Student transfers; authorize between school districts without approval of transferor district.

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To: Education
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Crawford

HOUSE BILL NO. 1192

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-15-31, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO AUTHORIZE A STUDENT TO TRANSFER FROM THE SCHOOL DISTRICT IN 2
WHICH THE STUDENT RESIDES TO A DIFFERENT SCHOOL DISTRICT WITHOUT 3
OBTAINING THE APPROVAL OF THE TRANSFEROR SCHOOL DISTRICT; TO BRING 4
FORWARD SECTION 37-15-29, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR PURPOSES 5
OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 6
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 7
SECTION 1. Section 37-15-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 8
amended as follows: 9
37-15-31. (1) (a) Except as provided in subsections (2) 10
through (5) of this section, upon the * * * receipt of notice in 11
writing * * * from a parent or guardian resident of the school 12
district of an individual student filed or lodged with the 13
president or secretary of the school board of a school district in 14
which the pupil has been enrolled or is qualified to be enrolled 15
as a student under Section 37-15-9, * * * individual students 16
living in one school district * * * may be legally transferred to 17
another school district * * *. 18
(b) * * * The school board of the * * * transferee 19
school district * * * shall act on * * * a parent or guardian's 20
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request for transfer as soon as possible * * * and no later than 21
the next regular meeting of the transferee board, and a failure of 22
such transferee board to act within such time shall constitute a 23
rejection of such request. If such a transfer is approved by the 24
transferee board, then such decision shall be final. * * * 25
(c) Any legal guardianship formed for the purpose of 26
establishing residency for school district attendance purposes 27
shall not be recognized by the affected school board. 28
(2) (a) Upon the * * * receipt of notice in writing * * * 29
from any parent or guardian who is a resident of Mississippi and 30
is an instructional or licensed employee of a school district, but 31
not a resident of such district, the school board of the employer 32
school district shall consent to the transfer of such employee's 33
dependent school-age children to its district and shall spread the 34
same upon the minutes of the board. Upon the * * * receipt of 35
notice in writing * * * from any parent or guardian who is not a 36
resident of Mississippi and who is an instructional or licensed 37
employee of a school district in Mississippi, the school board of 38
the employer school district shall consent to the transfer of such 39
employee's dependent school-age children to its district and shall 40
spread the same upon the minutes of the board. 41
(b) The school board of any school district, in its 42
discretion, may adopt a uniform policy to allow the enrollment and 43
attendance of the dependent children of noninstructional and 44
nonlicensed employees, who are residents of Mississippi but are 45
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not residents of their district. Such policy shall be based upon 46
the employment needs of the district, implemented according to job 47
classification groups and renewed each school year. 48
(c) The employer transferee school district shall 49
notify in writing the school district from which the pupil or 50
pupils are transferring, and the school board of the transferor 51
school district shall spread the same upon its minutes. 52
(d) * * * The school boards * * * involved in the legal 53
transfer of a student pursuant to this subsection shall * * * 54
enter an agreement providing for the transportation of the 55
student. In the absence of such * * * an agreement, the 56
responsibility for transporting the student to the transferee 57
school district shall be that of the parent or guardian. 58
(e) Any school district which accepts a student under 59
the provisions of this subsection shall not assess any tuition 60
fees upon such transferring student in accordance with the 61
provisions of Section 37-19-27. 62
(3) Upon the * * * request in writing * * * from any parent 63
or legal guardian of a school-age child who is a resident of an 64
adjacent school district residing in the geographical situation 65
described in Section 37-15-29(3), the school board of the school 66
district operating the school located in closer proximity to the 67
residence of the child shall consent to the transfer of the child 68
to its district, and shall spread the same upon the minutes of the 69
board. * * * The school boards * * * involved in the legal 70
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transfer of a student under this subsection shall * * * enter an 71
agreement providing for the transportation of the student by 72
either the transferor or the transferee school district. * * * If 73
the school boards * * * fail to agree on which district shall 74
provide transportation, the responsibility for transporting the 75
student to the transferee school district shall be that of the 76
parent or guardian. 77
(4) * * * [DELETED] 78
(5) (a) If the board of trustees of a municipal separate 79
school district with added territory does not have a member who is 80
a resident of the added territory outside the corporate limits, 81
upon the * * * request in writing * * * from any parent or legal 82
guardian of a school-age child who is a resident of the added 83
territory outside the corporate limits, the * * * school board of 84
the school district adjacent to the added territory shall consent 85
to the transfer of the child from the municipal separate school 86
district to the adjacent school district. The * * * transfer must 87
be spread upon the minutes of the board of trustees of the 88
municipal separate school district and the school board of the 89
adjacent school district. The school boards of the involved 90
school districts shall enter an agreement * * * providing for the 91
transportation of the student. In the absence of such * * * an 92
agreement, the parent or legal guardian shall be responsible for 93
transporting the student to the adjacent school district. Any 94
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school district that accepts a student under this subsection may 95
not assess any tuition fees against the transferring student. 96
(b) Before September 1 of each year, the board of 97
trustees of the municipal separate school district shall certify 98
to the State Department of Education the number of students in the 99
added territory of the municipal separate school district who are 100
transferred to the adjacent school district under this subsection. 101
The municipal separate school district also shall certify the 102
total number of students in the school district residing in the 103
added territory plus the number of those students who are 104
transferred to the adjacent school district. Based upon these 105
figures, the department shall calculate the percentage of the 106
total number of students in the added territory who are 107
transferred to the adjacent school district and shall certify this 108
percentage to the levying authority for the municipal separate 109
school district. The levying authority shall remit to the school 110
board of the adjacent school district, from the proceeds of the ad 111
valorem taxes collected for the support of the municipal separate 112
school district from the added territory of the municipal separate 113
school district, an amount equal to the percentage of the total 114
number of students in the added territory who are transferred to 115
the adjacent school district. 116
SECTION 2. Section 37-15-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 117
brought forward as follows: 118
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37-15-29. (1) Except as provided in subsections (2), (3), 119
(4) and (5) of this section, no minor child may enroll in or 120
attend any school except in the school district of his residence, 121
unless such child be lawfully transferred from the school district 122
of his residence to a school in another school district in accord 123
with the statutes of this state now in effect or which may be 124
hereafter enacted. 125
(2) Those children whose parent(s) or legal guardian(s) are 126
instructional personnel or certificated employees of a school 127
district may at such employee's discretion enroll and attend the 128
school or schools of their parent's or legal guardian's employment 129
regardless of the residence of the child. 130
(3) No child shall be required to be transported in excess 131
of thirty (30) miles on a school bus from his or her home to 132
school, or in excess of thirty (30) miles from school to his or 133
her home, if there is another school in an adjacent school 134
district located on a shorter school bus transportation route by 135
the nearest traveled road. Those children residing in such 136
geographical situations may, at the discretion of their parent(s) 137
or legal guardian(s), enroll and attend the nearer school, 138
regardless of the residence of the child. In the event the parent 139
or legal guardian of such child and the school board are unable to 140
agree on the school bus mileage required to transport the child 141
from his or her home to school, an appeal shall lie to the State 142
Board of Education, or its designee, whose decision shall be 143
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final. The school districts involved in the appeal shall provide 144
the Mississippi Department of Education with any school bus route 145
information requested, including riding the buses as necessary, in 146
order to measure the bus routes in question, as needed by the 147
State Board of Education in considering the appeal. 148
(4) Those children lawfully transferred from the school 149
district of his residence to a school in another school district 150
prior to July 1, 1992, may, at the discretion of their parent(s) 151
or legal guardian(s), continue to enroll and attend school in the 152
transferee school district. Provided further, that the brother(s) 153
and sister(s) of said children lawfully transferred prior to July 154
1, 1992, may also, at the discretion of their parent(s) or legal 155
guardian(s), enroll and attend school in the transferee school 156
district. 157
(5) (a) Those children whose parent(s) or legal guardian(s) 158
are active duty, or Active Guard and Reserve duty, members of the 159
United States Armed Forces, but not those who are performing 160
inactive duty training, may, at the discretion of their parent(s) 161
or legal guardian(s), enroll and attend the school district and 162
school campus of their parent's or legal guardian's choosing, 163
regardless of the residence of the child. 164
(b) Those children whose parent(s) or legal guardian(s) 165
are civilian military personnel and reside on a military base 166
may, at the discretion of their parent(s) or legal guardian(s), 167
enroll and attend the school district and school campus of their 168
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parent's or legal guardian's choosing, regardless of the residence 169
of the child. 170
(c) For purposes of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this 171
subsection (5): 172
(i) A school district is not required to provide 173
transportation to a student who enrolls in or transfers to another 174
school district or school campus within the district of chosen 175
attendance; 176
(ii) A student eligible for enrollment or transfer 177
shall be allowed only one (1) school transfer per academic year; 178
(iii) Once admitted, and unless expelled, the 179
parent(s) or legal guardian(s) of students transferring under the 180
authority of this subsection shall not be required to reapply for 181
admission for continued enrollment in the school district or 182
school campus of last attendance for any subsequent years of 183
attendance therein; and 184
(iv) If the school district is unable to 185
accommodate a request for enrollment for transfer due to a lack of 186
capacity to accept the student in to the district or a specific 187
school campus, the school board shall deny the request and spread 188
the same upon its minutes. 189
(d) (i) As used in this subsection (5), "active duty" 190
means full-time duty in the active military service of the United 191
States. 192
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ST: Student transfers; authorize between school
districts without approval of transferor
district.
(ii) As used in this subsection (5), "Active Guard 193
and Reserve duty" means active duty or full-time National Guard 194
duty performed by a member of a reserve component of the Army, 195
Navy, Air Force, Space Force or Marine Corps, which is pursuant to 196
an order to active duty or full-time National Guard duty for a 197
period of one hundred eighty (180) consecutive days or more. 198
(iii) Before enrolling his or her child in the 199
selected school of choice, the service member shall provide the 200
school of enrollment with a copy of his or her Department of 201
Defense photo identification, and a "Statement of Service" from 202
the installation adjutant general or official letter from a 203
commander above the Lieutenant Colonel rank signifying that the 204
service member is on active duty, or Active Guard and Reserve 205
duty, assignment or has been mobilized within the state. 206
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from 207
and after July 1, 2026. 208