Total funding formula; increase gifted education weight and multiplier, and include 7th- and 8th-grade students in CTE weight.

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To: Education
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Senator(s) Wiggins, DeBar, Hickman,
Williams, Boyd, McLendon, Simmons (12th),
Seymour, Simmons (13th)

SENATE BILL NO. 2293
(As Passed the Senate)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-151-205, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO REVISE THE MISSISSIPPI STUDENT FUNDING FORMULA TO INCREASE THE 2
WEIGHT AND MULTIPLIER FOR GIFTED EDUCATION; TO REQUIRE THAT 3
AMOUNTS PROVIDED TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS AS A RESULT OF SUCH GIFTED 4
EDUCATION WEIGHT AND MULTIPLIER GO DIRECTLY TOWARD GIFTED 5
EDUCATION INSTRUCTION; TO INCLUDE SEVENTH- AND EIGHTH-GRADE 6
STUDENTS AMONG STUDENTS ENROLLED IN A CAREER AND TECHNICAL 7
EDUCATION COURSE FOR WEIGHT PURPOSES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 8
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 9
SECTION 1. Section 37-151-205, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 10
amended as follows: 11
37-151-205. (1) The preliminary weighted enrollment of each 12
school district and charter school under Sections 37-151-200 13
through 37-151-215 is determined by applying the weights 14
prescribed in this section, none of which are mutually exclusive 15
of another, to each applicable school district or charter school's 16
net enrollment, as determined by Section 37-151-207. To determine 17
additional funding authorized under this section, the number of 18
students in a school district that are identified as the 19
applicable weight shall be calculated as a percentage of the 20
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students in the school district. Such amount shall be referred to 21
as the "percentage of applicable students." 22
(2) For students identified as low-income, as defined in 23
Section 37-151-201, the percentage of applicable students in the 24
school district is multiplied by thirty one-hundredths (30/100), 25
and then multiplied by net enrollment. 26
(3) For students identified as English Language Learners, as 27
defined in Section 37-151-201, the percentage of applicable 28
students in the school district is multiplied by fifteen 29
one-hundredths (15/100), and then multiplied by net enrollment. 30
(4) The following weights are applied to students who are 31
identified as entitled to and receiving services in a special 32
education program: 33
(a) Tier I: For students diagnosed with a specific 34
learning disability, speech and language impairment, or 35
developmental delay, the percentage of applicable students in the 36
school district is multiplied by sixty one-hundredths (60/100), 37
and then multiplied by net enrollment. 38
(b) Tier II: For students diagnosed with autism, 39
hearing impairment, emotional disability, orthopedic impairment, 40
intellectual disability, or other health impairment, the 41
percentage of applicable students in the school district is 42
multiplied by one hundred ten one-hundredths (110/100), and then 43
multiplied by net enrollment. 44
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(c) Tier III: For students diagnosed with visual 45
impairment, deaf-blindness, multiple disabilities, or traumatic 46
brain injury, the percentage of applicable students in the school 47
district is multiplied by one hundred thirty one-hundredths 48
(130/100), and then multiplied by net enrollment. 49
For the purpose of student counts, a student entitled to and 50
receiving special education services may not be included under 51
more than one (1) tier prescribed in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) 52
of this subsection. A student having multiple diagnoses must be 53
counted under the highest tier applicable to that student. 54
(5) A weight of * * * fourteen and one-half percent (14.5%) 55
is applied to * * * ten percent (10%) of a school district or 56
charter school's net enrollment for the purpose of providing 57
gifted education, regardless of the number of students in a school 58
district or charter school that have been identified as gifted 59
students: the total number of students in net enrollment in a 60
school district or charter school, as determined by Section 61
37-151-207, is multiplied by * * * ten one-hundredths (10/100), 62
which is again multiplied by * * * fourteen and one-half 63
one-hundredths (14.5/100). Further, said amounts shall go 64
directly toward gifted education instruction. 65
(6) For Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth 66
Grade students enrolled in a career and technical education 67
course, as defined in Section 37-151-201, the percentage of 68
applicable students in the school district is multiplied by ten 69
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one-hundredths (10/100), and then multiplied by net enrollment. 70
Students enrolled in multiple career and technical education 71
courses are counted once. 72
(7) In each school district or charter school where the 73
number of students identified as low income, as defined in Section 74
37-151-201, exceeds thirty-five percent (35%) of the school 75
district or charter school's net enrollment, a weight of ten 76
percent (10%) is applied only to the number of low-income students 77
in excess of the number of low-income students which constitute 78
thirty-five percent (35%) of net enrollment. The number of 79
students eligible for this weight is calculated by subtracting the 80
number of students equivalent to thirty-five percent (35%) of the 81
net enrollment of that school district or charter school from the 82
total number of students in that school district or charter school 83
identified as low income: if the total percentage of applicable 84
students identified in subsection (2) exceeds thirty-five percent 85
(35%) of the school district or charter school's total net 86
enrollment, as determined in Section 37-151-207, the difference 87
between the total percentage of applicable students identified in 88
subsection (2) and thirty-five percent (35%) of the school 89
district or charter school's total net enrollment is multiplied by 90
ten one-hundredths (10/100), and then multiplied by net 91
enrollment. 92
(8) The final weighted enrollment of each school district 93
and charter school under the total funding formula as provided for 94
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in Sections 37-151-200 through 37-151-215 is determined as 95
follows: 96
(a) The final weighted enrollment for each school 97
district or charter school that is not classified as a sparsely 98
populated district or charter school, as defined in Section 99
37-151-201, is equivalent to the preliminary weighted enrollment 100
of that school district or charter school, as determined in 101
subsections (1) through (7) of this section: the State Department 102
of Education shall add to the school district or charter school's 103
net enrollment, as determined under Section 37-151-207, each of 104
the additional figures calculated in accordance with subsections 105
(2) through (7), and this total is the final weighted enrollment. 106
(b) The final weighted enrollment for each sparsely 107
populated district or charter school, as defined in Section 108
37-151-201, is determined by multiplying the sparsity weight by 109
the preliminary weighted enrollment, as determined in subsections 110
(1) through (7) of this section, and then adding that figure to 111
the preliminary weighted enrollment. To calculate the final 112
weighted enrollment, the State Department of Education shall add 113
to the school district or charter school's net enrollment, each of 114
the additional figures calculated in accordance with subsections 115
(2) through (7) to determine the preliminary weighted enrollment, 116
multiply this figure by the sparsity weight as determined below, 117
and add this resulting number to the preliminary weighted 118
enrollment to find the final weighted enrollment. To calculate 119
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ST: Total funding formula; increase gifted
education weight and multiplier, and include
7th- and 8th-grade students in CTE weight.
the sparsity weight, the State Department of Education shall find 120
the difference between the number of students per square mile in 121
that district or charter school and a sparsity threshold of eight 122
(8) students per square mile, and then shall divide the resulting 123
figure by one hundred (100) to create a percentage: for example, 124
if the number of students per square mile in a district is three 125
(3), the difference is five (5) (eight (8) minus three (3)), and 126
the sparsity weight is five percent (5%), or five one-hundredths 127
(5/100). 128
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 129
and after July 1, 2026, and shall stand repealed on June 30, 2026. 130