Student residency requirements; require State Board of Education to adopt uniform policy to be implemented by school boards.

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To: Education
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Clark

HOUSE BILL NO. 246

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-15-29, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO ADOPT A POLICY 2
ESTABLISHING UNIFORM RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS FOR CHILDREN ENROLLED 3
IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO BE ADHERED TO BY ALL LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS; TO 4
PROVIDE THAT THE POLICY DOES NOT ABROGATE THE RIGHT OF ANY PARENT 5
OR LEGAL GUARDIAN OF A CHILD TO LEGALLY TRANSFER THE CHILD TO 6
ANOTHER SCHOOL DISTRICT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 37-15-31, 7
MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH ESTABLISHES GENERAL PROCEDURES FOR 8
TRANSFERRING STUDENTS BETWEEN SCHOOL DISTRICTS UNDER CERTAIN 9
CIRCUMSTANCES, FOR THE PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR 10
RELATED PURPOSES. 11
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 12
SECTION 1. Section 37-15-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 13
amended as follows: 14
37-15-29. (1) Except as provided in subsections (2), (3), 15
(4) and (5) of this section, no minor child may enroll in or 16
attend any school except in the school district of his residence, 17
unless such child be lawfully transferred from the school district 18
of his residence to a school in another school district in accord 19
with the statutes of this state * * *. 20
(2) Those children whose parent(s) or legal guardian(s) are 21
instructional personnel or * * * licensed employees of a school 22
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district may at such employee's discretion enroll and attend the 23
school or schools of their parent's or legal guardian's employment 24
regardless of the residence of the child. 25
(3) No child shall be required to be transported in excess 26
of thirty (30) miles on a school bus from his or her home to 27
school, or in excess of thirty (30) miles from school to his or 28
her home, if there is another school in an adjacent school 29
district located on a shorter school bus transportation route by 30
the nearest traveled road. Those children residing in such 31
geographical situations may, at the discretion of their parent(s) 32
or legal guardian(s), enroll and attend the nearer school, 33
regardless of the residence of the child. In the event the parent 34
or legal guardian of such child and the school board are unable to 35
agree on the school bus mileage required to transport the child 36
from his or her home to school, an appeal shall lie to the State 37
Board of Education, or its designee, whose decision shall be 38
final. The school districts involved in the appeal shall provide 39
the Mississippi Department of Education with any school bus route 40
information requested, including riding the buses as necessary, in 41
order to measure the bus routes in question, as needed by the 42
State Board of Education in considering the appeal. 43
(4) * * * The brother(s) and sister(s) of * * * children 44
lawfully transferred * * * from the school district of their 45
residence to a school in another school district may also, at the 46
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discretion of their parent(s) or legal guardian(s), enroll and 47
attend school in the transferee school district. 48
(5) (a) Those children whose parent(s) or legal guardian(s) 49
are active duty, or Active Guard and Reserve duty, members of the 50
United States Armed Forces, but not those who are performing 51
inactive duty training, may, at the discretion of their parent(s) 52
or legal guardian(s), enroll and attend the school district and 53
school campus of their parent's or legal guardian's choosing, 54
regardless of the residence of the child. 55
(b) Those children whose parent(s) or legal guardian(s) 56
are civilian military personnel and reside on a military base 57
may, at the discretion of their parent(s) or legal guardian(s), 58
enroll and attend the school district and school campus of their 59
parent's or legal guardian's choosing, regardless of the residence 60
of the child. 61
(c) For purposes of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this 62
subsection (5): 63
(i) A school district is not required to provide 64
transportation to a student who enrolls in or transfers to another 65
school district or school campus within the district of chosen 66
attendance; 67
(ii) A student eligible for enrollment or transfer 68
shall be allowed only one (1) school transfer per academic year; 69
(iii) Once admitted, and unless expelled, the 70
parent(s) or legal guardian(s) of students transferring under the 71
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authority of this subsection shall not be required to reapply for 72
admission for continued enrollment in the school district or 73
school campus of last attendance for any subsequent years of 74
attendance therein; and 75
(iv) If the school district is unable to 76
accommodate a request for enrollment for transfer due to a lack of 77
capacity to accept the student in to the district or a specific 78
school campus, the school board shall deny the request and spread 79
the same upon its minutes. 80
(d) (i) As used in this subsection (5), "active duty" 81
means full-time duty in the active military service of the United 82
States. 83
(ii) As used in this subsection (5), "Active Guard 84
and Reserve duty" means active duty or full-time National Guard 85
duty performed by a member of a reserve component of the Army, 86
Navy, Air Force, Space Force or Marine Corps, which is pursuant to 87
an order to active duty or full-time National Guard duty for a 88
period of one hundred eighty (180) consecutive days or more. 89
(iii) Before enrolling his or her child in the 90
selected school of choice, the service member shall provide the 91
school of enrollment with a copy of his or her Department of 92
Defense photo identification, and a "Statement of Service" from 93
the installation adjutant general or official letter from a 94
commander above the Lieutenant Colonel rank signifying that the 95
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service member is on active duty, or Active Guard and Reserve 96
duty, assignment or has been mobilized within the state. 97
(6) The State Board of Education shall adopt a policy 98
establishing uniform residency requirements for children enrolled 99
in and attending public schools, which policy must be implemented 100
and adhered to by all local school boards. The adoption of this 101
policy by the State Board of Education does not abrogate, in any 102
manner, the right of any parent or legal guardian of a child to 103
legally transfer the child to another school district as 104
authorized under this section and Section 37-15-31. However, if 105
the parent or legal guardian chooses to legally transfer the 106
child, except as is otherwise provided in subsection (5) of this 107
section, the parent or legal guardian and the school boards 108
involved in the transfer must comply with the requirements of 109
Section 37-15-31 and the policy adopted by the State Board of 110
Education pursuant to this subsection. 111
SECTION 2. Section 37-15-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 112
brought forward as follows: 113
37-15-31. (1) (a) Except as provided in subsections (2) 114
through (5) of this section, upon the petition in writing of a 115
parent or guardian resident of the school district of an 116
individual student filed or lodged with the president or secretary 117
of the school board of a school district in which the pupil has 118
been enrolled or is qualified to be enrolled as a student under 119
Section 37-15-9, or upon the aforesaid petition or the initiative 120
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of the school board of a school district as to the transfer of a 121
grade or grades, individual students living in one school district 122
or a grade or grades of a school within the districts may be 123
legally transferred to another school district, by the mutual 124
consent of the school boards of all school districts concerned, 125
which consent must be given in writing and spread upon the minutes 126
of such boards. 127
(b) The school board of the transferring school 128
district to which such petition may be addressed shall act thereon 129
not later than its next regular meeting subsequent to the filing 130
or lodging of the petition, and a failure to act within that time 131
shall constitute a rejection of such request. The school board of 132
the other school district involved (the transferee board) shall 133
act on such request for transfer as soon as possible after the 134
transferor board shall have approved or rejected such transfer and 135
no later than the next regular meeting of the transferee board, 136
and a failure of such transferee board to act within such time 137
shall constitute a rejection of such request. If such a transfer 138
is approved by the transferee board, then such decision shall be 139
final. If such a transfer should be refused by the school board 140
of either school district, then such decision shall be final. 141
(c) Any legal guardianship formed for the purpose of 142
establishing residency for school district attendance purposes 143
shall not be recognized by the affected school board. 144
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(2) (a) Upon the petition in writing of any parent or 145
guardian who is a resident of Mississippi and is an instructional 146
or licensed employee of a school district, but not a resident of 147
such district, the school board of the employer school district 148
shall consent to the transfer of such employee's dependent 149
school-age children to its district and shall spread the same upon 150
the minutes of the board. Upon the petition in writing of any 151
parent or guardian who is not a resident of Mississippi and who is 152
an instructional or licensed employee of a school district in 153
Mississippi, the school board of the employer school district 154
shall consent to the transfer of such employee's dependent 155
school-age children to its district and shall spread the same upon 156
the minutes of the board. 157
(b) The school board of any school district, in its 158
discretion, may adopt a uniform policy to allow the enrollment and 159
attendance of the dependent children of noninstructional and 160
nonlicensed employees, who are residents of Mississippi but are 161
not residents of their district. Such policy shall be based upon 162
the employment needs of the district, implemented according to job 163
classification groups and renewed each school year. 164
(c) The employer transferee school district shall 165
notify in writing the school district from which the pupil or 166
pupils are transferring, and the school board of the transferor 167
school district shall spread the same upon its minutes. 168
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(d) Any such agreement by school boards for the legal 169
transfer of a student shall include a provision providing for the 170
transportation of the student. In the absence of such a provision 171
the responsibility for transporting the student to the transferee 172
school district shall be that of the parent or guardian. 173
(e) Any school district which accepts a student under 174
the provisions of this subsection shall not assess any tuition 175
fees upon such transferring student in accordance with the 176
provisions of Section 37-19-27. 177
(3) Upon the petition in writing of any parent or legal 178
guardian of a school-age child who is a resident of an adjacent 179
school district residing in the geographical situation described 180
in Section 37-15-29(3), the school board of the school district 181
operating the school located in closer proximity to the residence 182
of the child shall consent to the transfer of the child to its 183
district, and shall spread the same upon the minutes of the board. 184
Any such agreement by school boards for the legal transfer of a 185
student under this subsection shall include a provision for the 186
transportation of the student by either the transferor or the 187
transferee school district. In the event that either the school 188
board of the transferee or the transferor school district shall 189
object to the transfer, it shall have the right to appeal to the 190
State Board of Education whose decision shall be final. However, 191
if the school boards agreeing on the legal transfer of any student 192
shall fail to agree on which district shall provide 193
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transportation, the responsibility for transporting the student to 194
the transferee school district shall be that of the parent or 195
guardian. 196
(4) Upon the petition in writing of any parent or legal 197
guardian of a school-age child who was lawfully transferred to 198
another school district prior to July 1, 1992, as described in 199
Section 37-15-29(4), the school board of the transferee school 200
district shall consent to the transfer of such child and the 201
transfer of any school-age brother and sister of such child to its 202
district, and shall spread the same upon the minutes of the board. 203
(5) (a) If the board of trustees of a municipal separate 204
school district with added territory does not have a member who is 205
a resident of the added territory outside the corporate limits, 206
upon the petition in writing of any parent or legal guardian of a 207
school-age child who is a resident of the added territory outside 208
the corporate limits, the board of trustees of the municipal 209
separate school district and the school board of the school 210
district adjacent to the added territory shall consent to the 211
transfer of the child from the municipal separate school district 212
to the adjacent school district. The agreement must be spread 213
upon the minutes of the board of trustees of the municipal 214
separate school district and the school board of the adjacent 215
school district. The agreement must provide for the 216
transportation of the student. In the absence of such a 217
provision, the parent or legal guardian shall be responsible for 218
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ST: Student residency requirements; require
State Board of Education to adopt uniform policy
to be implemented by school boards.
transporting the student to the adjacent school district. Any 219
school district that accepts a student under this subsection may 220
not assess any tuition fees against the transferring student. 221
(b) Before September 1 of each year, the board of 222
trustees of the municipal separate school district shall certify 223
to the State Department of Education the number of students in the 224
added territory of the municipal separate school district who are 225
transferred to the adjacent school district under this subsection. 226
The municipal separate school district also shall certify the 227
total number of students in the school district residing in the 228
added territory plus the number of those students who are 229
transferred to the adjacent school district. Based upon these 230
figures, the department shall calculate the percentage of the 231
total number of students in the added territory who are 232
transferred to the adjacent school district and shall certify this 233
percentage to the levying authority for the municipal separate 234
school district. The levying authority shall remit to the school 235
board of the adjacent school district, from the proceeds of the ad 236
valorem taxes collected for the support of the municipal separate 237
school district from the added territory of the municipal separate 238
school district, an amount equal to the percentage of the total 239
number of students in the added territory who are transferred to 240
the adjacent school district. 241
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from 242
and after July 1, 2026. 243