House Bill 867: Inter-District Student Transfers

February 8, 2024April 3, 2024 Bill Tracker

Latest Action

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The Senate Education Committee failed to take action on HB 867 by the April 2 deadline, causing this bill to die in committee.

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House Bill 867 would ease the process of student transfers between traditional public school districts by removing the requirement that a student’s home district must approve their release. Under HB 867, only the receiving district would have to approve the transfer. HB 867 would also allow children of military personnel to attend any district in the state. The changes under HB 867 would not “supersede any provision of an enforceable desegregation order or a court-approved desegregation plan,” meaning that, depending on the specifics of the desegregation order, students might not be eligible to transfer from a district under such an order.

Mississippi currently has a very limited form of “open enrollment” that allows students to transfer from their home district (or “transferor district,” i.e., the school district whose geographical boundaries the student lives within) to a receiving district (or “transferee district”), provided that both districts approve the transfer request. While there are a few exceptions to this process (see table below), the requirement of both districts to approve a transfer creates a significant barrier to inter-district transfers.

HB 867 would remove the requirement that a transferor district must approve a transfer request, instead only requiring the transferee district to approve a transfer. After a parent or guardian petitions the transferee district for a transfer, the transferee district would be required to approve or deny the request by the next school board meeting. Failing to act during this timeframe would constitute approval of the transfer request by the transferee district. Any approved transfer request would have to stipulate whether the transferee district or the parent would be responsible for transportation. 

Under HB 867, any student who transfers would only be “athletically eligible” for one school per year, and eligibility would be determined based on their fall semester enrollment. This means that a student transferring mid-year would not be eligible to participate in athletics at their new school for the remainder of the school year.

Under HB 867, transferee districts would be required to report to MDE the name, grade, GPA, gender, and ethnicity of any transfer students. MDE would then be required to report the resulting data to the legislature.

Current state law allows for inter-district transfers in the following circumstances, some of which would be altered under HB 867:

Circumstance	Relevant Code(s)	Approval Needed	Tuition & Fees	Changes under HB 867
Any student	37-15-31(1); 37-151-93(1)	Transferor district and transferee district may choose to approve or deny the request.	Transferee district may charge tuition.	Only the transferee district may choose to approve or deny; athletic eligibility shall be determined based on fall semester enrollment.
Student who is a child of “an instructional or licensed employee” of the transferee district.	37-15-31(2); 37-15-29(2)	Both districts must approve the transfer upon request.	Transferee district may not charge tuition.	No change
Student who resides more than 30 miles away from the transferor district and resides closer to the transferee district.	37-15-31(3); 37-15-29(3);37-151-93(2)	Both districts must approve the transfer upon request, though they can appeal a transfer request to the State Board of Education.	Transferor district shall pay pro rata local maintenance funds to transferee district.	Only the transferee district can object to the transfer request, though the parent can appeal this decision to the State Board of Education.
Student, or their sibling, who transferred prior to July 1, 1992.	37-15-31(4);37-15-29(4)	Transferee district must approve the transfer upon request.	Law does not specify.	Exception is repealed: no longer relevant.
Student who resides in annexed territory of a municipal separate school district without school board representation.	37-15-31(5)	Both districts must approve the transfer upon request.	Transferee district may not charge tuition; transferor district must remit pro rata ad valorem taxes to transferee district.	Exception is repealed, along with tuition waiver and ad valorem transfer: these students who fall under the “any student” category now.
Student who is a child of active duty or civilian military personnel and resides within 30 miles of the transferee district.	37-15-29(5)	No approval necessary.	Law does not specify.	Exception is expanded: these children can attend any district in the state, regardless of where they reside; transferee districts may not charge tuition.

It is notable that, as introduced, HB 867 would remove the exception that authorizes transfers and forbids charging tuition to students who reside in annexed territory of a municipal separate school district and are transferring to an adjacent district. However, given that HB 867 maintains the provision that transferor districts in this circumstance must still report the number of these students to the Mississippi Department of Education, it is possible this may have been unintentional. 

HB 867 would likely encourage more families to petition for an inter-district transfer, though it remains an open question whether transferee districts would accept additional students. The ability of transferee districts to deny requests, as well as their ability to charge tuition, could limit the number of transfers.