MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2024 Regular Session
To: Education; Appropriations
By: Senator(s) Hill
AN ACT TO PROVIDE THAT CERTAIN PROHIBITED CONCEPTS SHALL NOT BE INCLUDED OR PROMOTED IN A COURSE OF INSTRUCTION OR CURRICULUM IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND CHARTER SCHOOLS; TO PROVIDE CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS TO THIS PROHIBITION; TO PROVIDE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR SCHOOLS TO COMPLY AND COLLECT DATA RELATED TO THE ACT; TO PROVIDE FOR THE PROCEDURE FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS TO FILE COMPLAINTS FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE ACT; TO ALLOW EARLY RESOLUTIONS OF COMPLAINTS; TO SET THE APPEALS PROCEDURE FOR INDIVIDUALS TO APPEAL SCHOOL'S DETERMINATIONS TO THE APPEALS REVIEW TEAM; TO PROVIDE THAT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL SHALL ENSURE THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION WITHHOLDS CERTAIN FUNDS FROM SCHOOLS WHEN THERE ARE KNOWING VIOLATIONS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Definitions. For purposes of this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed herein:
(a) "Course of instruction" means a unit of academic instruction which includes a series of lessons or meetings designed to meet specific educational goals.
(b) "State Superintendent" means the Mississippi State Superintendent of Education.
(c) "Curriculum and instructional program" means a set of core instructional materials including activities and textbooks designed to help students reach the learning outcomes established in state academic standards.
(d) "Department" means the Mississippi Department of Education.
(e) "Appeals Review Team" means a committee of six members appointed equally by the Attorney General and the State Superintendent to review and investigate, as necessary, appeals filed with the Department pursuant to this act. Each employee shall have knowledge and expertise regarding curriculum, instructional standards and school and LEA operations and administration.
(f) "Impartial" means free from favor or bias toward one (1) viewpoint over another.
(g) "Oppressive" means cruel and unfair.
(h) "Parent" means the parent or legal guardian of the student.
(i) "Privileged" means having a special advantage or right.
(j) "Prohibited concepts" are those concepts specifically enumerated in Section 2 of this act that shall not be included or promoted in a course of instruction, curriculum, instructional program, or through a supplemental instructional material.
(k) "School" means a public school or charter school in the state.
(l) "State funds" means any funds appropriated to schools from any source by the State of Mississippi.
(m) "Supplemental instructional materials" means materials used in conjunction with the core instructional materials of a course. Supplemental instructional materials extend and support instruction and include, but are not limited to, books, periodicals, visual aids, video, sound recordings, computer software or other digital content.
SECTION 2. Prohibited concepts. (1) The following concepts are prohibited concepts that shall not be included or promoted in a course of instruction, curriculum, instructional program or in supplemental instructional materials:
(a) One (1) race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex;
(b) An individual, by virtue of the individual's race or sex, is inherently privileged, racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or subconsciously;
(c) An individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment because of the individual's race or sex;
(d) An individual's moral character is determined by the individual's race or sex;
(e) An individual, by virtue of the individual's race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex;
(f) An individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or another form of psychological distress solely because of the individual's race or sex;
(g) A meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist, or designed by a particular race or sex to oppress members of another race or sex;
(h) This state or the United States is fundamentally or irredeemably racist or sexist;
(i) Promoting or advocating the violent overthrow of the United States government;
(j) Promoting division between, or resentment of, a race, sex, religion, creed, nonviolent political affiliation, social class or class of people;
(k) Ascribing character traits, values, moral or ethical codes, privileges or beliefs to a race or sex, or to an individual because of the individual's race or sex;
(l) The rule of law does not exist, but instead is a series of power relationships and struggles among racial or other groups;
(m) All Americans are not created equal and are not endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, including, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; or
(n) Governments should deny to any person within the government's jurisdiction the equal protection of the law.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, schools are not prohibited from including or promoting concepts as part of a course of instruction, in a curriculum or instructional program, or through the use of supplemental instructional materials if those concepts involve:
(a) The history of an ethnic group;
(b) The impartial discussion of controversial aspects of history;
(c) The impartial instruction on the historical oppression of a particular group of people based on race, ethnicity, class, nationality, religion or geographic region; or
(d) Historical documents relevant to paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this subsection.
SECTION 3. School requirements. Each LEA or public charter school shall:
(a) Ensure compliance with this act by investigating suspected violations and complaints alleging violations this act;
(b) Post the complaint form provided by the Department for filing a complaint alleging violations of this act on the school's website;
(c) Prohibit retaliation for filing a complaint or participating in an investigation;
(d) Obtain written consent from a parent prior to the participation of a minor student in the investigative process, including consent to be interviewed;
(e) Provide instructions on how to file an appeal of the school's determination with the Department in any written determination to an eligible complainant;
(f) Provide annual notice of this act to staff, students and parents;
(g) Maintain for five (5) years and make available for inspection by the Department, records of:
(i) The number of complaints filed;
(ii) The number of complaints closed;
(iii) The number of complaints pending;
(iv) The number of complaints substantiated; and
(v) The number of complaints not substantiated.
SECTION 4. Reporting and investigating prohibited concepts.
(1) Schools are best positioned to choose which textbook and instructional materials meet the needs of their students, educators and community. Schools are required to utilize local textbook and instructional materials adoption committees to review textbooks proposed for district-wide adoption by the school district from the list of textbooks and instructional materials approved by the State Board of Education. Local review committees must be set up by grade and subject matter fields and composed of teachers, or supervisors and teachers, and parents with children enrolled in the school at the time of appointment to a committee. The local board of education may also appoint experts in the grade level or subject matter field for which textbooks and instructional materials are to be reviewed. General complaints about the subject matter or age appropriateness of textbooks and instructional materials that do not allege that prohibited concepts are being or have been included or promoted in a course of instruction, curriculum, instructional program, or in supplemental instructional materials of a school, must be filed with the school board or public charter school pursuant to the school board or charter school's locally adopted policy for addressing such complaints.
(2) To file a complaint alleging that prohibited concepts are being or have been included or promoted in a course of instruction, curriculum, instructional program, or in supplemental instructional materials of a school, a complainant must file a complaint with the school in which the allegation(s) arose on the
complaint form provided by the Department.
(3) To file a complaint, the complainant must be a current student of the school in which the allegation(s) arose, a parent of a current student of the school in which the allegation(s) arose or a current employee of the school in which the allegation(s) arose.
(4) The complaint must be filed within thirty (30) calendar days of the prohibited concept being included or promoted in a course of instruction, curriculum, instructional program or supplemental instructional materials.
(5) The following information, in addition to any other information requested by the school, must be included in the complaint on the form provided by the Department:
(a) The name and contact information of the complainant;
(b) A brief description of the prohibited concept at issue;
(c) A brief statement on why the concept at issue is a prohibited concept;
(d) The name of the individual alleged to have included or promoted the prohibited concept;
(e) The name of any individuals who may have knowledge of the allegations;
(f) A list of any documentation or materials supporting the complainant's allegations, including copies of such documentation or materials where possible; and
(g) The approximate date on which the prohibited concept was included or promoted.
(6) Upon receipt of a complaint, the school shall determine whether it has the authority to investigate the complaint. The school shall have the authority to investigate the complaint if:
(a) The complaint alleges that a prohibited concept was included in a course of instruction, curriculum, instructional program or supplemental instructional materials;
(b) The complaint is filed by a current student of the school in which the allegation(s) arose, a parent of a current student of the school in which the allegation(s) arose or a current employee of the charter school in which the allegation(s) arose; and
(c) The complaint is filed within thirty (30) calendar days of the prohibited concept being included or promoted in a course of instruction, curriculum, instructional program or supplemental instructional materials, or within thirty (30) calendar days of these rules becoming effective.
(7) Within fifteen (15) calendar days of receiving the complaint, the school shall send a letter to the complainant explaining whether it has authority to investigate the complaint and will be initiating an investigation. An investigation is "initiated" when the school sends a written notification to the complainant that the allegation(s) shall be investigated.
(8) Within thirty (30) calendar days of receiving the complaint, the school shall determine whether the allegation(s) in the complaint is substantiated. The 30-day timeline may only be extended upon approval by the Department if exceptional circumstances exist with respect to a particular complaint and those circumstances are appropriately documented. If there is a need for an extension to the 30-day timeline, the complainant shall be notified of this extension in writing. The allegation(s) in the complaint shall be "substantiated" if:
(a) The school determines that the concept at issue is a prohibited concept; and
(b) The school determines that the individual affirmatively and intentionally included or promoted the concept in a course of instruction, curriculum, instructional program or supplemental instructional materials.
(9) The school shall issue a written determination stating whether the allegation(s) in the complaint is substantiated. The written determination shall be communicated to the complainant and the individual alleged to have included or promoted the prohibited concept. Such determination letters shall be subject to all applicable federal, state, and local student privacy laws and policies, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g; 34 C.F.R. Part 99).
(10) If an alleged violation is substantiated, the school shall take appropriate remedial action to ensure that the prohibited concept(s) is no longer included in a course of instruction, curriculum, instructional program, or supplemental instructional materials. In order to afford the complainant or the individual alleged to have included or promoted a prohibited concept an opportunity to appeal the decision, remedial action shall not be taken until fifteen (15) calendar days have passed after the date the school issues the written determination. Such remedial action may include:
(a) Amendment of the course of instruction, curriculum, instructional program, or supplemental instructional materials to address any purported violations of this act; or
(b) Disciplinary or licensure action against a teacher for violation of this act.
(11) The school shall maintain an investigative file containing the complaint, the initiating letter, any interview notes, any electronic or physical evidence obtained, any other notes maintained by the investigator and a copy of the written determination issued in the matter.
SECTION 5. Early resolution of complaints. (1) Schools are encouraged to work collaboratively with parents, teachers and other employees to resolve concerns and complaints as quickly as possible. At any point after a complaint has been filed, but before a final written determination has been issued by the school, the complainant, or the individual alleged to have included or promoted the prohibited concept may propose early resolution of the allegations through a resolution agreement.
(2) If a proposed resolution agreement is verbally approved by the school, the complainant and the individual alleged to have included or promoted the prohibited concept, the school shall prepare a written resolution agreement to be submitted to the complainant and the individual alleged to have included or promoted the prohibited concept summarizing the allegations in the complaint and any agreed upon terms of the early resolution. Entry into an early resolution agreement shall not constitute an admission that the school knowingly violated this act.
(3) Once a written resolution agreement is signed and sent to the complainant and the individual alleged to have included or promoted the prohibited concept, the complaint shall be deemed resolved and the school shall not be required to complete its investigation or issue a final written determination.
(4) If a complainant believes that the school has failed to enforce a written resolution agreement, then entry into an early resolution agreement does not prohibit a complainant from later filing a new complaint based on the same facts and allegations as the original complaint, provided the complainant files the new complaint within thirty (30) days of receiving the written resolution agreement from the school and the complaint is otherwise filed in accordance with this act. If the school enforces a written resolution for the first thirty (30) days, and thereafter fails to enforce a written resolution, the complainant may also file a new complaint.
(5) The 30-day timeline for a school to complete an investigation and determine whether the allegation(s) in the complaint are substantiated shall not be extended for the purpose of discussing or finalizing a resolution agreement.
SECTION 6. Appeals to the Appeals Review Team. (1) The complainant or the individual alleged to have included or promoted the prohibited concept may file an appeal of the school's determination with the Appeals Review Team within fifteen (15) calendar days of the date that the school issues a written determination.
(2) Upon receipt of an appeal, the Appeals Review Team shall initiate an investigation within fifteen (15) calendar days of receiving the complaint.
(3) As part of the investigation, the Appeals Review Team shall have the authority to:
(a) Request the investigative file from the school;
(b) Interview the complainant, the individual alleged to have included or promoted the prohibited concept or any other individual deemed necessary by the Department; and
(c) Request any new or additional relevant physical or electronic evidence from the school or any witness.
(4) No later than thirty (30) calendar days of receiving the appeal, the Appeals Review Team shall prepare an investigative report summarizing its findings upon the close of its investigation. The report shall include a recommendation as to:
(a) Whether the allegation(s) in the original complaint is substantiated; and
(b) Whether the school knowingly violated this act.
(5) If the Appeals Review Team determines that the school knowingly violated this act, the Attorney General shall ensure the Department withholds the payment of state funds scheduled to be distributed to the school until the requirements of the corrective action plan have been met. The amount of state funds to be withheld shall be as follows:
(a) For the first determination of a knowing violation during the school year, the Department shall withhold two percent (2%) of annual state funds scheduled to be granted to the school or One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00), whichever is less; or
(b) For the second or more determination of a knowing violation during the school year, the Department shall withhold four percent (4%) of annual state funds scheduled to be granted to the school or Two Million Dollars ($2,000,000.00), whichever is less.
SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.