Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 37 - EDUCATION (§§ 37-NEW-001 — 37-NEW01-004) › Chapter 17 - ACCREDITATION OF SCHOOLS (§§ 37-17-1 — 37-17-17) › Section 37-17-13 - Abolition of school districts declared to be in state of emergency; powers of board of education with regard to such school districts; reconstitution, etc., of districts; alternative procedures for appointment of new local school board for district

(1)
Whenever the Governor declares a state of emergency in a school district in response to a certification by the State Board of Education and the Commission on School Accreditation made under Section
37-17-6(12)(b)
, or when the State Board of Education places a school district into a District of Transformation for academic or financial reasons under Section
37-17-6 (12)(b)
, the State Board of Education, in addition to any actions taken under Section
37-17-6
, shall abolish the school district and assume control and administration of the schools formerly constituting the district, and appoint an interim superintendent to carry out this purpose under the direction of the State Board of Education. In such case, the State Board of Education shall have all powers which were held by the previously existing school board, and the previously existing superintendent of schools or county superintendent of education, including, but not limited to, those enumerated in Section
37-7-301
, and the authority to request tax levies from the appropriate governing authorities for the support of the schools and to receive and expend the tax funds as provided by Section
37-57-1
et seq. and Section
37-57-105
et seq.
(2)
When a school district is abolished under this section, loans from the School District Emergency Assistance Fund may be made by the State Board of Education for the use and benefit of the schools formerly constituting the district in accordance with the procedures set forth in Section
37-17-6(15)
for such loans to the district. The abolition of a school district under this section shall not impair or release the property of that school district from liability for the payment of the loan indebtedness, and it shall be the duty of the appropriate governing authorities to levy taxes on the property of the district so abolished from year to year according to the terms of the indebtedness until same shall be fully paid.
(3)
After a local school board is abolished by the State Board of Education , at such time the State Board of Education determines that the impairments are being substantially corrected and the responsibility of the district transformation in such district upon the conclusion of the final scholastic year in which a district has maintained a "C" accountability rating for three (3) consecutive years , the State Board of Education may appoint a new five-member board for the administration of the school district and shall notify the local county board of supervisors and/or municipal governing authority of such appointment, spreading the names of the new school board members on its minutes. The new local school board members shall be residents of the school district. The new local school board members appointed by the State Board of Education may serve in an advisory capacity to the interim superintendent for its first year of service and thereafter shall have full responsibility to administer the school district. Thirty (30) days prior to the end of the first year of office as an advisory board, each member shall draw lots to determine when the members shall rotate off the board as follows: one (1) member shall serve a one-year term of office; one (1) member shall serve a two-year term of office; one (1) member shall serve a three-year term of office; one (1) member shall serve a four-year term of office; and one (1) member shall serve a five-year term of office. At that time, the State Board of Education shall notify the appropriate board of supervisors or municipal governing authority of this action and request them to provide for the election or appointment of school board members at the end of the terms of office in the manner provided by law, in order for the local residents of the school district to select a new school board on a phased-in basis. In such situations, the Governor will set the date of any necessary special election which shall be conducted by the county election commission. During the new school board's first two (2) years administering the school district, the interim superintendent shall continue to serve alongside the school board. The State Board of Education shall request the new school board to provide for the appointment of a superintendent to govern the reconstituted or reorganized school district one (1) year after the new school board's first year of administering the school district. The new superintendent shall serve as deputy to the interim superintendent while the interim superintendent is assigned to the district. A board member or superintendent in office at the time the Governor declares a state of emergency in a school district, or when the State Board of Education places a school district into a District of Transformation due to academic or financial reasons, shall not be eligible to serve in the office of school board member or superintendent for the school district reconstituted or reorganized following the district transformation period.
Laws, 1996, ch. 302, § 2; Laws, 1999, ch. 421, § 4; Laws, 2007, ch. 518, § 2, eff. 7/23/2007, the date United States Attorney General interposed no objection, under Section 5 of the Voting rights Act of 1965.
Amended by Laws, 2024, ch. 446, HB 1696,§ 3, eff. 7/1/2024.
Amended by Laws, 2023, ch. 503, SB 2812,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2023.
Amended by Laws, 2020, ch. 340, SB 2509,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2020.
Amended by Laws, 2017, ch. 439, SB 2431, 2, eff. 7/1/2017.
Amended by Laws, 2015, ch. 485, SB 2558, 1, eff. 7/1/2015.
Amended by Laws, 2013, ch. 363, SB 2779, 1, eff. 7/16/2013 (the date that the U.S. Attorney General interposed no objection under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965).
Amended by Laws, 2013, ch. 331, HB 975, 1, eff. 7/16/2013 (the date that the U.S. Attorney General interposed no objection under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965).