House Bill 831

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-175-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCLUDE STUDENTS ELIGIBLE FOR ENROLLMENT IN KINDERGARTEN AS ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS OF A MISSISSIPPI SPEECH-LANGUAGE THERAPY SCHOLARSHIP; TO AMEND SECTION 37-175-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE DEFINITION OF CERTAIN TIMES USED TO DETERMINE THE ELIGIBILITY RULING NECESSARY FOR RECEIPT OF A MISSISSIPPI SPEECH-LANGUAGE THERAPY SCHOLARSHIP; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 37-175-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-175-5. (1) Parents or legal guardians may exercise the option to remove their child from a traditional public school setting to be enrolled in a nonpublic school which meets the standards for appropriate specific instruction designed to meet the unique learning needs of young students with a speech-language impairment. The objectives of such school shall be:

(a) To emphasize the importance of early intervention; and

(b) To provide intensive high-quality speech-language pathology services.

(2) The parent or legal guardian of a public school student with a speech-language impairment may request and receive from the state a Mississippi Speech-Language Therapy Scholarship for the child to enroll in and attend a nonpublic school in accordance with this section if:

(a) The student has spent the previous school year in attendance at a Mississippi public school or any other state accredited nonpublic special purpose school in the state that is organized to provide and emphasizes instruction in speech-language therapy and intervention as the primary purpose of the school, or is eligible for enrollment in a kindergarten program; or

(b) The parent or legal guardian has obtained acceptance for admission of the student to a nonpublic school that is eligible for the program under Section 37-175-19 and has requested from the department a scholarship within thirty (30) days before the date of the first scholarship payment. The request must be through a communication directly to the department in a manner that creates a written or electronic record of the request and the date of receipt of the request. The State Department of Education must notify the district of the parent's or legal guardian's intent upon receipt of the parent's or legal guardian's request.

SECTION 2. Section 37-175-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-175-1. As used in this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(a) "Board" means the State Board of Education.

(b) "Department" means the State Department of Education.

(c) "Speech-language impairment," as defined under IDEA, means a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a child's educational performance, which include:

(i) Articulation disorders: difficulties producing sounds in syllables or saying words incorrectly to the point that listeners cannot understand what is being said;

(ii) Fluency disorders: problems in which the flow of speech is interrupted by abnormal stoppages, repetitions, prolonged sounds and syllables or avoided, and where there may be silent blocks or inappropriate inhalation, exhalation or phonation patterns;

(iii) Resonance or voice disorders: problems with abnormal pitch, volume, resonance or quality of the voice, which may also cause pain or discomfort when speaking;

(iv) Receptive language disorders: difficulties understanding or processing language; and

(v) Expressive language disorders: difficulty putting words together, limited vocabulary or inability to use language in a socially appropriate manner.

(d) "Speech-language therapy" means an appropriate specialized speech-language instructional program that is delivered by a speech-language pathologist which is scientific and research-based. These components shall be taught using instructional approaches that include explicit, direct instruction which is systematic, sequential and cumulative, individualized to meet the specific learning needs of each individual student.

(e) "Speech-language pathologist" means a professional who has met the requirements and acquired a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, or who has completed training in a department approved American Speech-Language-Hearing Association based speech-language pathology training program attaining a AA license in speech-language pathology.

(f) "Mississippi Speech-Language Therapy Scholarship for Students with Speech-Language Impairments Program" means a scholarship to provide the option to provide a scholarship to a nonpublic school of choice, for students in kindergarten through Grade 6 or its equivalent with an eligibility ruling of a speech-language impairment in order to receive comprehensive multimodality speech-language therapy delivered by holders of an appropriate license and clinical certification in speech-language pathology issued by the department and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

(g) "School" means any state accredited nonpublic special purpose school that is organized to provide and emphasizes instruction in speech-language therapy and intervention as the primary purpose of the school and provides a specific learning environment that provides comprehensive speech-language therapy instruction delivered by speech-language pathologists licensed by the department providing highly qualified education and intervention services to children with an * * *~~primary~~ eligibility ruling of speech-language impairment.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.