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To: Education;
Appropriations A
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Representative Scott
HOUSE BILL NO. 193
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-151-205, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO INCREASE THE PERCENTAGE OF ALLOTTED WEIGHT ATTRIBUTABLE TO 2
LOW-INCOME STUDENTS FOR THE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING THE PRELIMINARY 3
WEIGHTED ENROLLMENT OF EACH SCHOOL AND CHARTER SCHOOL WHICH IS 4
USED TO DETERMINE THE BASE STUDENT COST FOR STUDENTS ENROLLED 5
THEREIN UNDER THE MISSISSIPPI STUDENT FUNDING FORMULA; AND FOR 6
RELATED PURPOSES. 7
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 8
SECTION 1. Section 37-151-205, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 9
amended as follows: 10
37-151-205. (1) The preliminary weighted enrollment of each 11
school district and charter school under Sections 37-151-200 12
through 37-151-215 is determined by applying the weights 13
prescribed in this section, none of which are mutually exclusive 14
of another, to each applicable school district or charter school's 15
net enrollment, as determined by Section 37-151-207. To determine 16
additional funding authorized under this section, the number of 17
students in a school district that are identified as the 18
applicable weight shall be calculated as a percentage of the 19
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students in the school district. Such amount shall be referred to 20
as the "percentage of applicable students." 21
(2) For students identified as low-income, as defined in 22
Section 37-151-201, the percentage of applicable students in the 23
school district is multiplied by * * * fifty one-hundredths 24
(50/100), and then multiplied by net enrollment. 25
(3) For students identified as English Language Learners, as 26
defined in Section 37-151-201, the percentage of applicable 27
students in the school district is multiplied by fifteen 28
one-hundredths (15/100), and then multiplied by net enrollment. 29
(4) The following weights are applied to students who are 30
identified as entitled to and receiving services in a special 31
education program: 32
(a) Tier I: For students diagnosed with a specific 33
learning disability, speech and language impairment, or 34
developmental delay, the percentage of applicable students in the 35
school district is multiplied by sixty one-hundredths (60/100), 36
and then multiplied by net enrollment. 37
(b) Tier II: For students diagnosed with autism, 38
hearing impairment, emotional disability, orthopedic impairment, 39
intellectual disability, or other health impairment, the 40
percentage of applicable students in the school district is 41
multiplied by one hundred ten one-hundredths (110/100), and then 42
multiplied by net enrollment. 43
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(c) Tier III: For students diagnosed with visual 44
impairment, deaf-blindness, multiple disabilities, or traumatic 45
brain injury, the percentage of applicable students in the school 46
district is multiplied by one hundred thirty one-hundredths 47
(130/100), and then multiplied by net enrollment. 48
For the purpose of student counts, a student entitled to and 49
receiving special education services may not be included under 50
more than one (1) tier prescribed in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) 51
of this subsection. A student having multiple diagnoses must be 52
counted under the highest tier applicable to that student. 53
(5) A weight of five percent (5%) is applied to five percent 54
(5%) of a school district or charter school's net enrollment for 55
the purpose of providing gifted education, regardless of the 56
number of students in a school district or charter school that 57
have been identified as gifted students: the total number of 58
students in net enrollment in a school district or charter school, 59
as determined by Section 37-151-207, is multiplied by five 60
one-hundredths (5/100), which is again multiplied by five 61
one-hundredths (5/100). 62
(6) For Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Grade students 63
enrolled in a career and technical education course, as defined in 64
Section 37-151-201, the percentage of applicable students in the 65
school district is multiplied by ten one-hundredths (10/100), and 66
then multiplied by net enrollment. Students enrolled in multiple 67
career and technical education courses are counted once. 68
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(7) In each school district or charter school where the 69
number of students identified as low-income, as defined in Section 70
37-151-201, exceeds thirty-five percent (35%) of the school 71
district or charter school's net enrollment, a weight of * * * 72
twenty percent (20%) is applied only to the number of low-income 73
students in excess of the number of low-income students which 74
constitute thirty-five percent (35%) of net enrollment. The number 75
of students eligible for this weight is calculated by subtracting 76
the number of students equivalent to thirty-five percent (35%) of 77
the net enrollment of that school district or charter school from 78
the total number of students in that school district or charter 79
school identified as low-income: if the total percentage of 80
applicable students identified in subsection (2) exceeds 81
thirty-five percent (35%) of the school district or charter 82
school's total net enrollment, as determined in Section 83
37-151-207, the difference between the total percentage of 84
applicable students identified in subsection (2) and thirty-five 85
percent (35%) of the school district or charter school's total net 86
enrollment is multiplied by * * * twenty one-hundredths (20/100), 87
and then multiplied by net enrollment. 88
(8) The final weighted enrollment of each school district 89
and charter school under the total funding formula as provided for 90
in Sections 37-151-200 through 37-151-215 is determined as 91
follows: 92
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(a) The final weighted enrollment for each school 93
district or charter school that is not classified as a sparsely 94
populated district or charter school, as defined in Section 95
37-151-201, is equivalent to the preliminary weighted enrollment 96
of that school district or charter school, as determined in 97
subsections (1) through (7) of this section: the State Department 98
of Education shall add to the school district or charter school's 99
net enrollment, as determined under Section 37-151-207, each of 100
the additional figures calculated in accordance with subsections 101
(2) through (7), and this total is the final weighted enrollment. 102
(b) The final weighted enrollment for each sparsely 103
populated district or charter school, as defined in Section 104
37-151-201, is determined by multiplying the sparsity weight by 105
the preliminary weighted enrollment, as determined in subsections 106
(1) through (7) of this section, and then adding that figure to 107
the preliminary weighted enrollment. To calculate the final 108
weighted enrollment, the State Department of Education shall add 109
to the school district or charter school's net enrollment, each of 110
the additional figures calculated in accordance with subsections 111
(2) through (7) to determine the preliminary weighted enrollment, 112
multiply this figure by the sparsity weight as determined below, 113
and add this resulting number to the preliminary weighted 114
enrollment to find the final weighted enrollment. To calculate 115
the sparsity weight, the State Department of Education shall find 116
the difference between the number of students per square mile in 117
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ST: MS Student Funding Formula; increase
percentage of allotted weight attributable to
low-income students.
that district or charter school and a sparsity threshold of eight 118
(8) students per square mile, and then shall divide the resulting 119
figure by one hundred (100) to create a percentage: for example, 120
if the number of students per square mile in a district is three 121
(3), the difference is five (5) (eight (8) minus three (3)), and 122
the sparsity weight is five percent (5%), or five one-hundredths 123
(5/100). 124
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 125
and after July 1, 2026. 126