On May 20, Secretary of State Michael Watson issued a notice of public comment hearing to establish the Mississippi Department of Education’s (MDE’s) “Compliance with State Law Regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Prohibitions, Complaint Process, and Investigations” policy.
The hearing is at 9:30 a.m. on June 11, at the Central High School Building, 359 N. West St., Jackson, 4th floor Board Room. It is a public meeting, so anyone can attend. Registration to speak at the meeting has closed, and there is no livestream of the meeting. Written comments can be submitted to Ms. Erin Meyer, Chief of Advocacy and Counsel for MDE, at EMeyer@mdek12.org, but she needs to receive them by 5 p.m. on June 10. Ms. Meyer’s phone number is 601-359-2585.
The specific focus of this meeting is how MDE will follow House Bill 1193, which passed in the 2025 legislative session. This law prohibits public schools from:
1. Establishing or maintaining a diversity, equity and inclusion office.
2. Engaging in divisive concepts.
3. Hiring or assigning faculty, staff, or employees of the public school or contracting with a third party to perform the duties of a diversity, equity, and inclusion office.
4. Requiring, requesting, or considering diversity statements or similar materials from job applicants as part of the hiring, contract renewal, evaluation or promotion process.
5. Giving preference based on race, sex, color, or national origin to an applicant for employment or when awarding a contract at a public school.
6. Maintaining any programs, including academic programs or courses, or offices that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, endorse divisive concept or concepts promoting transgender ideology, gender-neutral pronouns, deconstruction of heteronormativity, gender theory, sexual privilege or any related formulation of these concepts.
7. Requiring, as a condition of enrolling at, accepting employment with, or being awarded a contract at a public school, or as a requirement of continuing enrollment, employment, or contractual obligations at a public school, any person to participate in diversity, equity, and inclusion training.
8. Penalizing or discriminating against a student, employee, faculty, staff, or contractor based on their refusal to support, believe, endorse, embrace, confess, act upon or otherwise assent to a diversity, equity or inclusion concept.
