House Bill 281

AN ACT TO REQUIRE SCHOOL DISTRICTS ACCREDITED AT ONE OF THE THREE LOWEST ACCOUNTABILITY RATINGS, AS DEFINED BY THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, TO ADOPT CERTAIN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES REGARDING DAILY CURRICULUM, WEEKLY HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, DRESS CODES, SCHOOL HOLIDAYS, PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES AND A SCHOOL SYLLABUS; TO REQUIRE ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS IN THOSE DISTRICTS TO ADHERE TO THE SAME POLICIES AND PROCEDURES; TO REQUIRE ALL LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO IMPLEMENT A VIDEO STREAMING PROGRAM IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR TO AID IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ALTERNATIVE CAREER-TRACK CURRICULUM BASED UPON OCCUPATIONAL PROJECTIONS IN THE STATE AND COUNTRY FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS; TO REQUIRE SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO ASSIST STUDENTS IN ACCESSING INFORMATION FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR WHICH WILL ENABLE THE STUDENTS TO MAKE CAREER CHOICES; TO REQUIRE A SCHOOL DISTRICT'S ALTERNATIVE CAREER-TRACK CURRICULUM TO SATISFY ITS GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS AND LEAD TO THE AWARDING OF A STANDARD HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) The school board of each school district having an accountability rating at one (1) of the three (3) lowest levels, as defined by the State Board of Education, shall adopt policies and procedures regarding the daily curriculum in schools, weekly homework assignments, parental involvement, dress codes, school holidays, parent-teacher conferences and a school syllabus. The policies and procedures must include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following:

(a) Every child must be assigned daily homework assignments;

(b) Every child must be taught to write in proper manuscript and cursive lettering, which must be reinforced through weekend homework assignments at every grade level;

(d) Every child must be assigned a daily written assignment to accompany the daily reading assignment in order to assess the reading comprehension level of the child;

(e) Every child must be assigned a minimum of five (5) words per week in each subject area to learn to spell, define and use in a sentence, which must be used to assess the child's retention of the assignment;

(f) Every child must be assigned a minimum of one (1) book to read per subject each month and must write a short report on the subject matter of the book, which report must be used to assess the child's learning ability. Children in primary grades may be allowed to draw pictures, elaborate orally or use any other alternative method to tell about their books;

(g) Every parent or guardian of a child shall participate in one (1) supportive service for the school district, such as assisting at the bus stop, working the concession stand for an athletic event, chaperoning a school sponsored event, serving in the Parent Teacher Association, or serving as a mentor, resource officer or tutor;

(h) Every teacher shall dress in a professional manner, which does not include wearing blue jeans, denim jeans or tee shirts;

(i) Every child must be required to wear a school uniform;

(j) The school districts shall provide for only the following school holidays: Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Spring Break and Good Friday holidays. Permanent early release days are prohibited;

(k) Staff development training may not be held during a regular school day; however, staff development training may be offered after the regular school day has been completed. The staff development training must be relevant to the teaching experience and beneficial to the teacher, student and district as a whole;

(l) Parent-teacher conferences must be held at the middle of each nine-week term with the parent and a child who has not mastered his or her coursework for the mid-term or who has demonstrated bad citizenship;

(m) The school district shall provide a syllabus for each nine (9) weeks with the homework assignments posted for each subject. The syllabus must contain an agreement that the parent or guardian is required to sign stating that the parent understands the child has daily homework assignments and that the parent has received a document outlining the child's work assignments and due dates of the assignments; and

(n) The school district shall post the syllabus on the school district website, if available. If a student loses his or her syllabus, the school district may charge a fee of not more than Twenty-five Cents (25¢) per individual sheet to copy and replace the document.

(2) Alternative school programs in school districts having an accreditation rating at one (1) of the three (3) lowest levels, as defined by the State Board of Education, shall adhere to the policies required under subsection (1) of this section. Students attending an alternative school must attend school for no less than eight (8) hours per day and must attend school on Saturday for no less than eight (8) hours per day. At alternative schools, Saturday must be known as "Attitude Adjustment Day." Each Saturday, the school districts shall arrange for retired military, first responders, volunteer mentors, ministers, parents and any other community volunteers to attend school with the alternative school students and to share their skills and knowledge with the students, encouraging them to become better students and citizens. In addition, the school district may authorize students to participate in community service programs on Saturdays to help build character and concern for their own school, family, neighborhood and community.

SECTION 2. (1) Each school district shall design and implement a video streaming program in conjunction with the United States Department of Labor to aid in the development of the school district's curriculum. Using state and national occupational projections available through the Department of Labor, the school district shall develop an alternative career-track curriculum that prepares students for direct entry into the workforce or post-secondary education and training in the five (5) occupations projected to be the fastest growing in the State of Mississippi, and in the twenty (20) occupations projected to be the fastest growing in the country, over the next succeeding five (5) years. The district shall provide students with access to the Department of Labor, via video streaming means, and shall assist students in gathering relevant information from the Department of Labor which will enable the students to make informed, educated career choices and to select the curriculum that will begin the students on a path toward a meaningful and rewarding occupation.

(2) An alternative career-track curriculum developed and implemented in a school district under subsection (1) of this section must be designed to enable students to meet all necessary requirements for graduation and to be awarded a standard high school diploma upon graduation from a high school within that district.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2022.