FIRST REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 859
91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES HILGEMANN, GAMBARO, JOHNSON (61),
COLEMAN, CARNAHAN (Co-sponsors) AND BOYKINS.
Read 1st time February 22, 2001, and 1000 copies ordered printed.
TED WEDEL, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To amend chapter 166, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to housing grants for new public school teachers.
Section A. Chapter 166, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 166.525, to read as follows:
166.525. 1. There is hereby created within the state treasury the "New Public School Teacher Housing Grant Fund". The state treasurer shall release to the department of elementary and secondary education on a monthly basis pursuant to law the amounts necessary to cover the grant awards approved by the department. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 33.080, RSMo, to the contrary, moneys in the fund at the end of the biennium shall not be credited to the general revenue fund. Interest and moneys earned on such fund shall be credited to the fund. The new public school teacher housing grant fund shall consist of all moneys appropriated to the fund, all moneys required by law to be deposited in the fund, and all grants, donations, bequests or other gifts to the fund. Subject to appropriation, the fund shall be used to give one-time grants to public school teachers who are newly hired by a teacher shortage school district and who are seeking to purchase homes within the teacher shortage school district in which they have been hired. The department of elementary and secondary education shall determine which districts shall be deemed "teacher shortage districts" pursuant to this section, by identifying the school districts in this state that have shown consistent difficulty in attracting or retaining qualified teachers.
2. Any teacher shortage district may elect to participate in the grant program created pursuant to this section by notifying the department of its intent to participate, and of its intent to fund one-fifth of the amount necessary to provide housing grants to newly hired public school teachers in its district. Any district that does not provide the matching one-fifth for such grants shall not be eligible to participate in the grant program.
3. Public school teachers from approved districts that have guaranteed matching funds pursuant to subsection 2 of this section may apply for grants pursuant to this section on applications promulgated by the department of elementary and secondary education. The department may specify criteria, in addition to the mandatory requirements of living and working in a teacher shortage district and of guaranteeing school district matching funds, that applicants shall meet in order to be eligible for grants pursuant to this section.
4. If a teacher is approved for a grant pursuant to this section, and if sufficient funds are available in the fund, the
department shall deliver a letter to the approved applicant stating that the applicant has been approved and the
amount of the grant to be awarded. The amount awarded to any one public school teacher shall not exceed one
thousand six hundred dollars in grant funds and four hundred dollars in district funds. The department and the
district shall provide checks in the approved amounts at the closing of the sale on an approved home purchase in
whatever manner is deemed necessary by the seller and purchaser to complete such purchase. The approved
teacher shall notify the department and the district before the first day of the month in which such closing is to
occur so that the department may notify the treasurer of the need for such funds and so that the school district can
prepare to deliver its matching portion of such funds to the teacher.
Missouri House of Representatives