August 2020

Last night, the Mississippi Department of Education issued a revised application for Equity in Distance Learning Act (EDLA) reimbursements in response to school districts’ concerns about some of the requirements. MDE will host a webinar today to answer districts’ questions ahead of the September 1 application deadline. See revised application: https://www.mdek12.org/sites/default/files/Offices/MDE/OTSS/equity_in_distance_learning_act_application_8.27.2020.pdfSee revised technical assurances: https://www.mdek12.org/sites/default/files/Offices/MDE/OTSS/edla_program_technical_assurances_revised_08282020.pdf Additionally, the […]

When the Legislature overrode Gov. Reeves’ veto of public school funding, Mississippi public schools finally got their budgets. Overall, MAEP funding for this school year is $37-million less than it was last year, a 1.6% cut, and $250-million below what state law says is adequate to provide Mississippi children a quality education. Legislators worked hard

Today, in a historic vote, the Legislature voted overwhelmingly to override Gov. Reeves’ veto of public school funding in HB 1700. The House vote was 110-6. See the House vote. The Senate vote was 41-1. See the Senate vote. Those voting no were Rep. Joel Bomgar of Madison, Rep. Chris Brown of Nettleton, Rep. Dana Criswell of

CALL TO ACTION: The Mississippi Legislature will reconvene at 1 p.m. today to take up legislation related to COVID-19. While they are in session, public schools need desperately for them to fix the K-12 budget mess caused by Gov. Reeves’ veto of public school funding. Please ask your legislators to override Gov. Reeves’ veto of public

The Mississippi Legislature will reconvene at 1 p.m. on Monday, August 10, to address issues related to COVID-19. We are hopeful that, while they are in session, the Legislature will resolve the school budget crisis created when Gov. Reeves vetoed the public school funding in HB 1700. As we reported earlier, Gov. Reeves vetoed the

Grades 7-12 in 8 counties may not begin in-person schooling before August 17, according to Gov. Reeves’ latest executive order. The mandate applies only to these counties: Bolivar Coahoma Forrest George Hinds Panola Sunflower Washington Additionally, the governor announced a statewide mask mandate in public and in retail environments and mandatory mask wearing for all students

“It’s impossible to imagine we are not going to pay the price for cramming kids into schools right now.”  – Dr. Thomas Dobbs, State Health Officer Early last week, public health officials believed that it was possible to reopen school buildings safely. They’ve since changed their minds.  In a Q&A with the Mississippi State Medical Association,