Vocational education programs; require to be established in every school district or shared operation between multiple districts.

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To: Education; Workforce
Development
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Harness

HOUSE BILL NO. 1279

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-31-15 AND 37-31-61, MISSISSIPPI 1
CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE SCHOOL BOARDS, WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE 2
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, TO ESTABLISH VOCATIONAL EDUCATION 3
PROGRAMS IN EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT OR AUTHORIZE TWO OR MORE 4
DISTRICTS TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT FOR THE JOINT OPERATION OF A 5
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAM TO SERVE STUDENTS WITH THE SCHOOL 6
DISTRICTS OF PARTICIPANTS TO THE AGREEMENT; TO BRING FORWARD 7
SECTIONS 37-31-71, 37-31-73 AND 37-31-205, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 8
1972, FOR THE PURPOSE OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENTS; AND FOR RELATED 9
PURPOSES. 10
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 11
SECTION 1. Section 37-31-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 12
amended as follows: 13
37-31-15. The school board * * * shall cooperate with the 14
State Board of Education in the establishment and maintenance of 15
vocational and technical schools or classes giving instruction in 16
vocational and technical training which does not terminate in a 17
bachelors degree to persons in need of such instruction, and may 18
use for paying the cost of such cooperation any monies raised by 19
public taxation in the same manner as monies for other school 20
purposes are used for the maintenance and support of public 21
schools. 22
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SECTION 2. Section 37-31-61, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 23
amended as follows: 24
37-31-61. (1) The State Board of Education is hereby 25
authorized and empowered to establish and conduct schools, classes 26
or courses, for preparing, equipping and training citizens of the 27
State of Mississippi for employment in gainful vocational and 28
technical occupations which do not terminate in a bachelors 29
degree, in conjunction with any public school, agricultural high 30
school or community/junior college. 31
(2) The trustees of such school districts, as classified and 32
defined by law, including those already having this authority, and 33
the trustees of agricultural high schools and community/junior 34
colleges * * * shall, with the consent in writing of the State 35
Board of Education, establish and conduct such schools, classes or 36
courses, under the provisions herein stated and under the general 37
supervision of the board. 38
(3) The trustees of school boards of two (2) or more school 39
districts of this state located within the same county, or for any 40
school district which encompasses an entire county, if there is no 41
vocational program within either of said school districts, are 42
authorized to enter into agreements with each other providing for 43
the construction or joint operation of a vocational education 44
center that services all students enrolled in the school districts 45
that are parties to the agreement. The agreement shall designate 46
which participating school district to the agreement shall serve 47
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as fiscal agent, and among other provisions, provide for the 48
method of financing the construction and operation of the 49
facilities to house the vocational programs, and the manner in 50
which the facilities are to be controlled, operated and staffed. 51
SECTION 3. Section 37-31-71, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 52
brought forward as follows: 53
37-31-71. For the purposes of Sections 37-31-71 through 54
37-31-79, the term "regional education center" means all 55
facilities utilized for the carrying out of instruction on the 56
level of secondary or postsecondary education or both which are 57
jointly operated by or which accept students on a contractual 58
basis from two (2) or more school districts of this state, or for 59
any school district which encompasses an entire county. 60
SECTION 4. Section 37-31-73, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 61
brought forward as follows: 62
37-31-73. The various school districts, counties, 63
municipalities and community/junior college districts of this 64
state are authorized to enter into agreements between each other 65
and between the school districts and any of the boards of 66
supervisors of any county, the governing authorities of any 67
municipality, or the boards of trustees of any community/junior 68
college district providing for the construction or operation of 69
regional education centers. Any agreement entered into pursuant 70
to this section shall be subject to the approval of the State 71
Board of Education. The agreement shall designate the fiscal 72
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agent, among other provisions, provide for the method of financing 73
the construction and operation of the facilities, the manner in 74
which the facilities are to be controlled, operated and staffed, 75
the basis upon which students are to be admitted to the regional 76
education center and transportation provided for students in 77
attendance at the center. The agreement or any subsequent 78
modification to it shall be spread at large upon the minutes of 79
each party to the agreement after having been duly adopted by the 80
governing authorities of each party. 81
The agreements may provide for the establishment of regional 82
education advisory councils to serve in an advisory capacity to 83
regional education centers, to be made up of representatives of 84
the board of trustees of school districts or community/junior 85
college districts which may be parties to the agreement. Regional 86
education advisory councils of the parties to the agreement will 87
operate at the will of the fiscal agent for the regional education 88
center. The fiscal agent shall have all powers designated to it 89
in the agreement by the parties to the agreement, except for the 90
power to request or require the levy of taxes or the power to 91
issue or require the issuance of any bonds, notes or other 92
evidences of indebtedness, or to call for an election on the 93
question of the issuance of any bonds, notes or other evidences of 94
indebtedness. 95
SECTION 5. Section 37-31-205, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 96
brought forward as follows: 97
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37-31-205. (1) The State Board of Education shall have the 98
authority to: 99
(a) Expend funds received either by appropriation or 100
directly from federal or private sources; 101
(b) Channel funds to secondary schools, community and 102
junior colleges and regional vocational-technical facilities 103
according to priorities set by the board; 104
(c) Allocate funds on an annual budgetary basis; 105
(d) Set standards for and approve all vocational and 106
technical education programs in the public school system and 107
community and junior colleges or other agencies or institutions 108
which receive state funds and federal funds for such purposes, 109
including, but not limited to, the following vocational and 110
technical education programs: agriculture, trade and industry, 111
occupational home economics, consumer and homemaking education, 112
distributive education, business and office, health, industrial 113
arts, guidance services, technical education, cooperative 114
education, and all other specialized training not requiring a 115
bachelor's degree, with the exception of programs of nursing 116
education regulated under the provisions of Section 37-129-1. The 117
State Board of Education shall authorize local school boards, 118
within such school board's discretion, to offer distributive 119
education as a one-hour or two-hour block course. There shall be 120
no reduction of payments from state funding for distributive 121
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education due to the selection of either the one-hour or two-hour 122
course offering; 123
(e) Set and publish licensure standards for vocational 124
and technical education personnel. The State Board of Education 125
shall recognize a vocational and technical education teacher's 126
work when school is not in session which is in the teacher's 127
particular field of instruction as a means for the teacher to 128
fulfill the requirements for renewal of the teacher's license. 129
The board shall establish, by rules and regulations, the 130
documentation of such work which must be submitted to the board 131
and the number of actual working hours required to fulfill renewal 132
requirements. If a vocational and technical education teacher who 133
does not have a bachelor's degree takes classes in fulfillment of 134
licensure renewal requirements, such classes must be in 135
furtherance of a bachelor's degree; 136
(f) Require data and information on program performance 137
from those programs receiving state funds; 138
(g) Expend funds to expand career information; 139
(h) Supervise and maintain the Division of Vocational 140
and Technical Education and to utilize, to the greatest extent 141
possible, the division as the administrative unit of the board 142
responsible for coordinating programs and services with local 143
institutions; 144
(i) Utilize appropriate staff of the State Department 145
of Education to perform services for the vocational student 146
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organizations, including, but not limited to, procurement, 147
accounting services, tax services and banking services. The 148
department may also procure and pay for annual audits of the 149
vocational student organizations using vocational funds or other 150
available funds of the State Department of Education. It is the 151
intent of this provision that any related costs be paid with 152
vocational funds appropriated by the Legislature; 153
(j) Promulgate such rules and regulations necessary to 154
carry out the provisions of this chapter in accordance with 155
Section 25-43-1 et seq.; 156
(k) Set standards and approve all vocational and 157
technical education equipment and facilities purchased and/or 158
leased with state and federal vocational funds; 159
(l) Encourage provisions for lifelong learning and 160
changing personal career preferences and advancement of vocational 161
and technical education students through articulated programs 162
between high schools and community and junior colleges; 163
(m) Encourage the establishment of new linkages with 164
business and industry which will provide for a better 165
understanding of essential labor market concepts; 166
(n) Periodically review the funding and reporting 167
processes required of local school districts by the board or 168
division with the aim of simplifying or eliminating inefficient 169
practices and procedures; 170
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(o) Assist in the development of high technology 171
programs and resource centers to support current and projected 172
industrial needs; 173
(p) Assist in the development of a technical assistance 174
program for business and industry which will provide for 175
industrial training and services, including the transfer of 176
information relative to new applications and advancements in 177
technology; and 178
(q) Enter into contracts and agreements with the 179
Mississippi Community College Board for conditions under which 180
vocational and technical education programs in community and 181
junior colleges shall receive state and federal funds which flow 182
through the State Board of Education for such purposes. 183
(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that no vocational 184
and technical education course or program existing on June 30, 185
1982, shall be eliminated by the State Board of Education under 186
the authority vested in paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of this 187
section prior to June 30, 1985. It is further the intent of the 188
Legislature that no vocational and technical education teacher or 189
other personnel employed on June 30, 1983, shall be discharged due 190
to licensure standards promulgated by the board under paragraph 191
(e) of subsection (1) of this section, if any such teacher or 192
personnel shall have complied with any newly published licensure 193
standards by June 30, 1985. Nothing contained in this section 194
shall be construed to abrogate or affect in any manner the 195
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ST: Vocational education programs; require to
be established in every school district or
shared operation between multiple districts.
authority of local public school districts or community and junior 196
colleges to eliminate vocational and technical education courses 197
or programs or to discharge any vocational and technical education 198
teacher or other personnel. 199
(3) The State Board of Education and the Mississippi 200
Community College Board may provide that every vocational and 201
technical education course or program in Mississippi may integrate 202
academic and vocational-technical education through coherent 203
sequences of courses, so that students in such programs achieve 204
both academic and occupational competencies. The boards may 205
expend federal funds available from the 1990 Perkins Act, or other 206
available federal funds, for the alignment of vocational-technical 207
programs with academic programs through the accreditation process 208
and the teacher licensure process. 209
SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from 210
and after July 1, 2026. 211