Bill Text: MS SB2745 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Educational services for detainees in juvenile detention centers; only provided during regular school year.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2017-01-31 - Died In Committee [SB2745 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2017-SB2745-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2017 Regular Session
To: Education
By: Senator(s) Hopson
Senate Bill 2745
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 43-21-321, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE JUVENILE DETENTION CENTERS AND LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO PROVIDE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES TO DETAINEES DURING THE REGULAR 180-DAY SCHOOL TERM WHEN LOCAL SCHOOLS ARE IN SESSION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 43-21-321, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-21-321. (1) All juvenile detention centers shall develop and implement policies and procedures that comply with the regulations promulgated by the Juvenile Facilities Monitoring Unit.
(2) If a student's detention will cause the student to miss one or more days of school during the academic school year, the detention center staff shall notify school district officials where the detainee last attended school by the first school day following the student's placement in the facility. Detention center staff shall not disclose youth court records to the school district, except as provided by Section 43-21-261.
(3) All juvenile detention centers shall adhere to the following minimum standards:
(a) Each center shall have a manual that states the policies and procedures for operating and maintaining the facility, and the manual shall be reviewed annually and revised as needed;
(b) Each center shall have a policy that specifies support for a drug-free workplace for all employees, and the policy shall, at a minimum, include the following:
(i) The prohibition of the use of illegal drugs;
(ii) The prohibition of the possession of any illegal drugs except in the performance of official duties;
(iii) The procedure used to ensure compliance with a drug-free workplace policy;
(iv) The opportunities available for the treatment and counseling for drug abuse; and
(v) The penalties for violation of the drug-free workplace policy; and
(c) Each center shall have a policy, procedure and practice that ensures that personnel files and records are current, accurate and confidential.
(4) Local school districts shall work collaboratively with juvenile detention center staff to provide special education services as required by state and federal law. Upon the written request of the youth court judge for the county in which the detention center is located, a local school district in the county in which the detention center is located, or a private provider agreed upon by the youth court judge and sponsoring school district, shall provide a certified teacher to provide educational services to detainees. The youth court judge shall designate the school district which shall be defined as the sponsoring school district. The local home school district shall be defined as the school district where the detainee last attended prior to detention. Teacher selection shall be in consultation with the youth court judge. Educational services shall be provided to detainees by a certified teacher only during the regular one-hundred-eighty-day school term when the local public schools are in session. The Legislature shall annually appropriate sufficient funds for the provision of educational services, as provided under this section, to detainees in detention centers.
(5) The sponsoring school district, or a private provider agreed upon by the youth court judge and sponsoring school district, shall be responsible for providing the instructional program for the detainee while in detention. After forty-eight (48) hours of detention, excluding legal holidays and weekends, the detainee shall receive the following services which may be computer-based:
(a) Diagnostic assessment of grade-level mastery of reading and math skills;
(b) Individualized instruction and practice to address any weaknesses identified in the assessment conducted under paragraph (a) of this subsection if the detainee is in the center for more than forty-eight (48) hours; and
(c) Character education to improve behavior.
(6) No later than the tenth day of detention, the detainee shall begin an extended detention education program. A team consisting of a certified teacher provided by the local sponsoring school district or a private provider agreed upon by the youth court judge and sponsoring school district, the appropriate official from the local home school district, and the youth court counselor or representative will develop an individualized education program for the detainee, where appropriate as determined by the teacher of the sponsoring school district, or a private provider agreed upon by the youth court judge and sponsoring school district. The local sponsoring school district shall provide a certified teacher to provide educational services only during the regular one-hundred-eighty-day school term when the local public schools are in session. The detainee's parent or guardian shall participate on the team unless excused by the youth court judge. Failure of any party to participate shall not delay implementation of this education program.
(7) The sponsoring school district, or a private provider agreed upon by the youth court judge and sponsoring school district, shall provide the detention center with an appropriate and adequate computer lab to serve detainees. The Legislature shall annually appropriate sufficient funds to equip and maintain the computer labs. The computer lab shall become the property of the detention centers and the sponsoring school districts shall maintain and update the labs.
(8) The Mississippi Department of Education will collaborate with the appropriate state and local agencies, juvenile detention centers and local school districts to ensure the provision of educational services to every student placed in a juvenile detention center. The Mississippi Department of Education has the authority to develop and promulgate policies and procedures regarding financial reimbursements to the sponsoring school district from school districts that have students of record or compulsory-school-age residing in said districts placed in a youth detention center. Such services may include, but not be limited to: assessment and math and reading instruction, character education and behavioral counseling. The Mississippi Department of Education shall work with the appropriate state and local agencies, juvenile detention centers and local school districts to annually determine the proposed costs for educational services to youth placed in juvenile detention centers and annually request sufficient funding for such services as necessary.
(9) Juvenile detention centers shall ensure that staffs create transition planning for youth leaving the facilities. Plans shall include providing the youth and his or her parents or guardian with copies of the youth's detention center education and health records, information regarding the youth's home community, referrals to mental and counseling services when appropriate, and providing assistance in making initial appointments with community service providers; the transition team will work together to help the detainee successfully transition back into the home school district once released from detention. The transition team will consist of a certified teacher provided by the local sponsoring school district, or a private provider agreed upon by the youth court judge and sponsoring school district, the appropriate official from the local home school district, the school attendance officer assigned to the local home school district, and the youth court counselor or representative. The detainee's parent or guardian shall participate on the team unless excused by the youth court judge. Failure of any party to participate shall not delay implementation of this education program.
(10) The Juvenile Detention Facilities Monitoring Unit shall monitor the detention facilities for compliance with these minimum standards, and no child shall be housed in a detention facility the monitoring unit determines is substantially out of compliance with the standards prescribed in this subsection.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2017.
