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- It is not the first time such legislation has been filed in the Legislature. Similar bills have been proposed and allowed to die for well over a decade.
State Rep. Jansen Owen (R) says the Mississippi Department of Education reports that nearly half of the school boards across the Magnolia State are either fully or partially appointed by city councils or county supervisors. He has filed legislation to make all public school board members elected.
It is not the first time such legislation has been filed in the Legislature. Similar bills have been proposed and allowed to die for well over a decade.
Even still, Rep. Owen told Magnola Tribune Wednesday his filing of the measure came out of the desire of parents who want a direct voice on their local school boards.
“I’ve heard from a significant number of parents in communities I represent and across the state who feel that appointed school boards too often accommodate the wish lists of administrators as opposed to the needs of parents,” the Pearl River County lawmaker said.
Mississippi legislators mandated that all public school superintendents be appointed in 2016. The measure was signed into law by former Governor Phil Bryant. Nearly a third of superintendents were elected at the time. A push from advocates to make all school board members elected followed, but the effort never gained enough traction at the Mississippi Capitol to make to the governor’s desk.
Now, given the focus on expanding parental say in their child’s education in Mississippi, Owen hopes to advance the legislation to a vote in the House.
The bill, HB 1292, mandates that by July 1, 2027, all public school board members would become elective offices for four-year terms.
The current local school board would determine whether its election cycle would run concurrently with the statewide general election or with the presidential election, and every four years thereafter, respectively.
In addition, the current school board would determine whether its members are to be elected from single member election districts or elected as members at-large from the territorial boundaries that constitute the local school district.
Candidates for school board positions would be required to be “a bona fide resident and a qualified elector of the territory that the person seeks to represent on the school board.”
Rep. Owen’s bill has been referred to the House Education Committee for consideration.
