House Bill 284

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-15-31, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROHIBIT LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD IN DISTRICTS WITH AN ACCOUNTABILITY RATING GRADE OF "D" OR "F" FROM DENYING STUDENT REQUESTS TO TRANSFER TO ANOTHER SCHOOL WITHIN THE DISTRICT OR TO A SCHOOL DISTRICT UPON RECEIPT OF A WRITTEN PETITION BY THE PARENT, LEGAL GUARDIAN OR INDIVIDUAL IN LOCO PARENTIS OF THE STUDENT REQUESTING THE TRANSFER; TO PRESCRIBE THE COMPONENTS TO BE INCLUDED IN THE RELEASE PETITION; TO REQUIRE THE RECEIVING SCHOOL DISTRICT TO VERIFY THE ACCOUNTABILITY RATING GRADE OF THE TRANSFERRING SCHOOL DISTRICT BEFORE ACCEPTING ANY STUDENT, AND UPON A DETERMINATION THAT THE TRANSFERRING DISTRICT HAS A POOR ACCOUNTABILITY RATING, SHALL RECEIVE THE STUDENT AND MAKE A REQUEST OF THE TRANSFERRING DISTRICT FOR PER PUPIL EXPENDITURES ALLOTTED THE STUDENT; TO ALLOW RECEIVING DISTRICT TO REFUSE SCHOOL ACCEPTANCE OF THE TRANSFER STUDENT BASED ON LACK OF CAPACITY TO ACCOMMODATE A TRANSFERRING STUDENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 37-15-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-15-31. (1) (a) Except as provided in subsections (2) through (5) of this section, upon the petition in writing of a parent or guardian resident of the school district of an individual student filed or lodged with the president or secretary of the school board of a school district in which the pupil has been enrolled or is qualified to be enrolled as a student under Section 37-15-9, or upon the aforesaid petition or the initiative of the school board of a school district as to the transfer of a grade or grades, individual students living in one school district or a grade or grades of a school within the districts may be legally transferred to another school district, by the mutual consent of the school boards of all school districts concerned, which consent must be given in writing and spread upon the minutes of such boards.

(b) The school board of the transferring school district to which such petition may be addressed shall act thereon not later than its next regular meeting subsequent to the filing or lodging of the petition, and a failure to act within that time shall constitute a rejection of such request. The school board of the other school district involved (the transferee board) shall act on such request for transfer as soon as possible after the transferor board shall have approved or rejected such transfer and no later than the next regular meeting of the transferee board, and a failure of such transferee board to act within such time shall constitute a rejection of such request. If such a transfer is approved by the transferee board, then such decision shall be final. If such a transfer should be refused by the school board of either school district, then such decision shall be final.

(c) Any legal guardianship formed for the purpose of establishing residency for school district attendance purposes shall not be recognized by the affected school board.

(d) The school board of any school district with an accountability rating grade of "D" or "F" shall not prohibit any student attending any school in the district desiring to be reassigned to another school within the district of residence regardless of zones of attendance or to transfer to a school in any school district in the state upon receipt of a written petition by the parent, legal guardian or individual in loco parentis of the student requesting the transfer. The petition need only state the request to be reassigned within or to be released from the current district of attendance and identify the district to which transfer is sought. The receiving school district shall verify the accountability rating grade of the transferring school district before accepting any student, and upon a determination that the transferring district has a poor accountability rating, shall receive the student and make a request of the transferring district for per pupil expenditures allotted the student. The receiving school or school district may refuse to receive any student if the district or school does not have capacity to accept such transferring students.

(e) Each school district accepting students transferring from a district with an accountability rating of "D" or "F" shall submit to the State Department of Education a statement of capacity of such school district indicating the district's maximum ability to receive and accommodate transferring students. Upon receipt of the statement of capacity, the department shall verify the information included in the statement and cause each school district submitting a statement to provide notice on the school district's website, of its maximum capacity for receiving students. Each district submitting a capacity statement shall ensure that each of the available seats verified shall be filled by transfer students on a first-come, first-serve basis provided that such transfer students have no disciplinary infractions which would otherwise cause the student to be expelled or placed into an alternative school setting.

(2) (a) Upon the petition in writing of any parent or guardian who is a resident of Mississippi and is an instructional or licensed employee of a school district, but not a resident of such district, the school board of the employer school district shall consent to the transfer of such employee's dependent school-age children to its district and shall spread the same upon the minutes of the board. Upon the petition in writing of any parent or guardian who is not a resident of Mississippi and who is an instructional or licensed employee of a school district in Mississippi, the school board of the employer school district shall consent to the transfer of such employee's dependent school-age children to its district and shall spread the same upon the minutes of the board.

(b) The school board of any school district, in its discretion, may adopt a uniform policy to allow the enrollment and attendance of the dependent children of noninstructional and nonlicensed employees, who are residents of Mississippi but are not residents of their district. Such policy shall be based upon the employment needs of the district, implemented according to job classification groups and renewed each school year.

(c) The employer transferee school district shall notify in writing the school district from which the pupil or pupils are transferring, and the school board of the transferor school district shall spread the same upon its minutes.

(d) Any such agreement by school boards for the legal transfer of a student shall include a provision providing for the transportation of the student. In the absence of such a provision the responsibility for transporting the student to the transferee school district shall be that of the parent or guardian.

(e) Any school district which accepts a student under the provisions of this subsection shall not assess any tuition fees upon such transferring student in accordance with the provisions of Section 37-19-27.

(3) Upon the petition in writing of any parent or legal guardian of a school-age child who is a resident of an adjacent school district residing in the geographical situation described in Section 37-15-29(3), the school board of the school district operating the school located in closer proximity to the residence of the child shall consent to the transfer of the child to its district, and shall spread the same upon the minutes of the board. Any such agreement by school boards for the legal transfer of a student under this subsection shall include a provision for the transportation of the student by either the transferor or the transferee school district. In the event that either the school board of the transferee or the transferor school district shall object to the transfer, it shall have the right to appeal to the State Board of Education whose decision shall be final. However, if the school boards agreeing on the legal transfer of any student shall fail to agree on which district shall provide transportation, the responsibility for transporting the student to the transferee school district shall be that of the parent or guardian.

(4) Upon the petition in writing of any parent or legal guardian of a school-age child who was lawfully transferred to another school district prior to July 1, 1992, as described in Section 37-15-29(4), the school board of the transferee school district shall consent to the transfer of such child and the transfer of any school-age brother and sister of such child to its district, and shall spread the same upon the minutes of the board.

(5) (a) If the board of trustees of a municipal separate school district with added territory does not have a member who is a resident of the added territory outside the corporate limits, upon the petition in writing of any parent or legal guardian of a

school-age child who is a resident of the added territory outside the corporate limits, the board of trustees of the municipal separate school district and the school board of the school district adjacent to the added territory shall consent to the transfer of the child from the municipal separate school district to the adjacent school district. The agreement must be spread upon the minutes of the board of trustees of the municipal separate school district and the school board of the adjacent school district. The agreement must provide for the transportation of the student. In the absence of such a provision, the parent or legal guardian shall be responsible for transporting the student to the adjacent school district. Any school district that accepts a student under this subsection may not assess any tuition fees against the transferring student.

(b) Before September 1 of each year, the board of trustees of the municipal separate school district shall certify to the State Department of Education the number of students in the added territory of the municipal separate school district who are transferred to the adjacent school district under this subsection. The municipal separate school district also shall certify the total number of students in the school district residing in the added territory plus the number of those students who are transferred to the adjacent school district. Based upon these figures, the department shall calculate the percentage of the total number of students in the added territory who are transferred to the adjacent school district and shall certify this percentage to the levying authority for the municipal separate school district. The levying authority shall remit to the school board of the adjacent school district, from the proceeds of the ad valorem taxes collected for the support of the municipal separate school district from the added territory of the municipal separate school district, an amount equal to the percentage of the total number of students in the added territory who are transferred to the adjacent school district.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2017.