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To: Education;
Appropriations
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Senator(s) Rhodes
SENATE BILL NO. 2518
AN ACT TO ENACT THE "MISSISSIPPI SAFE SCHOOLS 1
INFORMATION-SHARING ACT OF 2026"; TO ESTABLISH A SECURE STATEWIDE 2
ONLINE STUDENT SAFETY RISK-ASSESSMENT TRACKING AND 3
INFORMATION-SHARING SYSTEM IN COORDINATION WITH THE JUVENILE COURT 4
SYSTEM AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS; TO REQUIRE TIMELY DATA ENTRY OF RISK 5
ASSESSMENTS; TO PROVIDE LIMITED ACCESS FOR PRIVACY PURPOSES; TO 6
REQUIRE BEHAVIORAL THREAT ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT (BTAM) 7
TRAINING FOR CERTAIN DISTRICT LEADERSHIP; TO REQUIRE LOCAL LAW 8
ENFORCEMENT NOTIFICATION TO A JUVENILE'S SCHOOL DISTRICT OF A 9
JUVENILE FELONY ARREST WITHIN 24 HOURS AND AUTHORIZE TRANSMISSION 10
THROUGH THE SYSTEM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 11
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 12
SECTION 1. (1) Short title. This section shall be known 13
and may be cited as the "Mississippi Safe Schools 14
Information-Sharing Act of 2026." 15
(2) Legislative findings. The Legislature finds that early 16
identification of student risk and coordinated intervention, 17
consistent with applicable state and federal privacy law, improves 18
student safety, reduces violence, and supports school attendance 19
and student success. 20
(3) Definitions. As used in this section: 21
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(a) "Authorized district user" means only the district 22
superintendent, assistant superintendents, and principals of a 23
school attended by the student, as designated in writing by the 24
superintendent. 25
(b) "Department" means the State Department of 26
Education. 27
(c) "Juvenile" means any student enrolled in a 28
Mississippi school who is not older than the age permitted under 29
applicable law. 30
(d) "Local law enforcement" means the arresting 31
authority within the same county of the juvenile's school 32
district. 33
(e) "Portal" means the secure statewide online system 34
established under this section. 35
(f) "Portal entry designee" means a district-appointed 36
individual responsible for timely entry of required information 37
into the portal under subsection (5)(e) of this section. 38
(g) "Student safety risk assessment" means a documented 39
assessment by a school district regarding a student's behavior or 40
circumstances indicating a potential risk of harm to self or 41
others, including a threat assessment, violence risk review, or 42
comparable locally adopted process. 43
(4) Establishment; administration; coordination with courts. 44
(a) The department shall develop, house, host, maintain, and 45
administer the portal and shall be responsible for system 46
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security, uptime, user provisioning, audit logging, and technical 47
support standards. 48
(b) The department shall coordinate, by memorandum of 49
understanding (MOU) and in consultation with the Administrative 50
Office of Courts and youth court stakeholders, to enable secure 51
information exchange between school districts and the juvenile 52
court system to the extent permitted by law, court order, and 53
court rules. 54
(c) The portal must support entry of the fact that a 55
student safety risk assessment has occurred. The portal shall not 56
require entry of clinical diagnoses or detailed medical records. 57
(d) Each school district shall ensure that an entry 58
reflecting the occurrence of a student safety risk assessment is 59
entered into the portal not later than forty-eight (48) hours 60
after the district sends or refers a student for a student safety 61
risk assessment, regardless of whether the assessment is conducted 62
by district personnel or an external provider. If the 63
forty-eight-hour deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal 64
holiday observed by the district, the entry shall be made not 65
later than the next business day. For purposes of this paragraph, 66
"business day" means a day on which the administrative offices of 67
the district are open for business. 68
(5) Limited access; privacy protections. (a) Only 69
authorized district users may access student-specific information 70
in the portal for students enrolled in the user's district. 71
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(b) The department may designate a limited number of 72
state employees as system administrators for user provisioning, 73
cybersecurity, audit, compliance, and technical support. However, 74
such administrators shall not access student-specific content 75
except as necessary to investigate a documented security or 76
integrity incident. 77
(c) Each authorized district user shall complete annual 78
training approved by the department addressing confidentiality, 79
appropriate use, and cybersecurity. 80
(d) Access shall be promptly revoked upon separation 81
from employment, reassignment, or superintendent revocation. 82
(e) Portal entry designee; backups; restricted 83
permissions. (i) Each district superintendent shall appoint one 84
(1) primary portal entry designee responsible for timely entry of 85
information required by subsection (4) of this section and shall 86
appoint not fewer than two (2) alternate designees to serve as 87
backups when the primary designee is unavailable. The designee 88
and alternates may include a counselor, principal, administrator, 89
or other district employee designated by the superintendent. 90
(ii) The portal shall support a restricted 91
"data-entry" permission level for the portal entry designee and 92
alternate designees, limited to creating and updating entries 93
required by subsection (4) of this section for students enrolled 94
in the district, and prohibiting browsing or viewing 95
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student-specific entries beyond what is necessary for completing 96
or correcting the required entry. 97
(iii) The department shall require execution of 98
user agreements for all portal users and shall maintain audit logs 99
sufficient to identify user access and edits. 100
(6) Confidentiality; nonpublic record; authorized uses. (a) 101
Information entered into or generated by the portal is 102
confidential and exempt from the Mississippi Public Records Act of 103
1983. 104
(b) Portal information shall be used only for: 105
(i) Student safety planning and coordinated 106
intervention; 107
(ii) Ensuring continuity of services when a 108
student transfers within Mississippi; 109
(iii) Coordination with youth court and service 110
providers as authorized by law; and 111
(iv) Compulsory attendance enforcement and related 112
student-support interventions. 113
(c) Unauthorized access, use, or disclosure is grounds 114
for discipline and is punishable under applicable criminal and 115
civil laws. 116
(d) Entries shall be limited to the minimum necessary 117
fields required by subsection (4) of this section and shall not 118
include detailed narrative medical or mental-health information. 119
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(7) Interagency information sharing for safety and services. 120
To the extent not prohibited by state or federal law, and subject 121
to any required court order or court rule, state and local 122
agencies and programs providing services to students, including 123
school districts, local law enforcement, youth court intake, and 124
other child-serving entities, may share records or information 125
through the portal when reasonably necessary to ensure access to 126
appropriate services for the student or to ensure the safety of 127
the student or others. The department shall promulgate minimum 128
necessary standards and role-based access controls consistent with 129
this section. 130
(8) Data quality; review and correction. (a) A parent or 131
legal guardian, or an eligible student as defined by applicable 132
federal law, may submit a written request to the district 133
superintendent for review of factual inaccuracies in portal 134
entries originating from the district. 135
(b) The superintendent shall provide a written 136
determination within thirty (30) days and shall correct or 137
annotate the record as appropriate. 138
(9) Retention and destruction. The department shall adopt a 139
retention schedule limiting retention of portal entries to the 140
minimum period needed for safety and continuity of interventions, 141
consistent with applicable law and records-management 142
requirements. 143
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(10) Reporting; audit. The department shall publish an 144
annual aggregate report to the Legislature that excludes 145
personally identifiable student information and includes 146
cybersecurity compliance and aggregate counts of risk assessments 147
documented. 148
(11) BTAM training for district leadership (training-only 149
approach). (a) The department shall develop or procure 150
Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) training, 151
including online modules and periodic in-person options. 152
(b) Each district superintendent, assistant 153
superintendent, and school principal shall complete BTAM training 154
within twelve (12) months of assuming the role and at least once 155
every two (2) years thereafter. 156
(c) Nothing in this section mandates a particular local 157
team composition, meeting frequency, or other operational 158
requirements beyond training. Districts may use locally adopted 159
processes consistent with department guidance. 160
(12) Juvenile felony arrest notification to school district. 161
(a) A local law enforcement agency shall notify a juvenile's 162
school district of a juvenile felony arrest within twenty-four 163
(24) hours of the arrest. 164
(b) Notification may be transmitted through the portal 165
established in this section, if available, and shall be treated as 166
confidential student safety information. 167
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ST: Mississippi Safe Schools Information-
Sharing Act of 2026; enact.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 168
and after July 1, 2026. 169