Mississippi AG files appeal over ACLU gripe of $10 million in COVID funds for private school grant program

The Mississippi Attorney General’s office filed an appeal last week in a lawsuit over $10 million in COVID funding that went to a private school grant program.

Those funds amount to just over 0.5% of the $1.8 billion in federal COVID relief funds Mississippi received as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, local CBS affiliate WJTV 12 News reports.

Last year, the state Legislature passed appropriations bills allocating $10 million to the private school grant program.

The suit was filed by the Mississippi chapter of the ACLU and two other left-wing groups, Democracy Forward and the Mississippi Center for Justice, on behalf of Parents for Public Schools.

In August, attorneys for Parents for Public Schools argued public funds cannot be allocated to private schools under state law, citing Section 208 of the state’s constitution:

“No religious or other sect or sects shall ever control any part of the school or other educational funds of this state; nor shall any funds be appropriated toward the support of any sectarian school, or to any school that at the time of receiving such appropriation is not conducted as a free school.” 

Attorneys for the state argued Section 208 does not apply, because the Legislature did not allocate the funds directly to the private schools. Instead, the legislature gave the money in question to the state’s Department of Finance and Administration to oversee the grant program. 

In October, Hinds County Chancery Court Judge Crystal Wise Martin granted a permanent injunction blocking the disbursement of the funds, saying the state could not “avoid compliance” with the constitution by giving the authority to distribute the money to one of the state’s executive agencies.

Last week’s appeal expands on the state’s argument that Section 208 does not apply, adding that the funds in question are not state funds but federal funds. The Mississippi Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments on this case this fall.

The AG’s office is also arguing the appropriations bills fairly distribute the funds to both public and private schools. In its briefing, it says private schools will only receive “less than 1/160th” of a dollar for every dollar that public schools receive from the ARPA funds, with a cap of $100,000 in funding to any individual private school.  

In an amicus brief in support of the AG’s appeal, the Institute for Justice also argues the state’s Supreme Court should move to protect the Legislature’s authority to create and fund school choice programs. It also asks the court to clarify that the legislature can provide funding for individual aid to students in “nonpublic” schools, regardless of the outcome of this case.  

“State courts around the country, including the Mississippi Supreme Court, have long recognized that the beneficiaries of student aid programs are students, not schools,” said attorney David Hodges, representing the Institute for Justice. “The Court should reaffirm that the Mississippi Constitution permits the legislature to provide aid for students.”