SECOND REGULAR SESSION
95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES WALLACE (Sponsor), WILSON (130), SCHAD, GUEST, WETER, SATER, DEEKEN, KINGERY, SCHLOTTACH, BROWN (149), RUESTMAN, SCHIEFFER, WASSON, CUNNINGHAM, HOBBS AND LOEHNER (Co-sponsors).
5002L.04I D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal sections 162.1100, 163.036, 163.037, and 167.645, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof three new sections relating to state aid for schools, with an emergency clause.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 162.1100, 163.036, 163.037, and 167.645, RSMo, are repealed and three new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 162.1100, 163.036, and 167.645, to read as follows:
162.1100. 1. There is hereby established within each city not within a county a school district to be known as the "Transitional School District of (name of city)", which shall be a body corporate and politic and a subdivision of the state. The transitional school district shall be coterminous with the boundaries of the city in which the district is located. Except as otherwise provided in this section and section 162.621, the transitional school district shall be subject to all laws pertaining to "seven-director districts", as defined in section 160.011, RSMo. The transitional school district shall have the responsibility for educational programs and policies determined by a final judgment of a federal school desegregation case to be needed in providing for a transition of the educational system of the city from control and jurisdiction of a federal court school desegregation order, decree or agreement and such other programs and policies as designated by the governing body of the school district.
2. (1) The governing board of the transitional school district shall consist of three residents of the district: one shall be appointed by the governing body of the district, one shall be appointed by the mayor of the city not within a county and one shall be appointed by the president of the board of aldermen of the city not within a county. The members of the governing board shall serve without compensation for a term of three years, or until their successors have been appointed, or until the transitional district is dissolved or terminated. Any tax approved for the transitional district shall be assigned to the governing body of the school district in a city not within a county after dissolution or termination of the transitional district.
(2) In the event that the state board of education shall declare the school district of a city not within a county to be unaccredited, the member of the governing board of the transitional district appointed by the governing body of the district as provided in subdivision (1) of this subsection shall, within ninety days, be replaced by a chief executive officer nominated by the state board of education and appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate. The chief executive officer need not be a resident of the district but shall be a person of recognized administrative ability, shall be paid in whole or in part with funds from the district, and shall have all other powers and duties of any other general superintendent of schools, including appointment of staff. The chief executive officer shall serve for a term of three years or until his successor is appointed or until the transitional district is dissolved or terminated. His salary shall be set by the state board of education.
3. In the event that the school district loses its accreditation, upon the appointment of a chief executive officer, any powers granted to any existing school board in a city not within a county on or before August 28, 1998, shall be vested with the special administrative board of the transitional school district containing such school district so long as the transitional school district exists, except as otherwise provided in section 162.621.
4. The special administrative board's powers and duties shall include:
(1) Creating an academic accountability plan, taking corrective action in underperforming schools, and seeking relief from state-mandated programs;
(2) Exploration of alternative forms of governance for the district;
(3) Authority to contract with nonprofit corporations to provide for the operation of schools;
(4) Oversight of facility planning, construction, improvement, repair, maintenance and rehabilitation;
(5) Authority to establish school site councils to facilitate site-based school management and to improve the responsiveness of the schools to the needs of the local geographic attendance region of the school;
(6) Authority to submit a proposal to district voters pursuant to section 162.666 regarding establishment of neighborhood schools.
5. (1) The provisions of a final judgment as to the state of Missouri and its officials in a school desegregation case which subjects a district in which a transitional district is located in this state to a federal court's jurisdiction may authorize or require the governing body of a transitional school district established under this section to establish the transitional district's operating levy for school purposes, as defined pursuant to section 163.011, RSMo, at a level not to exceed eighty-five cents per one hundred dollars assessed valuation in the district or a sales tax equivalent amount as determined by the department of elementary and secondary education which may be substituted for all or part of such property tax.
(2) Any other statute to the contrary notwithstanding, no tax authorized pursuant to this subsection shall:
(a) Be subject to any certificate of tax abatement issued after August 28, 1998, pursuant to sections 99.700 to 99.715, RSMo; and
(b) Effective January 1, 2002, be subject to any new or existing tax increment financing adopted by a city not within a county pursuant to sections 99.800 to 99.865, RSMo, except that any redevelopment plan and redevelopment project concerning a convention headquarters hotel adopted by ordinance by a city not within a county prior to August 28, 2003, shall be subject to such tax increment financing.
(3) The transitional school district shall not be subject to the provisions of section 162.081, sections 163.021 and 163.023, RSMo, with respect to any requirements to maintain a minimum value of operating levy or any consequences provided by law for failure to levy at least such minimum rate. No operating levy or increase in the operating levy or sales tax established pursuant to this section shall be collected for a transitional school district unless prior approval is obtained from a simple majority of the district's voters. The board of the transitional district shall place the matter before the voters prior to March 15, 1999.
6. (1) The special administrative board established in this section shall develop, implement, monitor and evaluate a comprehensive school improvement plan, and such plan shall be subject to review and approval of the state board of education. The plan shall ensure that all students meet or exceed grade-level standards established by the state board of education pursuant to section 160.514, RSMo;
(2) The special administrative board shall establish student performance standards consistent with the standards established by the state board of education pursuant to section 160.514, RSMo, for preschool through grade twelve in all skill and subject areas, subject to review and approval of the state board of education for the purpose of determining whether the standards are consistent with standards established by the state board of education pursuant to section 160.514, RSMo;
(3) [All students in the district who do not achieve grade-level standards shall be required to attend summer school; except that the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to students receiving special education services pursuant to sections 162.670 to 162.999;
(4)] No student shall be promoted to a higher grade level unless that student has a reading ability at or above one grade level below the student's grade level; except that the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to students receiving special education services pursuant to sections 162.670 to 162.999;
[(5)] (4) The special administrative board established in this section shall develop, implement and annually update a professional development plan for teachers and other support staff, subject to review and approval of the state board of education.
7. The school improvement plan established pursuant to this section shall ensure open enrollment and program access to all students in the district, and, consistent with the Missouri and United States Constitutions, shall give first priority to residents of the city for admission to magnet schools. The school board shall take all practicable and constitutionally permissible steps to ensure that all magnet schools operate at full capacity. Students who change residence within the district shall be allowed to continue to attend the school in which they were initially enrolled for the remainder of their education at grade levels served by that school, and transportation shall be provided by the district to allow such students to continue to attend such school of initial enrollment.
8. To the extent practicable, the special administrative board shall ensure that per pupil expenditures and pupil-teacher ratios shall be the same for all schools serving students at a given grade level.
9. The special administrative board shall ensure that early childhood education is available throughout the district.
10. The special administrative board shall ensure that vocational education instruction is provided within the district.
11. The special administrative board shall establish an accountability officer whose duty shall be to ensure that academically deficient schools within the district are raised to acceptable condition within two years.
12. The transitional school district in any city not within a county shall be dissolved on July 1, 2008, unless the state board determines, prior to that date, that it is necessary for the transitional district to continue to accomplish the purposes for which it was created. The state board of education may cause the termination of the transitional school district at any time upon a determination that the transitional district has accomplished the purposes for which it was established and is no longer needed. The state board of education may cause the reestablishment of the transitional school district at any time upon a determination that it is necessary for the transitional district to be reestablished to accomplish the purposes established in this section. The state board of education shall provide notice to the governor and general assembly of the termination or reestablishment of the transitional school district and the termination or reestablishment shall become effective thirty days following such determination. Upon dissolution of a transitional school district pursuant to this section, nothing in this section shall be construed to reduce or eliminate any power or duty of any school district or districts containing the territory of the dissolved transitional school district unless such transitional school district is reestablished by the state board of education pursuant to this section.
163.036. 1. In computing the amount of state aid a school district is entitled to receive for the minimum school term only under section 163.031, a school district may use an estimate of the weighted average daily attendance for the current year, or the weighted average daily attendance for the immediately preceding year or the weighted average daily attendance for the second preceding school year, whichever is greater. Beginning with the 2006-07 school year, the summer school attendance included in the average daily attendance as defined in subdivision (2) of section 163.011 shall include only the attendance hours of pupils that attend summer school in the current year. Beginning with the 2010-2011 fiscal year, no summer school attendance shall be included in the calculation of average daily attendance for school aid. Beginning with the 2004-05 school year, when a district's official calendar for the current year contributes to a more than ten percent reduction in the average daily attendance for kindergarten compared to the immediately preceding year, the payment attributable to kindergarten shall include only the current year kindergarten average daily attendance. Any error made in the apportionment of state aid because of a difference between the actual weighted average daily attendance and the estimated weighted average daily attendance shall be corrected as provided in section 163.091, except that if the amount paid to a district estimating weighted average daily attendance exceeds the amount to which the district was actually entitled by more than five percent, interest at the rate of six percent shall be charged on the excess and shall be added to the amount to be deducted from the district's apportionment the next succeeding year.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 1 of this section or any other provision of law, the state board of education shall make an adjustment for the immediately preceding year for any increase in the actual weighted average daily attendance above the number on which the state aid in section 163.031 was calculated. Said adjustment shall be made in the manner providing for correction of errors under subsection 1 of this section.
3. Any error made in the apportionment of state aid because of a difference between the actual equalized assessed valuation for the current year and the estimated equalized assessed valuation for the current year shall be corrected as provided in section 163.091, except that if the amount paid to a district estimating current equalized assessed valuation exceeds the amount to which the district was actually entitled, interest at the rate of six percent shall be charged on the excess and shall be added to the amount to be deducted from the district's apportionment the next succeeding year.
4. For the purposes of distribution of state school aid pursuant to section 163.031, a school district with ten percent or more of its assessed valuation that is owned by one person or corporation as commercial or personal property who is delinquent in a property tax payment may elect, after receiving notice from the county clerk on or before March fifteenth that more than ten percent of its current taxes due the preceding December thirty-first by a single property owner are delinquent, to use in the local effort calculation of the state aid formula the district's equalized assessed valuation for the preceding year or the actual assessed valuation of the year for which the taxes are delinquent less the assessed valuation of property for which the current year's property tax is delinquent. To qualify for use of the actual assessed valuation of the year for which the taxes are delinquent less the assessed valuation of property for which the current year's property tax is delinquent, a district must notify the department of elementary and secondary education on or before April first, except in the year enacted, of the current year amount of delinquent taxes, the assessed valuation of such property for which delinquent taxes are owed and the total assessed valuation of the district for the year in which the taxes were due but not paid. Any district giving such notice to the department of elementary and secondary education shall present verification of the accuracy of such notice obtained from the clerk of the county levying delinquent taxes. When any of the delinquent taxes identified by such notice are paid during a four-year period following the due date, the county clerk shall give notice to the district and the department of elementary and secondary education, and state aid paid to the district shall be reduced by an amount equal to the delinquent taxes received plus interest. The reduction in state aid shall occur over a period not to exceed five years and the interest rate on excess state aid not refunded shall be six percent annually.
5. If a district receives state aid based on equalized assessed valuation as determined by subsection 4 of this section and if prior to such notice the district was paid state aid pursuant to section 163.031, the amount of state aid paid during the year of such notice and the first year following shall equal the sum of state aid paid pursuant to section 163.031 plus the difference between the state aid amount being paid after such notice minus the amount of state aid the district would have received pursuant to section 163.031 before such notice. To be eligible to receive state aid based on this provision the district must levy during the first year following such notice at least the maximum levy permitted school districts by article X, section 11(b) of the Missouri Constitution and have a voluntary rollback of its tax rate which is no greater than one cent per one hundred dollars assessed valuation.
167.645. 1. For purposes of this section, the following terms mean:
(1) "Reading assessment", a recognized method of judging a student's reading ability, with results expressed as reading at a particular grade level. The term reading assessment shall include, but is not limited to, standard checklists designed for use as a student reads out loud, paper-and-pencil tests promulgated by nationally recognized organizations and other recognized methods of determining a student's reading accuracy, expression, fluency and comprehension in order to make a determination of the student's grade-level reading ability. Assessments which do not give a grade-level result may be used in combination with other assessments to reach a grade-level determination. Districts are encouraged but not required to select assessment methods identified pursuant to section 167.346. Districts are also encouraged to use multiple methods of assessment;
(2) "Summer school", for reading instruction purposes, a minimum of forty hours of reading instruction and practice. A school district may arrange the hours and days of instruction to coordinate with its regular program of summer school.
2. For purposes of this section, methods of reading assessment shall be determined by each school district. Unless a student has been determined in the current school year to be reading at grade level or above, each school district shall administer a reading assessment or set of assessments to each student within forty-five days of the end of the third-grade year, except that the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to students receiving special education services under an individualized education plan pursuant to sections 162.670 to 162.999, RSMo, to students receiving services pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 whose services plan includes an element addressing reading or to students determined to have limited English proficiency or to students who have been determined, prior to the beginning of any school year, to have a cognitive ability insufficient to meet the reading requirement set out in this section, provided that districts shall provide reading improvement plans for students determined to have such insufficient cognitive ability. The assessment required by this subsection shall also be required for students who enter a school district in grades four, five or six unless such student has been determined in the current school year to be reading at grade level or above.
3. Beginning with school year 2002-03, for each student whose third-grade reading assessment determines that such student is reading below second-grade level, the school district shall design a reading improvement plan for the student's fourth-grade year. Such reading improvement plan shall include, at a minimum, thirty hours of additional reading instruction or practice outside the regular school day during the fourth-grade year. The school district shall determine the method of reading instruction necessary to enforce this subsection. The school district may also require the student to attend summer school for reading instruction as a condition of promotion to fourth grade. [The department of elementary and secondary education may, from funds appropriated for the purpose, reimburse school districts for additional instructional personnel costs incurred in the implementation and execution of the thirty hours of additional reading instruction minus the revenue generated by the school district through the foundation formula for the additional reading instruction average daily attendance.]
4. Each student for whom a reading improvement plan has been designed pursuant to subsection 3 of this section shall be given another reading assessment, to be administered within forty-five days of the end of such student's fourth-grade year. If such student is determined to be reading below third-grade level, the student [shall] may be required to attend summer school to receive reading instruction. At the end of such summer school instruction, such student shall be given another reading assessment. If such student is determined to be reading below third-grade level, the district shall notify the student's parents or guardians, and the student shall not be promoted to fifth grade. No student shall be denied promotion more than once solely for inability to meet the reading standards set out in this section.
5. The process described in subsections 3 and 4 of this section shall be repeated as necessary through the end of the sixth grade, with the target grade level rising accordingly. Mandatory retention in grade shall not apply to grades subsequent to fourth grade.
6. The mandatory process of additional reading instruction pursuant to this section shall cease at the end of the sixth grade. The permanent record of students who are determined to be reading below the fifth-grade level at the end of sixth grade shall carry a notation advising that such student has not met minimal reading standards. The notation shall stay on the student's record until such time as the district determines that a student has met minimal reading standards.
7. [Each school district shall be required to offer summer school reading instruction to any student with a reading improvement plan.] Districts may fulfill the requirement of this section through cooperative arrangements with neighboring districts; provided that such districts shall timely make all payments provided pursuant to such cooperative agreements.
8. A school district may adopt a policy that requires retention in grade of any student who has been determined to require summer school instruction in reading and who does not fulfill the summer school attendance requirement.
9. Nothing in this section shall preclude a school district from retaining any student in grade when a determination is made in accordance with district policy that retention is in the best interests of the student.
10. The state board of education shall not incorporate information about the number of students receiving additional instruction pursuant to this section into any element of any standard of the Missouri school improvement program or its successor accreditation program; provided, however, each district shall make available, upon the request of any parent, patron, or media outlet within the district, the number and percentage of students receiving remediation pursuant to this section. The information shall be presented in a way that does not permit personal identification of any student or educational personnel.
11. Each school district shall make a systematic effort to inform parents of the methods and materials used to teach reading in kindergarten through fourth grade, in terms understandable to a layperson and shall similarly inform parents of students for whom a reading improvement plan is required pursuant to this section.
[163.037. In any school year after the 2009-10 school year, if there is a twenty-five percent decrease in the statewide percentage of average daily attendance attributable to summer school compared to the percentage of average daily attendance attributable to summer school in the 2005-06 school year, then for the subsequent school year, weighted average daily attendance, as such term is defined in section 163.011, shall include the addition of the product of twenty-five hundredth times the average daily attendance for summer school.]
Section B. Because immediate action is necessary to synchronize the requirements of section A of this act with the school calendar and state fiscal year, section A of this act is deemed necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health, welfare, peace, and safety, and is hereby declared to be an emergency act within the meaning of the constitution, and section A of this act shall be in full force and effect on July 1, 2010, or upon its passage and approval, whichever occurs later.
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