Senate Bill 2876

(As Passed the Senate)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-23-63, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN TO RECEIVE STATE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO ATTEND CERTAIN SCHOOLS; TO AMEND SECTION 37-23-69, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS MAY BE REIMBURSED FOR THE EDUCATIONAL COSTS OF THOSE CHILDREN UP TO AN ANNUAL MAXIMUM BASED ON A MULTIPLE OF THE BASE STUDENT COST AS DETERMINED UNDER THE MISSISSIPPI ADEQUATE EDUCATION PROGRAM (MAEP) OR OTHER COST FACTORS AS DETERMINED BY THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION; TO AMEND SECTION 37-23-77, TO PROVIDE THAT STATE FUNDS MAY BE USED TO EDUCATE ANY SUCH CHILD UNDER THE GUARDIANSHIP OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES IF NO STATE FUNDED INSTITUTION PLACEMENT IS AVAILABLE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 37-23-63, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-23-63. Every child who is a resident citizen of the State of Mississippi under twenty-one (21) years of age, who cannot pursue all regular classwork due to reasons of defective hearing, vision, speech, mental retardation or other mental or physical conditions as determined by competent medical authorities and psychologists, who has not finished or graduated from high school, and who is in attendance in a private school, parochial school or speech, hearing and/or language clinic that is accredited by a state or regional accrediting agency or approved/licensed by the State Department of Education, shall be eligible and entitled to receive state financial assistance in the amount set forth in Section 37-23-69. Children who are certified by the designated state authority as requiring inpatient care in a private intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded and have an eligibility ruling of mental retardation (MR), or children who are certified by the designated state authority as requiring inpatient care in a psychiatric residential treatment facility and have a current eligibility ruling of emotional disturbance (EMD), with Medicaid reimbursement, shall be eligible and entitled to receive state financial assistance under the provisions of Section 37-23-69, if an approved private school is operated as an integral part of the facility that provides twenty-four (24) hours a day monitoring, treatment and education.

SECTION 2. Section 37-23-69, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-23-69. The State Department of Education may determine and pay the amount of the financial assistance to be made available to each applicant, and * * * see that all applicants and the programs for them meet the requirements of the program for exceptional children. No financial assistance shall exceed the obligation actually incurred by the applicant for educational costs. Within the amount of available state funds appropriated for that purpose, each such applicant may receive assistance according to the following allowances:

(a) If the applicant chooses to attend a private school, a parochial school or a speech, hearing and/or language clinic having an appropriate program for the applicant, and if the school or clinic meets federal and state regulations, then the educational costs reimbursement will be one hundred percent (100%) of the first Six Hundred Dollars ($600.00) in educational costs charged by the school or clinic; or, if the applicant is under six (6) years of age, and no program appropriate for the child exists in the public schools of his domicile, then the reimbursement shall be one hundred percent (100%) of the first Six Hundred Dollars ($600.00) in educational costs charged by the school or clinic, and fifty percent (50%) of the next Eight Hundred Dollars ($800.00) in educational costs charged by the school or clinic;

(b) A public school district shall be reimbursed for the educational costs of an applicant up to an annual maximum based on a multiple of the base student cost as determined under the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) or other cost factor as determined by the State Board of Education if the following conditions are met: (i) an applicant in the age range six (6) through twenty (20) requests the public school district where he resides to provide an education for him and the nature of the applicant's educational problem is such that, according to best educational practices, it cannot be met in the public school district where the child resides; (ii) the public school district decides to provide the applicant a free appropriate education by placing him in a private school, a parochial school or a speech, hearing and/or language clinic having an appropriate program for the applicant; * * * (iii) the program meets federal and state regulations; and (iv) the applicant is approved for financial assistance by a state level review board established by the State Board of Education. Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent two (2) or more public school districts from forming a cooperative to meet the needs of low incidence exceptional children, nor shall the public school be relieved of its responsibility to provide an education for all children. If state monies are not sufficient to fund all applicants, there will be a ratable reduction for all recipients receiving state funds under this section. School districts may pay additional educational costs from available federal, state and local funds.

If an exceptional child, as defined in Section 37-23-3, is placed in a therapeutic or other group home licensed or approved by the state that has no educational program associated with it, the local school district in which the home is located shall offer an appropriate educational program to that child.

At any time that the Individualized Education Program (IEP) Committee in the district where the home is located determines that an exceptional child, as defined in Section 37-23-3, residing in that home can no longer be provided a free appropriate public education in that school district, and the State Department of Education agrees with that decision, then the State Department of Education shall recommend to the Department of Human Services placement of the child by the Department of Human Services, which shall take appropriate action. The placement of the exceptional child in the facility shall be at no cost to the local school district. Funds available under * * * Sections 37-23-61 through 37-23-77, as well as any available federal funds, may be used to provide the educational costs of the placement. If the exceptional child is under the guardianship of the Department of Human Services or another state agency, the State Department of Education shall pay only for the educational costs of that placement, and the other agency shall be responsible for the room, board and any other costs. The special education and related services provided to the child shall be in compliance with State Department of Education and any related federal regulations. The State Board of Education may promulgate regulations that are necessary to implement this section; and

(c) If an appropriate local or regional system of care, including a free appropriate public education, is available for exceptional children who are currently being served in out-of-district or Department of Human Services placements under Section 37-23-69(b) or 37-23-77, then the state funds from the State Department of Education that would have been used for those placements may be paid into a pool of funds with funds from other state agencies to be used for the implementation of the individualized plans of care for those children. If there are sufficient funds to serve additional exceptional children because of cost savings as a result of serving these students at home and/or matching the pooled funds with federal dollars, the funds may be used to implement individualized plans of care for those additional exceptional children. Each local or regional provider of services included in the individualized plans of care shall comply with all appropriate state and federal regulations. The State Board of Education may promulgate regulations that are necessary to implement this section.

The State Department of Education may also provide for the payment of that financial assistance in installments and for proration of that financial assistance in the case of children attending a school or clinic for less than a full school session and, if available funds are insufficient, may allocate the available funds among the qualified applicants and local school districts by reducing the maximum assistance provided for in this section.

Any monies provided an applicant under Sections 37-23-61 through 37-23-75 shall be applied by the receiving educational institution as a reduction in the amount of the educational costs paid by the applicant, and the total educational costs paid by the applicant shall not exceed the total educational costs paid by any other child in similar circumstances enrolled in the same program in that institution. However, this limitation shall not prohibit the waiving of all or part of the educational costs for a limited number of children based upon demonstrated financial need, and the State Department of Education may adopt and enforce reasonable rules and regulations to carry out the intent of these provisions.

SECTION 3. Section 37-23-77, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-23-77. If a child, as defined in Sections 37-23-61 and 37-23-63, is under the legal guardianship of the State Department of Human Services, or any other state agency, and for whom no foster parents are available and no state-funded institution placement is available, funds available under Section 37-23-1 et seq. may be used to provide for the education of the child in an institution approved by the Department of Human Services and the State Department of Education. However, if the educational services needed by the child are available in a state funded institution, these funds shall not be used to pay for educational services at that institution. At any such time a child is taken out of a school setting and placed under the custody of the Department of Human Services, the department shall immediately notify the State Department of Education and apply for funds for the child's educational services under Section 37-23-1 et seq. and the State Department of Education shall respond to the application within ten (10) working days. The special education and related services provided for this child shall be provided in compliance with State Department of Education regulations. The State Department of Education shall promulgate such regulations as are necessary to implement this section.

The State Department of Education shall require that the special education and related services provided for the children under this section be designed to provide individualized appropriate special education and related services that enable a child to reach his or her appropriate and uniquely designed goals for success.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2004.