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HB1585 • 2026

School districts; require evaluation of and reporting on costs associated with technology acquisition.

AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO ADOPT RULES REQUIRING ALL SCHOOL BOARDS TO EVALUATE CERTAIN COST AND PERFORMANCE METRICS WHEN ACQUIRING TECHNOLOGY, COMPUTER HARDWARE, AND SOFTWARE; TO REQUIRE EACH GOVERNING BOARD OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT OR CHARTER SCHOOL TO SUBMIT AN ANNUAL REPORT TO THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION REGARDING THE OPERATION, REPAIR NEEDS AND REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT COSTS OF SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY DEVICE INVENTORY; TO REQUIRE THE BOARD TO SUBMIT AN ANNUAL REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE SUMMARIZING THE REPORTS RECEIVED FROM THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS, WHICH SHALL INCLUDE RECOMMENDATIONS TO REDUCE BREAK/FIX RATES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

Education Technology
Did Not Pass

The latest official action shows that this bill did not move forward in that session.

Sponsor
McCarty
Last action
2026-03-03
Official status
Dead
Effective date
July 1, 20

Plain English Breakdown

The bill did not pass the legislature and therefore no rules or reports would have been implemented as of July 1, 2026.

School Districts Must Evaluate Technology Costs

This bill requires school districts to evaluate the costs of technology they buy and report on how well these devices work each year.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires the State Board of Education to create rules for evaluating technology, computer hardware, and software before schools buy them.
  • Needs each school board to send an annual report about their technology devices' performance and repair costs to the State Board of Education.

Who It Names or Affects

  • School boards in Mississippi
  • The State Board of Education

Terms To Know

Break/fix rate
The percentage obtained by dividing the number of school technology devices reported as malfunctioning or needing repair due to physical damage, hardware failure, or other breakage incidents before the stated life cycle period that are not covered by insurance or a policy plan period, by the total number of school technology devices in operation during that period.
Public school unit
A term used for a regular public school district or a charter school in Mississippi.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This bill did not pass the legislature.
  • The rules and reports would start on July 1, 2026, if it had passed.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-03 Mississippi Legislative Bill Status System

    03/03 (S) Died In Committee

  2. 2026-02-17 Mississippi Legislative Bill Status System

    02/17 (S) Referred To Education;Accountability, Efficiency, Transparency

  3. 2026-02-12 Mississippi Legislative Bill Status System

    02/12 (H) Transmitted To Senate

  4. 2026-02-11 Mississippi Legislative Bill Status System

    02/11 (H) Passed

  5. 2026-02-11 Mississippi Legislative Bill Status System

    02/11 (H) Committee Substitute Adopted

  6. 2026-01-29 Mississippi Legislative Bill Status System

    01/29 (H) Title Suff Do Pass Comm Sub

  7. 2026-01-19 Mississippi Legislative Bill Status System

    01/19 (H) Referred To Education

Official Summary Text

School districts; require evaluation of and reporting on costs associated with technology acquisition.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
H. B. No. 1585 *HR26/R1452CS* ~ OFFICIAL ~ G1/2
26/HR26/R1452CS
PAGE 1 (DJ\KW)

To: Education
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative McCarty

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 1585

AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO ADOPT RULES 1
REQUIRING ALL SCHOOL BOARDS TO EVALUATE CERTAIN COST AND 2
PERFORMANCE METRICS WHEN ACQUIRING TECHNOLOGY, COMPUTER HARDWARE, 3
AND SOFTWARE; TO REQUIRE EACH GOVERNING BOARD OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT 4
OR CHARTER SCHOOL TO SUBMIT AN ANNUAL REPORT TO THE STATE BOARD OF 5
EDUCATION REGARDING THE OPERATION, REPAIR NEEDS AND REPAIR OR 6
REPLACEMENT COSTS OF SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY DEVICE INVENTORY; TO 7
REQUIRE THE BOARD TO SUBMIT AN ANNUAL REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE 8
SUMMARIZING THE REPORTS RECEIVED FROM THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS, WHICH 9
SHALL INCLUDE RECOMMENDATIONS TO REDUCE BREAK/FIX RATES; AND FOR 10
RELATED PURPOSES. 11
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 12
SECTION 1. (1) As used in this section, the following terms 13
have the meanings as defined in this subsection, unless the 14
context clearly requires otherwise: 15
(a) "Board" means the State Board of Education. 16
(b) "Break/fix rate" means the percentage obtained by 17
dividing the number of school technology devices reported as 18
malfunctioning or needing repair due to physical damage, hardware 19
failure or other breakage incidents before the stated life cycle 20
period that are not covered by insurance or a policy plan period, 21
H. B. No. 1585 *HR26/R1452CS* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/HR26/R1452CS
PAGE 2 (DJ\KW)

by the total number of school technology devices in operation 22
during that period. 23
(c) "Public school unit" means a school district or a 24
charter school. 25
(d) "School board" means the governing board of a 26
public school unit. 27
(e) "School technology device" means any electronic or 28
computerized equipment provided for educational purposes in a 29
public school unit, including computers, tablets, interactive 30
whiteboards and similar devices. 31
(2) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules requiring 32
all public school units to evaluate the following when acquiring 33
technology, computer hardware, and software for use in public 34
schools: 35
(a) The long-term cost of ownership, including costs of 36
repairing the technology, computer hardware or software. 37
(b) Any flexibility for innovation during the life of 38
the technology, computer hardware or software. 39
(c) Any anticipated resale or salvage value at the end 40
of the target life cycle for the technology, computer hardware or 41
software based on the average resale or salvage value of similar 42
technology, computer hardware or software as a percentage of the 43
initial cost of purchase. 44
H. B. No. 1585 *HR26/R1452CS* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/HR26/R1452CS
PAGE 3 (DJ\KW)

(3) Each school board shall adopt a policy requiring the 45
evaluation of technology costs considerations adopted by the State 46
Board of Education. 47
(4) (a) Each school board shall submit an annual report on 48
the following information to the State Board of Education by 49
August 15 of each year: 50
(i) The break/fix rate of the school technology 51
devices in the public school unit for the previous school year. 52
(ii) The total number of school technology devices 53
currently in operation in the public school unit. 54
(iii) The total number of school technology 55
devices in the public school unit requiring repair that: 56
1. Underwent repair; or 57
2. Were no longer in service during the 58
previous school year. 59
(iv) The total amount of funds spent to repair or 60
replace school technology devices during the previous school year. 61
(b) The first reports required by this subsection (3) 62
shall be submitted no later than August 15, 2026, based on data 63
collected during the 2025-2026 school year. 64
(4) The board shall report to the Education Committees of 65
the House and Senate by November 15 annually on the break/fix rate 66
of school technology devices across all public school units based 67
on the reports submitted under subsection (3) of this section. 68
This report shall include a summary of the data reported by each 69
H. B. No. 1585 *HR26/R1452CS* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/HR26/R1452CS
PAGE 4 (DJ\KW)
ST: School districts; require evaluation of and
reporting on costs associated with technology
acquisition.
governing body and recommendations to reduce break/fix rates in 70
the future. 71
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 72
and after July 1, 2026. 73