Ten Commandments; require display in every public school and charter school classroom.

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To: Education
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Boyd (19th)

HOUSE BILL NO. 643

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-13-163, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD AND CHARTER SCHOOL GOVERNING 2
BOARD TO DISPLAY THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN EACH CLASSROOM IN EACH 3
SCHOOL OR CHARTER SCHOOL UNDER ITS JURISDICTION BY NOT LATER THAN 4
JANUARY 1, 2027; TO PRESCRIBE ADDITIONAL HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS AND 5
TEXTS THAT SCHOOL BOARDS GOVERNING AUTHORITY MAY CHOOSE TO DISPLAY 6
IN THEIR CLASSROOMS; TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO 7
ADOPT RULES AND REGULATIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ADMINISTRATIVE 8
PROCEDURE ACT TO ENSURE THE PROPER IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS ACT; TO 9
REQUIRE THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO IDENTIFY APPROPRIATE 10
RESOURCES TO COMPLY WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT THAT ARE FREE 11
OF CHARGE, AND ONCE IDENTIFIED, TO LIST THE FREE RESOURCES ON THE 12
DEPARTMENT'S WEBSITE; TO AMEND SECTION 37-28-45, MISSISSIPPI CODE 13
OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 14
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 15
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the 16
following: 17
(1) In 2005, the Supreme Court of the United States 18
recognized that it is permissible to display the Ten Commandments 19
on government property in Van Orden v. Perry, 545 U.S. 677, 688 20
(2005); 21
(2) In 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States further 22
recognized that the Ten Commandments "have historical significance 23
as one of the foundations of our legal system. . .", in American 24
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Legion v. American Humanists Association, 588 U.S. 29, 53 (2019) 25
and, the court also ruled that the displaying of the Ten 26
Commandments on public property may have "multiple purposes" such 27
as "historical significance" and represent a "common cultural 28
heritage". id, 588 U.S. at 54. 29
(3) Recognizing the historical role of the Ten Commandments 30
accords with our nation's history and faithfully reflects the 31
understanding of the founders of our nation with respect to the 32
necessity of civic morality to a functional self-government. 33
History records that James Madison, the fourth President of the 34
United States of America, stated that "(w)e have staked the whole 35
future of our new nation . . . upon the capacity of each ourselves 36
to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten 37
Commandments." 38
(4) Including the Ten Commandments in the education of our 39
children is part of our state and national history, culture, and 40
tradition. 41
(5) The text of the Ten Commandments set forth in subsection 42
(b) of this section is identical to the text of the Ten 43
Commandments monument that was upheld by the Supreme Court of the 44
United States in Van Orden v. Perry, 545 U.S. 677, 688 (2005). 45
(6) The Mayflower Compact of 1620 was America's first 46
written constitution and made a Covenant with Almighty God to 47
"form a civil body politic". This was the first purely American 48
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document of self-government and affirmed the link between civil 49
society and God. 50
(7) The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 provided a method of 51
admitting new states to the Union from the territory as the 52
country expanded to the Pacific. The ordinance "extended the 53
fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty" to the 54
territories and stated that "(r)eligion, morality, and knowledge, 55
being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, 56
schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." 57
(8) It is the Legislature's intent to apply the decision set 58
forth by the Supreme Court of the United States in Van Orden v. 59
Perry, id, to continue the rich tradition and ensure that the 60
students in our public schools may understand and appreciate the 61
foundational documents of our state and national government. 62
(9) The Supreme Court of the United States acknowledged that 63
the Ten Commandments may be displayed on local government property 64
when a private donation is made for the purchase of the historical 65
monument. Pleasant Grove City, Utah v. Summan, 555 U.S. 460 66
(2006). 67
(10) It is the intention of the Legislature that this 68
section shall not create an unfunded mandate on any public school 69
governing authority. The school boards are encouraged to use 70
documents that are printed and made available to the schools free 71
of charge. 72
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SECTION 2. Section 37-13-163, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 73
amended as follows: 74
37-13-163. (1) Any teacher, administrator, school council 75
or local school board in any public school district in this state 76
may post in a public school building, classroom or at any school 77
event or read from any historical document or writing relating to 78
the founding of the United States of America or this state, or 79
both, notwithstanding the fact that such materials may include 80
religious quotations, references or illustrations. There shall be 81
no content-based censorship of American or Mississippi History, 82
heritage or culture based on any religious references contained in 83
such documents, writings or records. 84
(2) Principals and teachers in each public elementary and 85
secondary school of each school district in this state shall 86
display on an appropriately framed background with minimum 87
dimensions of eleven (11) inches by fourteen (14) inches, the 88
following motto of the United States of America in each classroom, 89
school auditorium and school cafeteria under his or her 90
supervision: "IN GOD WE TRUST." For purposes of this provision, 91
"classroom" shall mean any room of a public school where 92
instruction takes place. 93
(3) (a) No later than January 1, 2027, each public school 94
board and charter school governing board shall display the Ten 95
Commandments in each classroom in each school or charter school 96
under its jurisdiction. The nature of the display shall be 97
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determined by the appropriate governing board with a minimum 98
requirement that the Ten Commandments shall be displayed on a 99
poster or framed document that is at least eleven (11) inches by 100
fourteen (14) inches. The text of the Ten Commandments shall be 101
the central focus of the poster or framed document and shall be 102
printed in a large, easily readable font. 103
(b) The text shall read as follows: 104
"The Ten Commandments 105
I AM the LORD thy God. 106
Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 107
Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images. 108
Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain. 109
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 110
Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon 111
the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 112
Thou shalt not kill. 113
Thou shalt not commit adultery. 114
Thou shalt not steal. 115
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 116
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. 117
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor 118
his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy 119
neighbor's." 120
(c) The Ten Commandments shall be displayed with a 121
context statement as follows: 122
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"The History of the Ten Commandments in American Public 123
Education, The Ten Commandments were a prominent part of American 124
public education for almost three (3) centuries. Around the year 125
1688, The New England Primer became the first published American 126
textbook and was the equivalent of a first grade reader. The New 127
England Primer was used in public schools throughout the United 128
States for more than one hundred fifty (150) years to teach 129
Americans to read and contained more than forty (40) questions 130
about the Ten Commandments. 131
The Ten Commandments were also included in public school 132
textbooks published by educator, William McGuffey, a noted 133
university president and professor. A version of his famous 134
McGuffey Readers was written in the early 1800s and became one (1) 135
of the most popular textbooks in the history of American 136
education, selling more than one hundred million (100,000,000) 137
copies. Copies of the McGuffey Readers are still available today. 138
The Ten Commandments also appeared in textbooks published by 139
Noah Webster in which were widely used in American public schools 140
along with America's first comprehensive dictionary that Webster 141
also published. His textbook, The American Spelling Book, 142
contained the Ten Commandments and sold more than one hundred 143
million (100,000,000) copies for use by public school children all 144
across the nation and was still available for use in American 145
public schools in the year 1975." 146
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(d) A public school may also display the Mayflower 147
Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Northwest 148
Ordinance, along with the Ten Commandments. 149
(e) This section shall not require a public school 150
board or charter school governing board to spend its funds to 151
purchase displays. In order to fund the displays free of charge, 152
the school public governing authority shall do either of the 153
following: 154
(i) Accept donated funds to purchase the displays; 155
or 156
(ii) Accept donated displays. 157
(f) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules and 158
regulations in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act to 159
ensure the proper implementation of this subsection. 160
(g) The State Department of Education shall identify 161
appropriate resources to comply with the provisions of this 162
subsection that are free of charge. Once identified, the 163
department shall list the free resources on the department's 164
website. 165
SECTION 3. Section 37-28-45, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 166
amended as follows: 167
37-28-45. (1) Charter schools are subject to the same civil 168
rights, health and safety requirements applicable to noncharter 169
public schools in the state, except as otherwise specifically 170
provided in this chapter. 171
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(2) Charter schools are subject to the student assessment 172
and accountability requirements applicable to noncharter public 173
schools in the state; however, this requirement does not preclude 174
a charter school from establishing additional student assessment 175
measures that go beyond state requirements if the authorizer 176
approves those measures. 177
(3) Although a charter school is geographically located 178
within the boundaries of a particular school district and enrolls 179
students who reside within the school district, the charter school 180
may not be considered a school within that district under the 181
purview of the school district's school board. The rules, 182
regulations, policies and procedures established by the school 183
board for the noncharter public schools that are in the school 184
district in which the charter school is geographically located do 185
not apply to the charter school unless otherwise required under 186
the charter contract or any contract entered into between the 187
charter school governing board and the local school board. 188
(4) Whenever the provisions of Title 37, Mississippi Code of 189
1972, relating to the elementary and secondary education of public 190
school students establish a requirement for or grant authority to 191
local school districts, their school boards and the schools within 192
the respective school districts, the language "school districts," 193
"school boards," "boards of trustees," "the schools within a 194
school district," or any other similar phraseology does not 195
include a charter school and the governing board of a charter 196
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school unless the statute specifically is made applicable to 197
charter schools as well as noncharter public schools. 198
(5) A charter school is not subject to any rule, regulation, 199
policy or procedure adopted by the State Board of Education or the 200
State Department of Education unless otherwise required by the 201
authorizer or in the charter contract. 202
(6) Charter schools are not exempt from the following 203
statutes: 204
(a) Chapter 41, Title 25, Mississippi Code of 1972, 205
which relate to open meetings of public bodies. 206
(b) Chapter 61, Title 25, Mississippi Code of 1972, 207
which relate to public access to public records. 208
(c) Section 37-3-51, which requires notice by the 209
district attorney of licensed school employees who are convicted 210
of certain sex offenses. 211
(d) Section 37-3-53, which requires publication of the 212
Mississippi Report Card by the State Board of Education. 213
(e) Section 37-11-18, which requires the automatic 214
expulsion of a student possessing a weapon or controlled substance 215
on educational property. 216
(f) Section 37-11-18.1, which requires expulsion of 217
certain habitually disruptive students. 218
(g) Section 37-11-19, which requires suspension or 219
expulsion of a student who damages school property. 220
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(h) Section 37-11-20, which prohibits acts of 221
intimidation intended to keep a student from attending school. 222
(i) Section 37-11-21, which prohibits parental abuse of 223
school staff. 224
(j) Section 37-11-23, which prohibits the willful 225
disruption of school and school meetings. 226
(k) Sections 37-11-29 and 37-11-31, which relate to 227
reporting requirements regarding unlawful or violent acts on 228
school property. 229
(l) Section 37-11-67, which prohibits bullying or 230
harassing behavior in public schools. 231
(m) Section 37-13-3, which prohibits doctrinal, 232
sectarian or denominational teaching in public schools. 233
(n) Sections 37-13-5 and 37-13-6, which require the 234
flags of the United States and the State of Mississippi to be 235
displayed near the school building. 236
(o) Section 37-13-63(1), which prescribes the minimum 237
number of days which public schools must be kept in session during 238
a scholastic year. 239
(p) Section 37-13-91, which is the Mississippi 240
Compulsory School Attendance Law. 241
(q) Section 37-13-171(2) and (4), which requires any 242
course containing sex-related education to include instruction in 243
abstinence-only or abstinence-plus education. 244
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(r) Section 37-13-173, which requires notice to parents 245
before instruction on human sexuality is provided in public 246
classrooms. 247
(s) Section 37-13-193, which relates to civil rights 248
and human rights education in the public schools. 249
(t) Sections 37-15-1 and 37-15-3, which relate to the 250
maintenance and transfer of permanent student records in public 251
schools. 252
(u) Section 37-15-6, which requires the State 253
Department of Education to maintain a record of expulsions from 254
the public schools. 255
(v) Section 37-15-9, which establishes minimum age 256
requirements for kindergarten and first grade enrollment in public 257
schools. 258
(w) Section 37-15-11, which requires a parent, legal 259
guardian or custodian to accompany a child seeking enrollment in a 260
public school. 261
(x) Sections 37-16-1, 37-16-3, 37-16-4 and 37-16-9, 262
which relate to the statewide assessment testing program. 263
(y) Section 37-18-1, which establishes the 264
Superior-Performing Schools Program and Exemplary Schools Program 265
to recognize public schools that improve. 266
(z) Section 37-13-163(3), which requires the display of 267
the Ten Commandments in all public school classrooms. 268
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ST: Ten Commandments; require display in every
public school and charter school classroom.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from 269
and after July 1, 2026. 270