Committee
Education
Author
Rob Roberson
Session
2024 Session
Latest Action
On April 15, the House invited conference on HB 1192.
Explanation of the Bill
House Bill 1192 would require the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) to provide a report on the existing Mississippi Virtual Public School that includes “recommendations related to the future role of virtual education in public schools” and an update on the “history, cost, usage and student achievement” related to virtual education in Mississippi. The report would be due by October 1, 2024.
In 2006, the legislature established the Mississippi Virtual Public School (MVPS) to provide online courses to students across the state as a supplement to in-person instruction. However, enrollment was always limited to a very small number of students who could only take up to two courses per school year, and it appears the program is now defunct (the program does not appear to have accepted students for nearly a decade, and it is no longer listed on the Mississippi Department of Education website).
HB 1192 would also establish a Modified School Calendar Grant Program through which districts could apply for grants to offset the initial costs of implementing a modified (“year-round”) school calendar. Initially, this program was proposed in SB 2343, which has died.
As introduced, HB 1192 would have authorized up to three local districts to sponsor a “virtual public school program” that enrolls students from across the state. Any district sponsoring a virtual public school program could have contracted with a private provider to “administer, manage, or operate” the virtual school. A sponsoring district would have received local per-pupil funding for each student enrolled in the program from the district in which the student resides. HB 1192 no longer includes this language.
| Date | Details |
|---|---|
| 2/28/24 | On February 28, the House Education Committee passed a committee substitute for HB 1192 that makes substantive amendments to 37-161-3 to authorize up to three local districts to sponsor a “virtual public school program” that enrolls students from across the state. As introduced, HB 1192 had merely brought this code section (along with two others) forward with no changes. |
| 3/12/24 | On March 12, the House passed the committee substitute for HB 1192 and amended the bill to add a “reverse repealer.” |
| 4/2/24 | On April 1, the Senate Education Committee amended HB 1192 to strip out the language that would have authorized local districts to sponsor a “virtual public school program” that enrolls students from across the state. In its place, they inserted language to require MDE to provide a report to the legislature on the existing Mississippi Virtual Public School. On April 2, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed the amended HB 1192. |
| 4/9/24 | On April 10, the Senate amended and passed HB 1192. The amendment added language to the bill that would establish a Modified School Calendar Grant Program through which districts could apply for grants to offset the initial costs of implementing a modified (“year-round”) school calendar. Initially, this program was proposed in SB 2343, which has died. |
| 4/15/24 | On April 15, the House invited conference on HB 1192. |