MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2024 Regular Session

To: Education

By: Senator(s) Johnson

Senate Bill 2234

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-15-13, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT A SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT, SUBJECT TO THE RATIFICATION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT'S SCHOOL BOARD, MAY CONSENT TO THE ENROLLMENT OF A CHILD FROM ANOTHER SCHOOL OR ATTENDANCE CENTER UPON THE REQUEST OF THE CHILD'S PARENT OR LEGAL GUARDIAN; TO AMEND SECTION 37-15-29, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT ANY CHILD ATTENDING A SCHOOL IN THIS STATE MAY TRANSFER TO ANY SCHOOL OFFERING INSTRUCTION AT THE GRADE LEVEL OF THE TRANSFERRING STUDENT IN ANY SCHOOL DISTRICT SUBJECT TO AVAILABLE CAPACITY; TO AMEND SECTION 37-15-31, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THE PROCESS BY WHICH A PARENT OR LEGAL GUARDIAN MAY PETITION A SCHOOL FOR THE TRANSFER OF THEIR CHILD; TO PROVIDE THAT THE PETITIONED DISTRICT SHALL DETERMINE IF THERE IS CAPACITY AT THE DESIRED SCHOOL BY USING PUBLICLY VERIFIABLE DATA; TO AMEND SECTION 37-151-93, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

     SECTION 1.  Section 37-15-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     37-15-13.  When any child qualified under the requirements of Section 37-15-9 shall apply or present himself for enrollment in or admission to the public schools of any school district of this state, the school board of such school district shall have the power and authority to designate the particular school or attendance center of the district in which such child shall be enrolled and which he shall attend; however, no enrollment of a child in a school shall be final or permanent until such designation shall be made by * * * said the school board.  No child shall be entitled to attend any school or attendance center except that to which he has been assigned by the school board; however, * * * the principal of a school or superintendent of the district may, in proper cases, permit a child to attend a school temporarily until a permanent assignment is made by the school board upon the request of a child's parent or legal guardian, the school district superintendent, in his discretion, may consent to the enrollment of the child in another school or attendance center in the school district, subject to ratification of the superintendent's consent by the school board, which must be recorded in the minutes of the school board.

     SECTION 2.  Section 37-15-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     37-15-29.  (1)  Except as provided in subsections (2), (3), (4) and (5) of this section, no minor child may enroll in or attend any school except in the school district of his residence, unless such child be lawfully transferred from the school district of his residence to a school in another school district in accord with the statutes of this state now in effect or which may be hereafter enacted.

     (2)  Those children whose parent(s) or legal guardian(s) are instructional personnel or * * * certificated licensed employees of a school district may at such employee's discretion enroll and attend the school or schools of their parent's or legal guardian's employment regardless of the residence of the child.

     (3)  No child shall be required to be transported in excess of thirty (30) miles on a school bus from his or her home to school, or in excess of thirty (30) miles from school to his or her home, if there is another school in an adjacent school district located on a shorter school bus transportation route by the nearest traveled road.  Those children residing in such geographical situations may, at the discretion of their parent(s) or legal guardian(s), enroll and attend the nearer school, regardless of the residence of the child.  In the event the parent or legal guardian of such child and the school board are unable to agree on the school bus mileage required to transport the child from his or her home to school, an appeal shall lie to the State Board of Education, or its designee, whose decision shall be final.  The school districts involved in the appeal shall provide the Mississippi Department of Education with any school bus route information requested, including riding the buses as necessary, in order to measure the bus routes in question, as needed by the State Board of Education in considering the appeal.

 * * * (4)  Those children lawfully transferred from the school district of his residence to a school in another school district prior to July 1, 1992, may, at the discretion of their parent(s) or legal guardian(s), continue to enroll and attend school in the transferee school district.  Provided further, that the brother(s) and sister(s) of said children lawfully transferred prior to July 1, 1992, may also, at the discretion of their parent(s) or legal guardian(s), enroll and attend school in the transferee school district.

     ( * * *54)  Those children whose parent(s) or legal guardian(s) are active members of the United States Armed Forces or civilian military personnel and reside on a military base, may, at the discretion of their parent(s) or legal guardian(s), enroll and attend the school district of their parent's or legal guardian's choosing, regardless of the residence of the child, provided the school district where the student resides or in an adjacent school district and the parent's or guardian's choice of school district does not violate the provision of subsection (3) of this section prohibiting the transportation of students in excess of thirty (30) miles.

(5)  Any child attending a school in a school district in this state may transfer to any school offering instruction at the grade level of the transferring student in any school district, subject to available capacity in the transferee school, in the manner provided in Section 37-15-31.

     SECTION 3.  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. A parent or guardian of a child enrolled in any school in any district in this state may petition in writing to any other school district for their child to attend a school in that district, provided the school that would be receiving the child upon approval of the transfer offers instruction at the grade level of the transferring student.

          (b)  Upon receipt of a written petition requesting the transfer of a child to a new district, the school board shall acknowledge receipt of the petition to the parent or guardian in writing and provide written notice to the school board of the district from which the child would be transferring.  Both the petition to the district the child would be transferring to and the notice to the district that the child would be transferring from shall be spread upon the minutes of each school district.  The petitioned district shall determine if there is capacity at the desired school in the grade level that the transferring child is requesting to attend using publicly verifiable data.  If the school board determines that there is capacity for the child, the child's transfer shall be approved, subject to the exception in paragraph (d) of this subsection.

          ( * * *bc)  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 acceptance of the request to transfer. * * * 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. Upon acceptance of the transfer, the school board of the district that the child will be transferring to shall supply notice to the school board of the district that the child will be transferring from and the transfer shall be spread upon the minutes of each school district.  If * * * such a transfer is approved by the * * * transferee board school board of the district the child would be transferring into, then * * * such the 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)  Should the school board receive more applicants for transfer than there is available capacity, selection to fill available capacity shall be made randomly through a public lottery system.  Parents or guardians of children transferred under this subsection shall be responsible for the transportation of the child; provided that a school district may offer transportation of the child in its discretion.

     (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 is the brother or sister of a person 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 the 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 4.  Section 37-151-93, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     37-151-93.  (1)  Legally transferred students going from one school district to another shall be counted for adequate education program allotments by the school district wherein the pupils attend school, but shall be counted for transportation allotment purposes in the school district which furnishes or provides the transportation.  Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section, the school boards of the school districts * * * which approve involved in the transfer of a student under the provisions of Section 37-15-31 shall enter into an agreement and contract for the payment or nonpayment of any portion of their local maintenance funds which they deem fair and equitable in support of any transferred student * * *.  Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, and local maintenance funds shall be transferred only to the extent specified in the agreement and contract entered into by the affected school districts.  The terms of any local maintenance fund payment transfer contract shall be spread upon the minutes of both of the affected school district school boards.  The school district accepting any transfer students shall be authorized to accept tuition from such students under the provisions of Section 37-15-31(1) and such agreement may remain in effect for any length of time designated in the contract.  The terms of such student transfer contracts and the amounts of any tuition charged any transfer student shall be spread upon the minutes of both of the affected school boards.  No school district accepting any transfer students under the provisions of Section 37-15-31(2), which provides for the transfer of certain school district employee dependents, or Section 37-15-31(5), which provides for students transferring freely to other schools, shall be authorized to charge such transfer students any tuition fees.

     (2)  Local maintenance funds shall be paid by the home school district to the transferee school district for students granted transfers under the provisions of Sections 37-15-29(3) and (5) and 37-15-31(3) and (4), Mississippi Code of 1972, not to exceed the "base student cost" as defined in Section 37-151-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, multiplied by the number of such legally transferred students.

     SECTION 5.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.

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