House Bill 1385

AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO DEVELOP AN ALTERNATIVE TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRACK CURRICULUM FOR STUDENTS NOT INTENDING TO PURSUE A BACCALAUREATE DEGREE; TO REQUIRE THE TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL COURSES TO BE IN THE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS FIELDS AND TO FOCUS ON TEACHING COURSE OBJECTIVES WITH AN EMPHASIS ON APPLICATION OF THE KNOWLEDGE FUNDAMENTAL TO THE TECHNICAL SKILLS REQUIRED FOR ENTRY INTO A TECHNICAL VOCATION OR POST-SECONDARY TRAINING PROGRAM; TO PROVIDE THAT STUDENTS WHO LATER WISH TO PURSUE A BACCALAUREATE DEGREE MAY ENROLL IN REMEDIATION COURSES, IF NECESSARY, AT A COMMUNITY OR JUNIOR COLLEGE; TO REQUIRE THE ALTERNATIVE CURRICULUM TO BE AVAILABLE TO NINTH GRADE STUDENTS BEGINNING IN THE 2023-2024 SCHOOL YEAR; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) The State Department of Education shall develop a technical and vocational track curriculum for those students who do not plan to pursue a baccalaureate degree upon high school graduation but intend to pursue vocational training or entry into the workforce in a career-technical field. The technical and vocational track curriculum shall be considered an alternative to the college preparatory curriculum and must consist of challenging modern career-technical courses in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics which will prepare students to enter directly into the workforce or pursue post-secondary training and certification in a technical occupation. In designing the curriculum, the department shall endeavor, to the extent possible, to develop each alternative technical and vocational course to correlate with an academic core course required for a standard diploma. The technical and vocational track courses offered as alternatives to required academic core courses shall fulfill the requirements for graduation from high school with a standard diploma and must equip students with a mastery of the same objectives as the academic courses but with an emphasis on the application of those objectives to fundamental technical skills necessary for a person to succeed in a technical or vocational occupation.

(2) A student earning a standard high school diploma after completion of the technical and vocational track curriculum is entitled to all the rights and privileges conferred upon a student who earns a standard high school diploma after completing a college preparatory curriculum. Any such student who subsequently desires to pursue enrollment in a baccalaureate degree program must be allowed to participate in remediation courses, including online courses, which may be made available through a community or junior college if such remediation is necessary to prepare the student for the baccalaureate degree course of study.

(3) The technical and vocational track curriculum required under this section must be developed and implemented so that it is made available to students entering the ninth grade in the 2023-2024 school year and thereafter.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2022.