Special purpose schools; children of active military personnel not required to have attended MS school in previous year.

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To: Education
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Roberson

HOUSE BILL NO. 1709

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-173-5 AND 37-175-5, MISSISSIPPI 1
CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE CERTAIN CHILDREN OF ACTIVE MILITARY 2
DUTY PARENTS ASSIGNED TO A MILITARY BASE IN MISSISSIPPI WHO 3
ATTENDED AN OUT-OF-STATE SCHOOL DURING THE PREVIOUS SCHOOL YEAR TO 4
RECEIVE A MISSISSIPPI DYSLEXIA THERAPY SCHOLARSHIP OR MISSISSIPPI 5
SPEECH-LANGUAGE THERAPY SCHOLARSHIP; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 6
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 7
SECTION 1. Section 37-173-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 8
amended as follows: 9
37-173-5. (1) Parents or legal guardians may exercise the 10
option to remove their child from a traditional public school 11
setting to be enrolled in a public or nonpublic school which meets 12
the standards for appropriate specific instruction designed to 13
meet the unique learning needs of young dyslexic students. The 14
objectives of such school shall be: 15
(a) To emphasize the importance of early intervention; 16
and 17
(b) To provide intensive high-quality instruction of 18
students in reading, spelling, writing, language arts, 19
phonological awareness and fluency training, but shall not 20
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preclude instruction in mathematics, social studies, science, art, 21
music and physical education based on the curriculum requirements 22
of the State Department of Education. 23
(2) The parent or legal guardian of a public school student 24
with dyslexia may request and receive from the state a Mississippi 25
Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship for the child to enroll in and attend 26
a nonpublic school in accordance with this section if: 27
(a) The student has spent the previous school year in 28
attendance at a Mississippi public school or any other state 29
approved nonpublic school in the state that emphasizes instruction 30
in dyslexia intervention; * * * 31
(b) The parent or legal guardian of the student is an 32
active duty member of the United States Armed Forces assigned to a 33
military base in Mississippi and the student spent the previous 34
school year in attendance at an out-of-state public school or 35
other licensed or accredited nonpublic school that emphasizes 36
instruction in dyslexia intervention; or 37
(c) The parent or legal guardian has obtained 38
acceptance for admission of the student to a nonpublic school that 39
is eligible for the program under Section 37-173-19 and has 40
requested from the department a scholarship within thirty (30) 41
days before the date of the first scholarship payment. The 42
request must be through a communication directly to the department 43
in a manner that creates a written or electronic record of the 44
request and the date of receipt of the request. The Department of 45
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Education must notify the district of the parent's or legal 46
guardian's intent upon receipt of the parent's or legal guardian's 47
request. 48
SECTION 2. Section 37-175-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 49
amended as follows: 50
37-175-5. (1) Parents or legal guardians may exercise the 51
option to remove their child from a traditional public school 52
setting to be enrolled in a nonpublic school which meets the 53
standards for appropriate specific instruction designed to meet 54
the unique learning needs of young students with a speech-language 55
impairment. The objectives of such school shall be: 56
(a) To emphasize the importance of early intervention; 57
and 58
(b) To provide intensive high-quality speech-language 59
pathology services. 60
(2) The parent or legal guardian of a public school student 61
with a speech-language impairment may request and receive from the 62
state a Mississippi Speech-Language Therapy Scholarship for the 63
child to enroll in and attend a nonpublic school in accordance 64
with this section if: 65
(a) The student has spent the previous school year in 66
attendance at a Mississippi public school or any other state 67
accredited nonpublic special purpose school in the state that is 68
organized to provide and emphasizes instruction in speech-language 69
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ST: Special purpose schools; children of active
military personnel not required to have attended
MS school in previous year.
therapy and intervention as the primary purpose of the 70
school; * * * 71
(b) The parent or legal guardian of the student is an 72
active duty member of the United States Armed Forces assigned to a 73
military base in Mississippi and the student spent the previous 74
school year in attendance at an out-of-state public school or 75
other licensed or accredited nonpublic special purpose school that 76
emphasizes instruction in speech-language therapy and 77
intervention; or 78
(c) The parent or legal guardian has obtained 79
acceptance for admission of the student to a nonpublic school that 80
is eligible for the program under Section 37-175-19 and has 81
requested from the department a scholarship within thirty (30) 82
days before the date of the first scholarship payment. The 83
request must be through a communication directly to the department 84
in a manner that creates a written or electronic record of the 85
request and the date of receipt of the request. The State 86
Department of Education must notify the district of the parent's 87
or legal guardian's intent upon receipt of the parent's or legal 88
guardian's request. 89
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from 90
and after July 1, 2026. 91