MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2001 Regular Session

To: Education

By: Representative Eads

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-6-13, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ESTABLISH MEETING ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMBERS OF LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 37-6-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-6-13. (1) Each person serving as a member of the school board of any school district shall receive per diem in the amount of Sixty-seven Dollars ($67.00) for no more than thirty-six (36) meetings of the school board during any one (1) fiscal year or, in his or her discretion, irrevocably may choose to receive as compensation for his or her services an annual salary in the amount of Two Thousand Four Hundred Dollars ($2,400.00), which choice shall remain in force for all successive terms or periods of service of that member. The receipt of the compensation shall not entitle any member of a school board to receive or be eligible for any state employee group insurance, retirement or other fringe benefits. Each member shall be reimbursed for the necessary expenses and mileage in attending meetings of the school board. In addition to the foregoing, all members may be reimbursed for mileage and actual expenses incurred in the further performance of their duties, including attendance at any mandatory school board training session or at regional and national education meetings, when such mileage and other expenses are authorized by the board prior to the date on which they occur. Detailed vouchers shall be submitted for reimbursement for all expenses authorized by this section. Such reimbursement shall be in accordance with Section 25-3-41.

Such expenses shall be paid on order of the school board by pay certificates issued by the superintendent of the school district involved against the funds available for payment of the administrative expense of the district.

(2) (a) If a member of a school board misses twenty percent (20%) or more of the regularly scheduled meetings of the school board during one (1) calendar year, the member must reimburse the school district that portion of the total salary paid to the member that year which is proportionate to the number of regularly scheduled meetings missed by the member in relation to the total number of such meetings held during that year. For purposes of this subsection, consideration may be given only to regularly scheduled meetings of which public notice is required.

(b) A school board member who is required to reimburse a school district for missed meetings under this subsection shall enter into an agreement with the superintendent of the school district for the payment of the total amount owed the school district by the member. The agreement may provide for the payment to be made in a lump sum by a date certain or in partial payments according to a payment schedule set forth in the agreement. If the school board member fails to enter into this agreement or pay the total amount owed the school district before March 1 of the year immediately succeeding the year in which the meetings were missed, the member may not be paid any compensation or expense reimbursement authorized under subsection (1) of this section until the total amount owed the district has been withheld.

(c) Before February 1 of each year, the president of each local school board shall submit a report to the State Board of Education containing the names of any members of the school board who missed twenty percent (20%) or more of the regularly scheduled school board meetings during the preceding calendar year.

SECTION 2. The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall submit this act, immediately upon approval by the Governor, or upon approval by the Legislature subsequent to a veto, to the Attorney General of the United States or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after January 1, 2002, if it is effectuated on or before that date under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended. If it is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended or extended, after January 1, 2002, this act shall take effect and be in force from and after the date it is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.