Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 37 - EDUCATION (§§ 37-NEW-001 — 37-NEW01-004) › Chapter 151 - MISSISSIPPI ACCOUNTABILITY AND ADEQUATE EDUCATION PROGRAM ACT OF 1997 (§§ 37-151-1 — 37-151-215) › [MISSISSIPPI STUDENT FUNDING FORMULA] (§§ 37-151-200 — 37-151-215) › Section 37-151-205 - [Process for determining preliminary and final weighted enrollment for funding purposes]

(1)
The preliminary weighted enrollment of each school district and charter school under this act is determined by applying the weights prescribed in this section, none of which are mutually exclusive of another, to each applicable school district or charter school's net enrollment, as determined by Section
37-151-207
. To determine additional funding authorized under this section, the number of students in a school district that are identified as the applicable weight shall be calculated as a percentage of the students in the school district. Such amount shall be referred to as the "percentage of applicable students."
(2)
For students identified as low-income, as defined in Section
37-151-201
, the percentage of applicable students in the school district is multiplied by thirty one-hundredths (30/100), and then multiplied by net enrollment.
(3)
For students identified as English Language Learners, as defined in Section
37-151-201
, the percentage of applicable students in the school district is multiplied by fifteen one-hundredths (15/100), and then multiplied by net enrollment.
(4)
The following weights are applied to students who are identified as entitled to and receiving services in a special education program:
(a)
Tier I: For students diagnosed with a specific learning disability, speech and language impairment, or developmental delay, the percentage of applicable students in the school district is multiplied by sixty one-hundredths (60/100), and then multiplied by net enrollment.
(b)
Tier II: For students diagnosed with autism, hearing impairment, emotional disability, orthopedic impairment, intellectual disability, or other health impairment, the percentage of applicable students in the school district is multiplied by one hundred ten one-hundredths (110/100), and then multiplied by net enrollment.
(c)
Tier III: For students diagnosed with visual impairment, deaf-blindness, multiple disabilities, or traumatic brain injury, the percentage of applicable students in the school district is multiplied by one hundred thirty one-hundredths (130/100), and then multiplied by net enrollment.
For the purpose of student counts, a student entitled to and receiving special education services may not be included under more than one (1) tier prescribed in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of this subsection. A student having multiple diagnoses must be counted under the highest tier applicable to that student.
(5)
A weight of five percent (5%) is applied to five percent (5%) of a school district or charter school's net enrollment for the purpose of providing gifted education, regardless of the number of students in a school district or charter school that have been identified as gifted students: the total number of students in net enrollment in a school district or charter school, as determined by Section
37-151-207
, is multiplied by five one-hundredths (5/100), which is again multiplied by five one-hundredths (5/100).
(6)
For Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Grade students enrolled in a career and technical education course, as defined in Section
37-151-201
, the percentage of applicable students in the school district is multiplied by ten one-hundredths (10/100), and then multiplied by net enrollment. Students enrolled in multiple career and technical education courses are counted once.
(7)
In each school district or charter school where the number of students identified as low income, as defined in Section
37-151-201
, exceeds thirty-five percent (35%) of the school district or charter school's net enrollment, a weight of ten percent (10%) is applied only to the number of low income students in excess of the number of low income students which constitute thirty-five percent (35%) of net enrollment. The number of students eligible for this weight is calculated by subtracting the number of students equivalent to thirty-five percent (35%) of the net enrollment of that school district or charter school from the total number of students in that school district or charter school identified as low income: if the total percentage of applicable students identified in subsection (2) exceeds thirty-five percent (35%) of the school district or charter school's total net enrollment, as determined in Section
37-151-207
, the difference between the total percentage of applicable students identified in subsection (2) and thirty-five percent (35%) of the school district or charter school's total net enrollment is multiplied by ten one-hundredths (10/100), and then multiplied by net enrollment.
(8)
The final weighted enrollment of each school district and charter school under the total funding formula as provided for in this act is determined as follows:
(a)
The final weighted enrollment for each school district or charter school that is not classified as a sparsely populated district or charter school, as defined in Section
37-151-201
, is equivalent to the preliminary weighted enrollment of that school district or charter school, as determined in subsections (1) through (7) of this section: the State Department of Education shall add to the school district or charter school's net enrollment, as determined under Section
37-151-207
, each of the additional figures calculated in accordance with subsections (2) through (7), and this total is the final weighted enrollment.
(b)
The final weighted enrollment for each sparsely populated district or charter school, as defined in Section
37-151-201
, is determined by multiplying the sparsity weight by the preliminary weighted enrollment, as determined in subsections (1) through (7) of this section, and then adding that figure to the preliminary weighted enrollment. To calculate the final weighted enrollment, the State Department of Education shall add to the school district or charter school's net enrollment, each of the additional figures calculated in accordance with subsections (2) through (7) to determine the preliminary weighted enrollment, multiply this figure by the sparsity weight as determined below, and add this resulting number to the preliminary weighted enrollment to find the final weighted enrollment. To calculate the sparsity weight, the State Department of Education shall find the difference between the number of students per square mile in that district or charter school and a sparsity threshold of eight (8) students per square mile, and then shall divide the resulting figure by one hundred (100) to create a percentage: for example, if the number of students per square mile in a district is three (3), the difference is five (5) (eight (8) minus three (3)), and the sparsity weight is five percent (5%), or five one-hundredths (5/100).
Added by Laws, 2024, ch. 484, HB 4130,§ 4, eff. 7/1/2024.