House Bill 216

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-35-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT CERTAIN COMPULSORY-SCHOOL-AGE STUDENTS WHO HAVE PARTICIPATED IN AND COMPLETED AN APPROVED GENERAL EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT (GED) PROGRAM, AND WHO HAVE MET CERTAIN CRITERIA TO EARN A CERTIFICATE OF EQUIVALENCY, SHALL BE CONSIDERED AS GRADUATES OF THE LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT IN WHICH THEY RESIDE FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMPILING DISTRICT DROPOUT, GRADUATION AND COMPLETION RATES BASED ON THE CALCULATION METHOD USED BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION; TO REQUIRE THAT THE EDUCATION CREDITS OF ANY STUDENT EARNING A CERTIFICATE OF EQUIVALENCY FROM A GED PROGRAM ADMINISTERED BY A LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT OR A COMMUNITY OR JUNIOR COLLEGE BE ALLOCATED TO THE LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT IN WHICH THAT STUDENT RESIDES FOR THE GRADUATION RATE COMPILATION, WHETHER OR NOT THE STUDENT COMPLETES THE PROGRAM WITHIN THE DISTRICT OF HIS RESIDENCE; TO DEFINE THE TERM "SCHOOL DISTRICT OF ORIGIN" FOR THE PURPOSE OF REMOVING ANY AMBIGUITY RELATING TO THE USE OF THE TERM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 37-35-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-35-3. (1) The board of trustees of any school district, including any community or junior college, may establish and maintain classes for adults, including General Educational Development (GED) classes, under the regulations authorized in this chapter and pursuant to the standards prescribed in subsection (3). The property and facilities of the public school districts may be used for this purpose where the use does not conflict with uses already established.

(2) The trustees of any school district desiring to establish a General Educational Development (GED) program may request the taxing authority of the district to levy additional ad valorem taxes for the support of this program. The board of supervisors, in the case of a county school district, a special municipal separate school district, or a community or junior college district, and the governing authority of any municipality, in the case of a municipal separate school district, is authorized, in its discretion, to levy a tax not exceeding one (1) mill upon all the taxable property of the district for the support of this program. The tax shall be in addition to all other taxes authorized by law to be levied. In addition to the funds realized from any such levy, the board of trustees of any school district is authorized to use any surplus funds that it may have or that may be made available to it from local sources to supplement this program.

(3) (a) Any student participating in an approved General Educational Development (GED) program administered by a local school district or the appropriate community or junior college shall not be considered a dropout. Students in * * * a GED program administered by a local school district shall be considered as enrolled within the school district of origin for the purpose of enrollment for adequate education program funding only. Those students shall not be considered as enrolled in the regular school program for academic or programmatic purposes. Students in * * * a GED program administered by a community or junior college shall be considered as enrolled in the school district of origin for funding purposes. As used in this section, the term "school district of origin" means the local school district where a GED program is established and administered. For the purpose of a GED program administered by a community or junior college, "school district of origin" means the local school district which has contracted with a community or junior college to provide GED services.

(b) Students participating in an approved General Educational Development (GED) program shall have an individual career plan developed at the time of placement to insure that the student's academic and job skill needs will be met. The Individual Career Plan will address, but is not limited to, the following:

(i) Academic/instructional needs of the student;

(ii) Job readiness needs of the student; and

(iii) Work experience program options available for the student.

(c) Students participating in an approved General Educational Development (GED) program may participate in existing job and skills development programs or in similar programs developed in conjunction with the GED program and the vocational director.

(d) General Educational Development (GED) programs may be operated by local school districts or may be operated by two (2) or more adjacent school districts, pursuant to a contract approved by the State Board of Education. When two (2) or more school districts contract to operate a General Educational Development (GED) program, the school board of a district designated to be the lead district shall serve as the governing board of the General Educational Development (GED) program. Transportation for students placed in the General Educational Development (GED) program shall be the responsibility of the school district of origin. The expense of establishing, maintaining and operating such GED programs may be paid from funds made available to the school district through contributions, adequate education program funds or from local district maintenance funds.

(e) Students participating in an approved General Educational Development (GED) program within a community or junior college shall be included in the average daily attendance of the school district of origin. The school district of origin is authorized to contract with the community or junior college to provide GED services for the student.

(f) The State Department of Education will develop procedures and criteria for placement of a student in the General Educational Development (GED) programs. Students placed in General Educational Development (GED) programs shall have parental approval for such placement and must meet the following criteria:

(i) The student must be at least sixteen (16) years of age;

(ii) The student must be at least two (2) grade levels behind or acquired less than four (4) Carnegie units;

(iii) The student must have taken every opportunity to continue to participate in coursework leading to a diploma; and

(iv) The student must be certified to be eligible to participate in the GED course by the school district superintendent, based on the developed criteria.

(g) Students participating in an approved General Educational Development (GED) program may be excluded from the Mississippi Student Assessment Program, based on the existence of appropriate alternate accountability measures that have been approved by the State Department of Education.

(4) Students who have dropped out of school and are of compulsory school age, who have participated in and completed an approved General Education Development (GED) program, and who have met all the academic requirements of the program and received a passing score on the GED test shall be considered as graduates of the local school district in which they reside for the purpose of compiling district dropout, graduation and completion rates based on the calculation method used by the State Department of Education. Except as otherwise provided in subsections (3)(a) and (e) of this section for the purposes of adequate education program funding and average daily attendance, a student earning a certificate of equivalency from a GED program administered by a local school district or a community or junior college shall have his education credits for the graduation rate compilation allocated to the local school district in which that student resides, whether or not the student completes the program within the district of his residence.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2010.