for publication on the Internet.
(7) (a) Beginning in the 2024-2025 academic year, and each year thereafter, the office shall evaluate each high priority local education agency's student graduation and completion plan as part of the accreditation review process. The office shall evaluate the components of each student graduation and completion plan, the high priority local educational agency's implementation of the plan, and the results achieved. In evaluating the student graduation and completion plans, the office shall ensure that the high priority local educational agency applies best practices and strategies and employs rigorous ongoing program evaluation and oversight in implementing the plan. On completion of the evaluation, the office may provide recommendations to the high priority local educational agency concerning improvements in the plan design and implementation.
(b) The office may evaluate, as described in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the student graduation and completion plans of priority local educational agencies, subject to the availability of funds.
SECTION 9. (1) Each local educational agency shall adopt and implement policies and procedures under which the local educational agency or the public school in which the student was enrolled shall notify a student's parent if the student drops out of school, even if the student is not subject to the compulsory attendance requirement specified in Section 37-13-91. The local educational agency shall develop the policies and procedures with the goal of encouraging the student to re-enroll in school and of conveying to the student's parent the long-term ramifications to the student dropping out of school.
(2) The policies and procedures must specify, at a minimum, the time frames by which the local educational agency or the public school in which the student was enrolled must notify the student and his or her parent and must require the personnel at the public school to attempt to meet in person with the student and his or her parent.
(3) The notice must include, at a minimum, written notification of the student's dropout status and an explanation of the educational alternatives available to the student to assist him or her in re-engaging in school.
SECTION 10. (1) There is established in the State Treasury a fund to be known as the "Student Re-engagement Grant Program Fund" for the purpose of providing grants to local educational agencies for use in providing educational services and supports to students to maintain student engagement and support student re-engagement in high school. The fund will be comprised of funds appropriated by the Legislature and grants or donations from private or public sources. The State Board of Education shall award student re-engagement grants to local educational agencies from funds appropriated to the fund.
(b) The office may expend up to three percent (3%) of the monies annually appropriated to the fund to offset the costs incurred in administering this section and in evaluating and providing technical assistance to local educational agencies that receive grants under this section.
(c) Any monies in the fund not expended for the purpose of this section may be invested by the State Treasurer as provided by law. All interest and income derived from the investment and deposit of monies in the fund must be credited to the fund. Any unexpended and unencumbered monies remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year must remain in the fund and may not lapse into the State General Fund.
(2) The board shall adopt rules for implementing the grant program, which must include, at a minimum, the following:
(a) Timelines and procedures by which a local educational agency may apply for a grant;
(b) The information to be included on grant applications, including:
(i) The local educational agency's plan for providing educational services, including social and emotional support services;
(ii) A description of the services to be provided;
(iii) The estimated cost of providing the services;
(iv) The criteria the local educational agency will apply to measure the effectiveness of the services provided; and
(v) A description of the local educational agency's policies and practices related to:
1. Course completion and credit recovery;
2. Attendance and behavior improvements;
3. Alternative and flexible learning strategies;
4. Safe and welcoming school environments;
5. Student social and emotional supports;
6. Family engagement and family support strategies;
7. Staff development;
8. Innovations to address barriers to school engagement and success; and
9. Transference of student records to and receipt of student records from other local educational agencies.
(3) Each local educational agency that seeks to receive a grant under the provisions of this section shall submit an application to the department in accordance with the rules adopted by the board. The department shall review the grant applications received and recommend grant recipients and grant amounts to the state board. The board shall annually award grants through the grant program based on the department's recommendations.
(4) (a) On or before February 15, 2024, and each year thereafter, the department shall evaluate the student re-engagement services provided by each local educational agency that received a grant under the provisions of this section in the preceding fiscal year; however, the department need not provide an evaluation for any fiscal year in which grants were not awarded. The department shall review:
(i) The outcomes and effectiveness of the services provided, as measured by the demonstrated degree of student re-engagement;
(ii) The academic growth of students who received services as a result of the grant, to the extent the information is available;
(iii) The reduction in the dropout rate; and
(iv) The increase in the graduation and completion rates for the grant recipients' schools.
(b) The department shall report the evaluation results to the Education Committees of the Mississippi Senate and House of Representatives, or any successor committees, in conjunction with the reports submitted under Sections 37-13-80 and 37-13-85.
SECTION 11. (1) The State Board of Education shall promulgate any rules and regulations as may be deemed necessary to implement the provisions of this act. The rules of the board shall address the following:
(a) The rules required under Section 37-13-80 to establish criteria for identifying high priority and priority local educational agencies;
(b) The rules required under Section 10 of this act for the Student Re-engagement Grant Program; and
(c) Rules to define and calculate the following rates: (i) The student dropout rate;
(ii) The graduation rate;
(iii) The completion rate;
(iv) The student re-engagement rate;
(v) The truancy rate;
(vi) The student mobility rate;
(vii) The student suspension rate; and
(viii) The student expulsion rate.
(2) To the extent that the board, as of July 1, 2023, has already promulgated any of the rules and regulations specified in subsection (1) of this section, the board shall review the rules and regulations and determine whether they should be revised based on this act.
SECTION 12. (1) On or before February 15, 2024, and each year thereafter, the Office of Dropout Prevention shall submit to the State Board of Education, the Education Committees of the Mississippi Senate and House of Representatives, or any successor committees, and to the Governor, a report making state policy findings and recommendations to reduce the student dropout rate and increase the student graduation and completion rates. In preparing the findings and recommendations, the office
shall:
(a) Consider which state statutes and rules may be amended to provide incentives and support for and remove barriers to reducing the student dropout rate and increasing the student graduation and completion rates, including, but not limited to, statutes and rules pertaining to funding for local educational agencies' operating costs, funding for categorical programs, and truancy;
(b) Consider research-based dropout prevention and student engagement and re-engagement strategies; and
(c) Determine the amount of state monies spent on reducing the dropout rates in schools operated or approved by local educational agencies in the preceding fiscal year and determine the effects of those expenditures.
(2) Beginning with the report submitted under this section, the office shall add to the report a summary of the actions taken by local educational agencies statewide to reduce the student dropout rate and increase the graduation and completion rates and the progress made in achieving these goals. The summary must include:
(a) A summary and evaluation of the student graduation and completion plans adopted by the local educational agencies;
(b) A list of the local educational agencies whose schools have experienced the greatest decrease in student dropout rates and the greatest increase in student graduation and completion rates in the state in the preceding academic year;
(c) An identification of local educational agencies and public schools that are achieving the goals and objectives specified in their student graduation and completion plans and those that are not achieving their goals and objectives;
(d) An explanation of the actions taken and strategies implemented by the local educational agencies with the highest student dropout rates to reduce those rates and by the local educational agencies with the lowest student graduation and completion rates to increase those rates;
(e) An identification of the local educational agencies that have demonstrated the greatest improvement in reducing their student dropout rates and increasing their student graduation and completion rates and descriptions of the actions taken and strategies implemented by the local educational agencies operating or approving these schools to achieve these improvements; and
(f) An evaluation of the overall progress across the state in meeting the goals specified in Section 1 of this act for reducing the student dropout rate and increasing the student graduation and completion rates.
SECTION 13. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2023.