School districts; require certain policies and alternative curriculum for those with the three lowest accountability ratings.

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To: Education
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Scott

HOUSE BILL NO. 169

AN ACT TO REQUIRE SCHOOL DISTRICTS ACCREDITED AT ONE OF THE 1
THREE LOWEST ACCOUNTABILITY RATINGS, AS DEFINED BY THE STATE BOARD 2
OF EDUCATION, TO ADOPT CERTAIN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES REGARDING 3
DAILY CURRICULUM, WEEKLY HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS, PARENTAL 4
INVOLVEMENT, DRESS CODES, SCHOOL HOLIDAYS, PARENT-TEACHER 5
CONFERENCES AND A SCHOOL SYLLABUS; TO REQUIRE ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS 6
IN THOSE DISTRICTS TO ADHERE TO THE SAME POLICIES AND PROCEDURES; 7
TO REQUIRE ALL LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO IMPLEMENT A VIDEO 8
STREAMING PROGRAM IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT 9
OF LABOR TO AID IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ALTERNATIVE CAREER-TRACK 10
CURRICULUM BASED UPON OCCUPATIONAL PROJECTIONS IN THE STATE AND 11
COUNTRY FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS; TO REQUIRE SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO 12
ASSIST STUDENTS IN ACCESSING INFORMATION FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF 13
LABOR WHICH WILL ENABLE THE STUDENTS TO MAKE CAREER CHOICES; TO 14
REQUIRE A SCHOOL DISTRICT'S ALTERNATIVE CAREER-TRACK CURRICULUM TO 15
SATISFY ITS GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS AND LEAD TO THE AWARDING OF A 16
STANDARD HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 17
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 18
SECTION 1. (1) The school board of each school district 19
having an accountability rating at one (1) of the three (3) lowest 20
levels, as defined by the State Board of Education, shall adopt 21
policies and procedures regarding the daily curriculum in schools, 22
weekly homework assignments, parental involvement, dress codes, 23
school holidays, parent-teacher conferences and a school syllabus. 24
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The policies and procedures must include, but not necessarily be 25
limited to, the following: 26
(a) Every child must be assigned daily homework 27
assignments; 28
(b) Every child must be taught to write in proper 29
manuscript and cursive lettering, which must be reinforced through 30
weekend homework assignments at every grade level; 31
(c) Every child must be assigned a daily reading 32
assignment; 33
(d) Every child must be assigned a daily written 34
assignment to accompany the daily reading assignment in order to 35
assess the reading comprehension level of the child; 36
(e) Every child must be assigned a minimum of five (5) 37
words per week in each subject area to learn to spell, define and 38
use in a sentence, which must be used to assess the child's 39
retention of the assignment; 40
(f) Every child must be assigned a minimum of one (1) 41
book to read per subject each month and must write a short report 42
on the subject matter of the book, which report must be used to 43
assess the child's learning ability. Children in primary grades 44
may be allowed to draw pictures, elaborate orally or use any other 45
alternative method to tell about their books; 46
(g) Every parent or guardian of a child shall 47
participate in one (1) supportive service for the school district, 48
such as assisting at the bus stop, working the concession stand 49
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for an athletic event, chaperoning a school sponsored event, 50
serving in the Parent Teacher Association, or serving as a mentor, 51
resource officer or tutor; 52
(h) Every teacher shall dress in a professional manner, 53
which does not include wearing blue jeans, denim jeans or tee 54
shirts; 55
(i) Every child must be required to wear a school 56
uniform; 57
(j) The school districts shall provide for only the 58
following school holidays: Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, 59
New Year's, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Spring Break and Good 60
Friday holidays. Permanent early release days are prohibited; 61
(k) Staff development training may not be held during a 62
regular school day; however, staff development training may be 63
offered after the regular school day has been completed. The 64
staff development training must be relevant to the teaching 65
experience and beneficial to the teacher, student and district as 66
a whole; 67
(l) Parent-teacher conferences must be held at the 68
middle of each nine-week term with the parent and a child who has 69
not mastered his or her coursework for the mid-term or who has 70
demonstrated bad citizenship; 71
(m) The school district shall provide a syllabus for 72
each nine (9) weeks with the homework assignments posted for each 73
subject. The syllabus must contain an agreement that the parent 74
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or guardian is required to sign stating that the parent 75
understands the child has daily homework assignments and that the 76
parent has received a document outlining the child's work 77
assignments and due dates of the assignments; and 78
(n) The school district shall post the syllabus on the 79
school district website, if available. If a student loses his or 80
her syllabus, the school district may charge a fee of not more 81
than Twenty-five Cents (25¢) per individual sheet to copy and 82
replace the document. 83
(2) Alternative school programs in school districts having 84
an accreditation rating at one (1) of the three (3) lowest levels, 85
as defined by the State Board of Education, shall adhere to the 86
policies required under subsection (1) of this section. Students 87
attending an alternative school must attend school for no less 88
than eight (8) hours per day and must attend school on Saturday 89
for no less than eight (8) hours per day. At alternative schools, 90
Saturday must be known as "Attitude Adjustment Day." Each 91
Saturday, the school districts shall arrange for retired military, 92
first responders, volunteer mentors, ministers, parents and any 93
other community volunteers to attend school with the alternative 94
school students and to share their skills and knowledge with the 95
students, encouraging them to become better students and citizens. 96
In addition, the school district may authorize students to 97
participate in community service programs on Saturdays to help 98
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build character and concern for their own school, family, 99
neighborhood and community. 100
SECTION 2. (1) Each school district shall design and 101
implement a video streaming program in conjunction with the United 102
States Department of Labor to aid in the development of the school 103
district's curriculum. Using state and national occupational 104
projections available through the Department of Labor, the school 105
district shall develop an alternative career-track curriculum that 106
prepares students for direct entry into the workforce or 107
post-secondary education and training in the five (5) occupations 108
projected to be the fastest growing in the State of Mississippi, 109
and in the twenty (20) occupations projected to be the fastest 110
growing in the country, over the next succeeding five (5) years. 111
The district shall provide students with access to the Department 112
of Labor, via video streaming means, and shall assist students in 113
gathering relevant information from the Department of Labor which 114
will enable the students to make informed, educated career choices 115
and to select the curriculum that will begin the students on a 116
path toward a meaningful and rewarding occupation. 117
(2) An alternative career-track curriculum developed and 118
implemented in a school district under subsection (1) of this 119
section must be designed to enable students to meet all necessary 120
requirements for graduation and to be awarded a standard high 121
school diploma upon graduation from a high school within that 122
district. 123
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ST: School districts; require certain policies
and alternative curriculum for those with the
three lowest accountability ratings.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from 124
and after July 1, 2026. 125