Senate Bill 2102

AN ACT TO REQUIRE THAT, BEGINNING IN THE 2027-2028 SCHOOL YEAR, EVERY PUBLIC AND CHARTER SCHOOL STUDENT WITHIN THE STATE PASS THE USCIS NATURALIZATION CIVICS TEST AS A REQUIREMENT FOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION; TO PROVIDE THAT STUDENTS MUST PASS THE TEST DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR BEFORE GRADUATION; TO PROVIDE THAT SCHOOLS SHALL DESIGNATE FACULTY TO ADMINISTER THE TEST IN WRITING UNDER STANDARD TESTING CONDITIONS FOUR TIMES PER SCHOOL YEAR; TO REQUIRE THAT THE TEST CONSIST OF 20 QUESTIONS SELECTED FROM THE LIST OF 128 CIVICS TEST QUESTIONS IN THE USCIS QUESTION POOL; TO SPECIFY THAT A STUDENT MUST ANSWER 12 OF THE 20 QUESTIONS CORRECTLY TO PASS; TO REQUIRE THAT THE QUESTIONS BE ROTATED SO THAT NO QUESTIONS ARE REPEATED ON ANY OF THE FOUR TESTS WITHIN THE SAME SCHOOL YEAR; TO ALLOW SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND CHARTER SCHOOLS FLEXIBILITY AS TO THE MEANS OF EQUIPPING THEIR STUDENTS WITH THE KNOWLEDGE NEEDED TO PASS THE TEST; TO AUTHORIZE THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO PROMULGATE RULES AND REGULATIONS TO GUIDE SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND CHARTERS SCHOOLS IN IMPLEMENTING THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) Beginning in the 2027-2028 school year, every public and charter school student within the state must pass the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Naturalization Civics Test as a requirement for high school graduation. Students must pass the test during the school year before graduation.

(2) Public and charter schools shall designate faculty to administer the test, which shall be offered under standard testing conditions four (4) times throughout the school year and need not be connected with any particular course. The faculty member shall administer the test in writing, selecting twenty (20) questions from the list of one hundred twenty-eight (128) civics test questions in the USCIS question pool. A student must answer twelve (12) of the twenty (20) questions correctly to pass the test. The questions shall be rotated so that no questions are repeated on any of the four (4) tests within the same school year.

(3) School districts and charter schools shall have flexibility as to the means of equipping their students with the knowledge needed to pass the test.

(4) The State Department of Education may promulgate rules and regulations to guide school districts and charters schools in implementing this section.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026.