MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2012 Regular Session
To: Education; Appropriations
By: Representative Moore
AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO ESTABLISH AN ENROLLMENT OPTIONS PROGRAM TO ENABLE STUDENTS RESIDING IN THE STATE TO ATTEND ANY PUBLIC SCHOOL THROUGHOUT THE STATE WITHOUT REGARD TO RESIDENT; TO PRESCRIBE THE APPLICATION PROCESS TO BE FOLLOWED BY PARENTS WISHING TO ENROLL THEIR CHILD IN A DIFFERENT SCHOOL DISTRICT; TO PRESCRIBE LIMITATIONS OF ADMISSION OF STUDENTS IN CERTAIN RECEIVING SCHOOL DISTRICTS; TO EXEMPT SCHOOL DISTRICTS FOR CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS WHEN IMPLEMENTING THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; TO PROVIDE FOR THE PROCESS OF SELECTING STUDENTS TO ENROLL IN SUCH SCHOOL DISTRICTS; TO PROVIDE FOR A LOTTERY PROCESS FOR SELECTION IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES; TO RESTRICT STUDENTS IN GRADES 10 THROUGH 12 FROM PARTICIPATING IN INTERSCHOLASTIC COMPETITIONS DURING THE FIRST YEAR OF ENROLLMENT IN A RECEIVING DISTRICT; TO PRESCRIBE THE PROCESS FOR NOTIFYING ACCEPTED APPLICANTS; TO PROVIDE THE MANNER OF FUNDING; TO STIPULATE THE TRANSPORTATION REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCEPTED STUDENTS; TO PRESCRIBE GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS; TO REQUIRE EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT TO PUBLISH INFORMATION REGARDING OPEN ENROLLMENT ON ITS DISTRICT WEBSITE; TO PROVIDE THAT THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT SHALL BE SEVERABLE; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 37-151-93, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENTS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. The purpose of this act is to improve educational achievement and to enhance the opportunity for parental choice in education by providing additional options to students in the state to enroll in public schools and educational programs throughout the state without regard to student residence.
SECTION 2. As used in this act, the following words shall have the meanings herein ascribed unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(a) "School" means a school that is operated or authorized by a public school district or other recognized educational agency, and that provides elementary or secondary education in accordance with state law.
(b) "Parent" means the natural or adoptive parent or legal guardian of a dependent child.
(c) "Department" means the State Department of Education.
SECTION 3. The State Department of Education shall establish an enrollment options program to enable students residing in the state to attend any public school or program within the district of residence, or any school or program in a nonresident district within the state without requiring nonresident students to pay tuition.
SECTION 4. (1) The parent or legal guardian of a student wishing to attend a receiving school or program, either within or outside the district of residence, shall submit an application to the receiving school of choice.
(2) The parent or legal guardian shall submit the application for a particular school year at a time set and on a form provided by the department.
(3) Upon agreement of the receiving district, the deadline in subsection (2) may be waived.
SECTION 5. A school district that has a desegregation plan approved by the state educational agency, by a court, or by the United States Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, may, in accordance with regulations of the state educational agency, limit the number of students who transfer into or out of the district under this act if necessary to ensure compliance with the plan.
SECTION 6. (1) In implementing the provisions of this act, no school district shall be required to:
(a) Make alterations in the structure of a requested school or to make alterations to the arrangement or function of rooms within a requested school;
(b) Establish and offer any particular program in a school if the program is not currently offered in that school;
(c) Alter or waive any established eligibility criteria for participation in a particular program, including age requirements, course prerequisites and required levels of performance; or
(d) Enroll any student as provided in this act in any program or school after the date established by the district to conduct its annual attendance count.
(2) Any school district may deny any of its resident students or any nonresident students from other school districts within the state permission to enroll in particular programs or schools only for any of the following reasons:
(a) Lack of space or capacity within a particular program or school requested, in which case, priority shall be given to resident students applying for admission to such program or school;
(b) The school requested does not offer appropriate programs of learning or is not structured or equipped with the necessary facilities to meet special needs of the student or does not offer a particular program requested;
(c) The student does not meet the established eligibility criteria for participation in a particular program, including age requirements, course prerequisites and required levels of performance;
(d) A desegregation plan is in effect for the school district, and such denial is necessary in order to enable compliance with such desegregation plan; or
(e) The student has been expelled, or is in the process of being expelled, for the reasons specified in Chapter 11, Title 37, Mississippi Code of 1972.
(3) The space or capacity of each school used to determine eligibility for enrollment of resident and nonresident students shall be determined using a uniform formula developed by the department.
(4) If the capacity of the requested school is insufficient to enroll all nonresident students who wish to attend the school, the requested school shall select students through a lottery.
(5) A receiving school shall give enrollment preference to students enrolled in a receiving school the previous school year and to siblings of students already enrolled in the receiving school. An enrollment preference for these students excludes the students from entering into a lottery.
(6) Notwithstanding Section 6(2)(d) no school district or school may discriminate on the basis of a student's race, ethnicity, academic achievement, athletic abilities, language proficiency, sex or socio-economic status in considering a nonresident transfer application.
(7) A student enrolled in Grades 10 through 12, inclusive, in a receiving district shall not be eligible to participate in interscholastic athletic contests or competitions during the first year of enrollment in the receiving district unless the interscholastic sport in which the student wishes to participate was not offered in his home district.
(8) Any nonresident transfer application rejected on the grounds identified in Section 6(2) must be reviewed by the department, which shall also create an appeals process for rejected applicants.
SECTION 7. In implementing the provisions of this act, a school district shall notify accepted applicants within sixty (60) days of the application being submitted.
SECTION 8. (1) The receiving district shall pay to the nonreceiving district the amount it would have cost for that student to attend school in his home district.
(2) If the cost to attend school in the receiving district exceeds the cost to attend school in the home district, the parents of the student are responsible for paying the difference in cost.
(3) If the cost to attend school in the receiving district is less than the cost to attend school in the home district, the savings shall be placed in a special fund created in the State Treasury, known as the "Public School Choice Scholarship Fund," which shall annually distribute all funds on a pro rata basis to all students whose cost to attend a receiving school exceeds the costs to attend a home school. The State Department of Education shall establish and administer the fund as an appropriated special fund account. Deposits by districts of residence to this account shall be completed by November 30 of each school year. The department shall provide an annual report to the Legislature, and the public, detailing how many students have received scholarships from the fund, the amount of each scholarship, and whether the fund contains a surplus.
SECTION 9. If requested by the parent of a student participating in the program under this act, the receiving district shall provide transportation within that district. The parent shall be responsible for transporting the child without reimbursement to and from a point on a regular bus route of the receiving district.
SECTION 10. A district serving a nonresident student under this act shall accept credits toward graduation that were awarded to that student by another district and shall graduate a nonresident student if the student meets the receiving district's graduation requirements.
SECTION 11. In order to enable a parent to make an informed decision about enrollment options under this act, each school district that operates a website shall make open enrollment information as easily available to parents as possible by including the following information on the school district's website:
(a) One or more web pages that summarize school district open enrollment policies and procedures for inter-district and intra-district open enrollment into district schools;
(b) Information concerning enrollment into the district's charter and magnet schools, if different than district schools;
(c) Information concerning the eligibility of a student to participate in school activities if the student has transferred from one (1) school to another school, either within the school district or within another school district;
(d) Information concerning the open enrollment application process, including how and where to obtain an application, and when and how notification of acceptance occurs;
(e) Information concerning the student selection process;
(f) Information concerning open enrollment timelines, including how long an enrollment shall remain valid;
(g) Contact information for one or more individuals employed by the school district who are responsible for answering questions from parents concerning the open enrollment process; and
(h) A tab or link on the home page of the school district website that links viewers to open enrollment information, is clearly labeled with language that includes the words "open enrollment" or "school choice," and is available at all times of the year.
SECTION 12. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section, any student who enrolls in a receiving school or program pursuant to this article may remain enrolled in that school or program through the end of the school year.
(2) This section shall not apply if:
(a) The nonresident student is expelled from the school or program under the provisions of Chapter 11, Title 37, Mississippi Code of 1972;
(b) The nonresident student is excluded from the school or program for any of the reasons described in paragraphs of Section 6(1)(a), (b), (c) and (d).
SECTION 13. Section 37-151-93, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
37-151-93. (1) Legally transferred students going from one school district to another shall be counted for adequate education program allotments by the school district wherein the students attend school, but shall be counted for transportation allotment purposes in the school district which furnishes or provides the transportation. The school boards of the school districts which approve the transfer of a student under the provisions of Section 37-15-31 shall enter into an agreement and contract for the payment or nonpayment of any portion of their local maintenance funds which they deem fair and equitable in support of any transferred student. Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, local maintenance funds shall be transferred only to the extent specified in the agreement and contract entered into by the affected school districts. The terms of any local maintenance fund payment transfer contract shall be spread upon the minutes of both of the affected school district school boards. The school district accepting any transfer students shall be authorized to accept tuition from such students under the provisions of Section 37-15-31(1) and such agreement may remain in effect for any length of time designated in the contract. The terms of such student transfer contracts and the amounts of any tuition charged any transfer student shall be spread upon the minutes of both of the affected school boards. No school district accepting any transfer students under the provisions of Section 37-15-31(2), which provides for the transfer of certain school district employee dependents, shall be authorized to charge such transfer students any tuition fees.
(2) Local maintenance funds shall be paid by the home school district to the transferee school district for students granted transfers under the provisions of Sections 37-15-29(3) and 37-15-31(3), Mississippi Code of 1972, not to exceed the "base student cost" as defined in Section 37-151-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, multiplied by the number of such legally transferred students.
SECTION 14. If any provision of this law or its application is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this law which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application and to this end the provisions of this law are severable.
SECTION 15. This act shall stand repealed on July 1, 2022.
SECTION 16. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after January 1, 2012.