CCS HS HCS SS SCS SB 968 and SCS SB 969 -- EDUCATION

This bill changes the laws regarding education.

TEACHERS AND OTHER SCHOOL EMPLOYEES

Successor school districts must ensure access to the continuation
of health care for retired teachers and employees of a district
that lapses if the original district provided health care
benefits at the time of its dissolution.

The proration factor is removed from the career ladder
entitlement line in the School Funding Formula.  This provision
contains an emergency clause.  Speech pathologists who hold both
a teaching certificate and a certificate of clinical competence
qualify for stage III of the career ladder program under certain
circumstances.

Districts meeting certain financial criteria that place
contracted teachers on leave more than 40 days after the
education appropriations bill is signed must pay the teachers the
greater of the salary for days worked or $3,000.  Teachers whose
contracts are not renewed because of the district's financial
conditions will receive notice of the reason.  "Teacher" is
defined for purposes of the teacher tenure law to include
certificated teachers who teach at the prekindergarten level in
all districts except St. Louis City.  Districts will not be
reimbursed by the Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education for more than one A+ Program coordinator based on the
number of students.

The bill prohibits public school personnel from performing strip
searches on students except under a reasonable belief of eminent
harm and from requiring students to remove emblems or garments,
including those with religious significance, if they are worn in
a nondisruptive manner.  School bus drivers over the age of 70
will continue to be re-examined annually, but the background
check will occur every three years instead of annually.
Interpreters for the deaf who work for schools may be granted
provisional certificates in education if they have novice or
apprentice credentials and a valid interpreter's license or have
applied for certification and licensure and have taken the test
or affirm they will complete certification and licensure
procedures within a specified time.  Professional development for
vocational-technical teachers must include contact hours in the
subject area for which the certification is sought.

STUDENTS

Students who are suspended for violence or drug-related activity
cannot be within 1,000 feet of any public school under certain
conditions.  Statutory rape and statutory sodomy are added to the
list of offenses that preclude re-admission of students into
regular classes.  The St. Louis City school district is permitted
to raise its compulsory school attendance age to 17 by action of
the school board from school year 2007-2008 to 2011-2012.
Districts may develop incentives or supplementary work as a
consequence of a student's performance on the statewide
assessments.  The minimum admission age of 16 for students at the
University of Missouri is removed.

SCHOOL DISTRICTS

School district officials, like officials of other political
subdivisions, are currently limited to accepting $1,500 annually
for performing services for or making sales to their district.
The bill raises the amount for school board members to $5,000.
Gas tariffs for school aggregate purchases are extended to June
30, 2007.  The bill clarifies that the nepotism provisions of the
Missouri Constitution apply to school districts.  Districts that
have web sites must post their personnel manuals and student
handbooks on-line.

The St. Louis City school district is permitted to use a flexible
bid advertising schedule of up to every five years for its
depository, instead of an annual contract as in current law.  The
St. Louis City school district may buy out the remaining time on
a superintendent's contract; currently, a buyout is limited to
the remainder of the current year.

School districts may take up to five working days rather than the
current three to schedule student residency waiver admission
hearings under certain conditions.  School districts that permit
students to claim excused absences for athletics or other
extracurricular activities must let students who participate in
Future Farmers of America, 4-H, and similar organized
competitions to attend official activities when the board policy
permits and the sponsoring school employee approves.  Students in
these instances may be counted for average daily attendance.
Beginning with school year 2005-2006, summer school attendance
must be counted for the year in which it occurs; attendance from
previous years' summer school will not count.  Beginning with the
2004-2005 school year, if a school district schedules 10% fewer
hours for kindergarten than in the immediately preceding year, it
must use the current year's pupil count.  The summer school and
kindergarten pupil count provisions contain an emergency clause.

ASSESSMENTS AND ACCREDITATION

The accreditation scoring rubric must not require points for the
Parents as Teachers Program, although deficiencies may be noted
as an area of concern and must reward districts that use
instructional technology to accomplish their advanced placement
goals.  Students expelled for acts of violence will not count as
dropouts for accreditation purposes.

OTHER PROVISIONS

The Joint Committee on Education, which currently meets every
four years, may meet in any year when the President Pro Tem of
the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
appoint new members.  The number of members increases from five
per chamber to seven, and the study of education funding is added
to the committee's charge.  The Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education must seek feedback on its rules and
regulations after their implementation and give priority to the
review of existing regulations that could be relaxed in hard
economic times without affecting student achievement.  The
Division of Family Services cannot meet with a child in the same
school or child care facility where the abuse is alleged to have
occurred.  Currently, the division cannot meet with a child at
any school or child care facility.  This provision contains an
emergency clause.

Missouri House of Representatives
92nd General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 23, 2004 at 11:16 am