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Mississippi House Bill 950 establishes dyslexia evaluation reimbursements and school penalties

Original title: Dyslexia screenings; reimburse parents and school districts for comprehensive psycho-educational evaluations.

Last action · February 3, 2026: 02/03 (H) Died In CommitteeSponsor: Larry Byrd

Introduced
Committee
Floor Vote
Passed
Law

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What This Bill Proposed

House Bill 950 requires the State Department of Education to reimburse parents and school districts up to $800 for comprehensive s resulting in a dyslexia diagnosis, and penalizes schools that refuse to accept these diagnoses starting July 1, 2026.

Why it matters

Parents and school districts bear the financial risk of independent testing, while public schools face mandatory fines of at least $800 paid from non-state funds if they reject qualifying outside dyslexia diagnoses.

Background
  • Mississippi law mandates dyslexia screening for kindergarten and first-grade students across public school districts. context

Who It Would Have Affected

Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

Parents and legal guardians

Parents can opt for subsequent comprehensive psycho-educational evaluations and are entitled to state reimbursement up to $800 if the evaluation results in a dyslexia diagnosis.

Directly affected

Local school districts

School districts must adopt screening policies, accept qualifying outside dyslexia diagnoses for program placement, and face mandatory fines if they fail to comply.

Directly affected

State Department of Education

The department must develop reimbursement policies, establish qualifying evaluator criteria, issue reimbursements up to $800, and fine noncompliant school districts.

Key Facts

You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can perform a subsequent comprehensive psycho-educational evaluation for dyslexia?
Evaluations may be administered by licensed psychologists, psychometrists licensed by the Mississippi Department of Education, or speech-language pathologists.
What is the maximum reimbursement amount for a dyslexia evaluation resulting in a diagnosis?
The reimbursement amount shall not exceed $800.

What else do you want to know?

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Where This Stands

This bill did not become law - Died in committee.

Procedural history

2 actions
  1. Feb 3, 2026House
    02/03 (H) Died In Committee
  2. Jan 16, 2026HouseCommittee
    01/16 (H) Referred To Education;Appropriations A

Version history

Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.

View official text →

Lobbying Activity

No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.

Full breakdown

Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.

Sponsors

Discoveries

1 pattern noticed across the record

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

financial connection100% confidence

Matching Reimbursement and Fine Minimums

The minimum fine of $800 for school noncompliance exactly equals the maximum $800 reimbursement cap provided by the state for evaluations.

Connected Entities

State Board of Education, Mississippi Department of Education
OrganizationState Board of Education“Approves screeners for student testing”Map →
OrganizationMississippi Department of Education“Licenses psychometrists and administers the reimbursement program and fines”Map →

Sources

Open source document

billstatus.ls.state.ms.us

Analysis Score

0–100
  • Significance20
    Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 45)
  • Controversy20
    Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
  • Entertainment5
    Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
  • Buzz15
    Current news / social attention level

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