House Bill 488

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-13-10, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO DEVELOP A WRITING CURRICULUM FOR USE BY EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT WHICH MANDATES INSTRUCTION IN MANUSCRIPT HANDWRITING TECHNIQUES, AS WELL AS IN CURSIVE HANDWRITING, IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 37-13-10, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-13-10. (1) The State Board of Education is authorized and directed to require all public school districts to meet the following elementary education curriculum standard: The standard course of study shall include a writing curriculum developed by the board for use by all school districts. The board shall establish rules and regulations to be followed by districts in the implementation of the writing curriculum. The curriculum standard must include the following:

(a) The requirement that the public schools provide instruction in the fundamentals of manuscript handwriting techniques at the age and grade level determined by the State Department of Education to be the most appropriate for beginning instruction in manuscript handwriting; and

(b) The requirement that the public schools provide instruction in cursive reading and writing, implemented across the curriculum, so that students create readable documents through legible cursive handwriting by the end of the fifth grade, and that students pass with proficiency a teacher-constructed test demonstrating the students competency in both reading and writing cursive. This requirement shall be applicable beginning with the 2018-2019 school year.

(2) The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to the Mississippi School for the Blind and the Mississippi School for the Deaf.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2018.