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H. B. No. 950 *HR43/R677* ~ OFFICIAL ~ G1/2
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To: Education;
Appropriations A
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Representative Byrd
HOUSE BILL NO. 950
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-173-15, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO PROVIDE THAT SCHOOL DISTRICTS PROVIDING COMPREHENSIVE DYSLEXIA 2
EVALUATIONS AND PARENTS EXERCISING THE OPTION TO HAVE SUBSEQUENT 3
COMPREHENSIVE PSYCHO-EDUCATIONAL EVALUATIONS ARE ENTITLED TO 4
REIMBURSEMENT OF THE COST OF SUCH AN EVALUATION WHICH RESULTS IN A 5
DIAGNOSIS OF DYSLEXIA, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $800.00; TO FINE 6
SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS WHICH FAIL TO ACCEPT THE RESULTS OF A 7
SUBSEQUENT COMPREHENSIVE PYSCHO-EDUCATIONAL EVALUATION THAT 8
DETERMINE A DIAGNOSIS OF DYSLEXIA; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 9
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 10
SECTION 1. Section 37-173-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 11
amended as follows: 12
37-173-15. (1) (a) Each local school district shall adopt 13
a policy to ensure that students will be screened by a screener 14
approved by the State Board of Education in the spring of 15
kindergarten and the fall of Grade 1. The component of the 16
screening must include: 17
(i) Phonological awareness and phonemic awareness; 18
(ii) Sound symbol recognition; 19
(iii) Alphabet knowledge; 20
(iv) Decoding skills; 21
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(v) Encoding skills; and 22
(vi) Rapid naming. 23
(b) If a student fails the screener, the parent or 24
legal guardian will be notified of the results of the screener. 25
Subsequent dyslexia evaluations may be administered by licensed 26
professionals, including: 27
(i) Psychologists, licensed under Chapter 31, 28
Title 73, Mississippi Code of 1972; 29
(ii) Psychometrists, licensed by the Mississippi 30
Department of Education, and in accordance with Chapter 31, Title 31
73, Section 27, Mississippi Code of 1972; or 32
(iii) Speech Language Pathologists, licensed under 33
Chapter 38, Title 73, Mississippi Code of 1972. 34
(c) If a student fails the screener, the school 35
district, in its discretion, may perform a comprehensive dyslexia 36
evaluation, such evaluation must be administered by any of the 37
licensed professionals identified under paragraph (b) of this 38
subsection. 39
(d) (i) If a parent or legal guardian of a student who 40
fails the dyslexia screener exercises the option to have a 41
subsequent evaluation performed, such evaluation, which shall be a 42
comprehensive psycho-educational evaluation, shall be administered 43
by any of the licensed professionals identified under paragraph 44
(b) of this subsection, and the resulting diagnosis of the 45
subsequent comprehensive psycho-educational evaluation must be 46
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accepted by the school district for purposes of determining 47
eligibility for placement within a dyslexia therapy program within 48
the current school or to receive a Mississippi Dyslexia Therapy 49
Scholarship for placement in a dyslexia program in another public 50
school or nonpublic school. 51
(ii) Any school or school district which fails to 52
comply with the provisions of this subparagraph (i) of this 53
paragraph (d), which requires a school district to accept a 54
diagnosis of dyslexia determined by the performance of a 55
subsequent comprehensive psycho-educational evaluation, shall be 56
fined by the State Department of Education for failure to adhere 57
to state law in an amount which may be equal to the total cost of 58
the subsequent comprehensive psycho-educational evaluation, but 59
shall not be less than Eight Hundred Dollars ($800.00), the 60
maximum cost of the reimbursement provided by the department for 61
subsequent evaluations resulting in a dyslexia diagnosis. Schools 62
or school districts fined under this subparagraph are prohibited 63
from using any Mississippi Adequate Education Program funds or any 64
other source of state funds for the payment of the fine. 65
(2) The screening of all compulsory-school-age children 66
enrolled in each local public school district for dyslexia 67
required by subsection (1)(a) of this section shall in no manner 68
nullify or defeat the requirements of the pilot programs adopted 69
by the State Department of Education to test certain students 70
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enrolled or enrolling in public schools for dyslexia under Section 71
37-23-15. 72
(3) (a) The cost of a comprehensive psycho-educational 73
evaluation conducted under subsection (1)(d) of this section, 74
which results in a diagnosis of dyslexia, must be reimbursed by 75
the State Department of Education in an amount not to exceed Eight 76
Hundred Dollars ($800.00). The department shall develop policies 77
and procedures to administer the reimbursement program established 78
under this subsection and shall establish the criteria to be used 79
in determining acceptable comprehensive psycho-educational 80
evaluations and qualifying evaluators, which are licensed 81
professionals under subsection (1)(b) of this section, for which 82
reimbursement is permitted. 83
(b) The comprehensive psycho-educational evaluations 84
performed by qualifying evaluators who are licensed professionals 85
under subsection (1)(b) of this section shall consider all of the 86
following components: 87
(i) Background information from parents and 88
teachers that indicate: 89
1. If the child's family has a history of 90
dyslexia or of delayed speech or language; 91
2. The types and length of time of any 92
interventions the student has received at school, home or through 93
tutoring; 94
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ST: Dyslexia screenings; reimburse parents and
school districts for comprehensive psycho-
educational evaluations.
3. The student's response to the 95
intervention; and 96
4. The student's school attendance record; 97
(ii) The determination of a need for a formal 98
measure of intelligence; 99
(iii) Oral language skills, which focus on a 100
student's ability to listen to and understand speech, as well as 101
to express his or her thoughts through speech; 102
(iv) Word recognition; 103
(v) Decoding unfamiliar words by using 104
letter-sound knowledge, spelling patterns and chunking the word 105
into smaller parts, such as syllables; 106
(vi) Spelling; 107
(vii) Phonological processing; 108
(viii) Automaticity/fluency skills; 109
(ix) Reading comprehension; and 110
(x) Vocabulary knowledge. 111
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 112
and after July 1, 2026. 113