Federal testing waiver; require the State Board of Education to request for 3rd-8th grade assessment.

HB 993 requires Mississippi's State Board of Education and State Department of Education to request a federal waiver from the annual testing requirement for grades 3-8 in reading and math under federal law. The state must submit this waiver request by March 1, 2026, including a plan to support student achievement without these tests and methods to monitor progress. Before submitting, the state must gather public input from stakeholders like parents and school districts and include their feedback in the federal application. If approved, the waiver would allow Mississippi to pause annual standardized testing for these grades while still reporting student performance data annually to the legislature.