Bill > HB371

This bill establishes a four-year Professional School Counselors Pilot Program in Mississippi targeting school districts with high rates of teenage pregnancy and school violence. The State Board of Education, in collaboration with the State Department of Health and Mississippi Department of Human Services, will select three school districts to participate in the program starting in the 2025-2026 school year. Districts will be chosen based on factors like teen pregnancy rates, school violence incidents, dropout rates, and demographic characteristics. Each selected school district must place at least one professional school counselor in every school during the pilot program, which will run through the 2028-2029 school year. The participating departments will evaluate the program's effectiveness in reducing teen pregnancy and school violence rates each year. A key restriction is that counselors are prohibited from counseling students that abortion can be used to prevent birth. By January 1, 2030, the State Department of Education must submit a comprehensive report to legislative committees detailing the program's outcomes and recommending whether it should be implemented statewide. The bill also amends existing school counselor regulations to ensure that counselors in the pilot program meet professional standards and carry out the program's specific functions.

Education

https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2025/pdf/history/HB/HB0371.xml