Senate Bill 2669

AN ACT TO ENACT THE MISSISSIPPI DYSLEXIA EDUCATION FUNDING ACT; TO DEFINE TERMS; TO CREATE THE MISSISSIPPI RURAL SCHOOLS FUNDING GRANT PROGRAM TO BE ADMINISTERED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING DYSLEXIA THERAPY TO AID STUDENTS WITH DYSLEXIA AS WELL AS TO FUND DYSLEXIA THERAPISTS OR SUPPORT STAFF IN SCHOOLS; TO PROVIDE THAT EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL RECEIVE A MINIMUM AMOUNT UNDER THE GRANT PROGRAM; TO PROVIDE THAT THE REMAINING FUNDS IN THE GRANT PROGRAM SHALL BE DISTRIBUTED UPON APPLICATION; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO PROMULGATE RULES AND REGULATIONS TO ADMINISTER THE GRANT PROGRAM; TO CREATE THE DYSLEXIA EDUCATION FUND AS A SPECIAL FUND IN THE STATE TREASURY; TO PROVIDE THAT MONIES APPROPRIATED OUT OF THE FUND MAY BE USED TO REIMBURSE ACTUAL OVERSIGHT COSTS UP TO A CERTAIN AMOUNT; 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 "Mississippi Dyslexia Education Funding Act."

SECTION 2. For purposes of this act, the following words shall have the meanings ascribed herein unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

(a) "Department" means the State Department of Education.

(b) "Dyslexia" means a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin, characterized by difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition and poor spelling and decoding abilities, which typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction, and secondary consequences which may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.

(c) "Dyslexia therapy" means an appropriate specialized dyslexia instructional program that is delivered by a Mississippi Department of Education licensed dyslexia therapist which is scientific, research-based, Orton-Gillingham based, and is offered in a small group setting to teach students the components of reading instruction which include:

(i) Phonemic awareness to enable students to detect, segment, blend and manipulate sounds in spoken language;

(ii) Graphophonemic knowledge (phonics) for teaching the letter-sound plan of English;

(iii) The entire structure of the English language that encompasses morphology, semantics, syntax and pragmatics;

(iv) Linguistic instruction directed toward proficiency and fluency with the patterns of language so that words and sentences are carriers of meaning; and

(v) Strategies that students use for decoding, encoding, word recognition, fluency and comprehension.

These components shall be taught using instructional approaches that include explicit, direct instruction which is systematic, sequential and cumulative, following a logical plan of presenting the alphabetic principle commensurate with the students' needs, with no assumption of prior skills or language knowledge; individualized to meet the specific learning needs of each individual student in a small group setting; intensive, highly concentrated instruction that maximizes student engagement and uses specialized methods and materials; meaning-based instruction directed toward purposeful reading and writing, with an emphasis on comprehension and composition; and multisensory instruction that incorporates the simultaneous use of two (2) or more sensory pathways during teacher presentations and student practice.

(d) "Dyslexia therapist" means a professional who has completed training in a department approved Orton-Gillingham based dyslexia therapy training program attaining an AA license in dyslexia therapy or a professional participating in a state approved dyslexia therapy training program to attain an AA license in dyslexia therapy.

(e) "Grant program" means the Mississippi Dyslexia Education Funding Grant Program established in this act.

(f) "Mississippi Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship for Students with Dyslexia Program" means a scholarship to provide the option to attend a public school other than the one to which is assigned, or to provide a scholarship to a nonpublic school of choice, for students in Grade 1 through Grade 12 diagnosed with dyslexia in order to receive comprehensive multisensory dyslexia therapy delivered by holders of an appropriate license in dyslexia therapy issued by the department.

(g) "School" means any public school district, any agricultural high school, the Mississippi School for the Deaf and Blind, the Mississippi School of the Arts and the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science and any public charter school.

SECTION 3. (1) There is established the Mississippi Dyslexia Education Funding Grant Program which shall be administered by the department for the purpose of providing dyslexia therapy to aid students with dyslexia as well as to fund dyslexia therapists or support staff in schools.

(2) The department shall distribute grants to each school. Each school shall receive a grant in the amount of at least One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) under the grant program by October 1, 2024. The remaining funds in the grant program shall be distributed upon application to the department until the funds are depleted.

(3) The department shall promulgate rules and regulations to administer the grant program.

(4) The department shall provide an annual report to the Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the House and Governor concerning the distribution of funds under this grant program. The report shall be filed by December 1 of each year.

SECTION 4. (1) There is created a special fund in the State Treasury to be known as the "Dyslexia Education Fund" which shall consist of monies from any source designated for deposit into the fund. Unexpended amounts remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund, and any investment earnings or interest earned on amounts in the fund shall be deposited to the credit of the fund.

(2) (a) Monies in the fund shall be disbursed by the department for the purposes described in this act.

(b) In addition to the purposes in paragraph (a) of this subsection, monies appropriated out of the fund may be used to reimburse reasonable actual and necessary oversight costs incurred by the department in providing grants or loans under this section. The department shall maintain an accounting of actual costs and expenses incurred for which reimbursement is sought for each grant or loan. Reimbursement of reasonable actual and necessary costs and expenses for assistance shall not exceed one and twenty-five one-hundredths percent (1.25%) of the monies appropriated out of the fund. Reimbursements made under this paragraph shall satisfy any applicable federal tax law requirements.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.