SECOND REGULAR SESSION
97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES COOKSON (Sponsor), ROORDA, SCHIEFFER, BURLISON, LOVE AND SWAN (Co-sponsors).
4044L.03I D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal sections 160.011, 160.041, 163.021, 163.073, 167.227, 171.031, 171.033, and 171.029, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof eight new sections relating to mandatory school hours, with an effective date.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 160.011, 160.041, 163.021, 163.073, 167.227, 171.031, 171.033, and 171.029, RSMo, are repealed and eight new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 160.011, 160.041, 160.519, 163.021, 163.073, 167.227, 171.031, and 171.033, to read as follows:
160.011. As used in chapters 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 167, 168, 170, 171, 177 and 178, the following terms mean:
(1) "District" or "school district", when used alone, may include seven-director, urban, and metropolitan school districts;
(2) "Elementary school", a public school giving instruction in a grade or grades not higher than the eighth grade;
(3) "Family literacy programs", services of sufficient intensity in terms of hours, and of sufficient duration, to make sustainable changes in families that include:
(a) Interactive literacy activities between parents and their children;
(b) Training of parents regarding how to be the primary teacher of their children and full partners in the education of their children;
(c) Parent literacy training that leads to high school completion and economic self sufficiency; and
(d) An age-appropriate education to prepare children of all ages for success in school;
(4) "Graduation rate", the quotient of the number of graduates in the current year as of June thirtieth divided by the sum of the number of graduates in the current year as of June thirtieth plus the number of twelfth graders who dropped out in the current year plus the number of eleventh graders who dropped out in the preceding year plus the number of tenth graders who dropped out in the second preceding year plus the number of ninth graders who dropped out in the third preceding year;
(5) "High school", a public school giving instruction in a grade or grades not lower than the ninth nor higher than the twelfth grade;
(6) "Metropolitan school district", any school district the boundaries of which are coterminous with the limits of any city which is not within a county;
(7) "Public school" includes all elementary and high schools operated at public expense;
(8) "School board", the board of education having general control of the property and affairs of any school district;
(9) "School term", a minimum of one [hundred seventy-four school days, as that term is defined in section 160.041, for schools with a five-day school week or a minimum of one hundred forty-two school days, as that term is defined in section 160.041, for schools with a four-day school week, and one thousand forty-four hours of actual pupil attendance as scheduled by the board pursuant to section 171.031 during a twelve-month period in which the academic instruction of pupils is actually and regularly carried on for a group of students in the public schools of any school district] thousand eighty-five hours of actual pupil attendance. A school term may be within a school year or may consist of parts of two consecutive school years, but does not include summer school. A district may choose to operate two or more terms for different groups of children. A school term for students participating in a school flex program as established in section 160.539 may consist of a combination of actual pupil attendance and attendance at college or technical career education or approved employment aligned with the student's career academic plan for a total of one thousand [forty-four] eighty-five hours;
(10) "Secretary", the secretary of the board of a school district;
(11) "Seven-director district", any school district which has seven directors and includes urban districts regardless of the number of directors an urban district may have unless otherwise provided by law;
(12) "Summer school term", a term of no less than one hundred forty-four hours total attendance time, divided into six weeks of no more than four days each;
(13) "Taxpayer", any individual who has paid taxes to the state or any subdivision thereof within the immediately preceding twelve-month period or the spouse of such individual;
[(13)] (14) "Town", any town or village, whether or not incorporated, the plat of which has been filed in the office of the recorder of deeds of the county in which it is situated;
[(14)] (15) "Urban school district", any district which includes more than half of the population or land area of any city which has not less than seventy thousand inhabitants, other than a city which is not within a county.
160.041. 1. [The "minimum school day" consists of three hours for schools with a five-day school week or four hours for schools with a four-day school week in which the pupils are under the guidance and direction of teachers in the teaching process. A "school month" consists of four weeks of five days each for schools with a five-day school week or four weeks of four days each for schools with a four-day school week.] The "school year" commences on the first day of July and ends on the thirtieth day of June following.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of [subsection 1 of this] section 171.031, the commissioner of education is authorized to reduce the required number of hours [and days] in which the pupils are under the guidance and direction of teachers in the teaching process if:
(1) There is damage to or destruction of a public school facility which requires the dual utilization of another school facility; or
(2) [Flooding or other] Inclement weather as defined in subsection 1 of section 171.033 prevents students from attending the public school facility.
Such reduction shall not extend beyond two calendar years in duration.
160.519. The department of elementary and secondary education shall provide a window for the administration of statewide assessments so that the results of the assessments are received in time for their use in determining summer school attendance under subsection 5 of section 167.227. The commissioner of education may vary the beginning or ending date of the assessment window by up to five working days if needed to accommodate changing conditions.
163.021. 1. A school district shall receive state aid for its education program only if it:
(1) Provides for a minimum of one [hundred seventy-four days and one thousand forty-four] thousand eighty-five hours of actual pupil attendance in a term scheduled by the board pursuant to section [160.041] 171.031 for each pupil or group of pupils, except that the board shall provide a minimum of [one hundred seventy-four days and five hundred twenty-two] five hundred forty-two and one-half hours of actual pupil attendance in a term for kindergarten pupils[. If any school is dismissed because of inclement weather after school has been in session for three hours, that day shall count as a school day including afternoon session kindergarten students. When the aggregate hours lost in a term due to inclement weather decreases the total hours of the school term below the required minimum number of hours by more than twelve hours for all-day students or six hours for one-half-day kindergarten students, all such hours below the minimum must be made up in one-half day or full day additions to the term, except as provided in section 171.033];
(2) Maintains adequate and accurate records of attendance, personnel and finances, as required by the state board of education, which shall include the preparation of a financial statement which shall be submitted to the state board of education the same as required by the provisions of section 165.111 for districts;
(3) Levies an operating levy for school purposes of not less than one dollar and twenty-five cents after all adjustments and reductions on each one hundred dollars assessed valuation of the district;
(4) Computes average daily attendance as defined in subdivision (2) of section 163.011 as modified by section 171.031. Whenever there has existed within the district an infectious disease, contagion, epidemic, plague or similar condition whereby the school attendance is substantially reduced for an extended period in any school year, the apportionment of school funds and all other distribution of school moneys shall be made on the basis of the school year next preceding the year in which such condition existed.
2. For the 2006-07 school year and thereafter, no school district shall receive more state aid, as calculated under subsections 1 and 2 of section 163.031, for its education program, exclusive of categorical add-ons, than it received per weighted average daily attendance for the school year 2005-06 from the foundation formula, line 14, gifted, remedial reading, exceptional pupil aid, fair share, and free textbook payment amounts, unless it has an operating levy for school purposes, as determined pursuant to section 163.011, of not less than two dollars and seventy-five cents after all adjustments and reductions. Any district which is required, pursuant to Article X, Section 22 of the Missouri Constitution, to reduce its operating levy below the minimum tax rate otherwise required under this subsection shall not be construed to be in violation of this subsection for making such tax rate reduction. Pursuant to Section 10(c) of Article X of the state constitution, a school district may levy the operating levy for school purposes required by this subsection less all adjustments required pursuant to Article X, Section 22 of the Missouri Constitution if such rate does not exceed the highest tax rate in effect subsequent to the 1980 tax year. Nothing in this section shall be construed to mean that a school district is guaranteed to receive an amount not less than the amount the school district received per eligible pupil for the school year 1990-91. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any school district located in a county of the second classification which has a nuclear power plant located in such district or to any school district located in a county of the third classification which has an electric power generation unit with a rated generating capacity of more than one hundred fifty megawatts which is owned or operated or both by a rural electric cooperative except that such school districts may levy for current school purposes and capital projects an operating levy not to exceed two dollars and seventy-five cents less all adjustments required pursuant to Article X, Section 22 of the Missouri Constitution.
3. No school district shall receive more state aid, as calculated in section 163.031, for its education program, exclusive of categorical add-ons, than it received per eligible pupil for the school year 1993-94, if the state board of education determines that the district was not in compliance in the preceding school year with the requirements of section 163.172, until such time as the board determines that the district is again in compliance with the requirements of section 163.172.
4. No school district shall receive state aid, pursuant to section 163.031, if such district was not in compliance, during the preceding school year, with the requirement, established pursuant to section 160.530 to allocate revenue to the professional development committee of the district.
5. No school district shall receive more state aid, as calculated in subsections 1 and 2 of section 163.031, for its education program, exclusive of categorical add-ons, than it received per weighted average daily attendance for the school year 2005-06 from the foundation formula, line 14, gifted, remedial reading, exceptional pupil aid, fair share, and free textbook payment amounts, if the district did not comply in the preceding school year with the requirements of subsection 6 of section 163.031.
6. Any school district that levies an operating levy for school purposes that is less than the performance levy, as such term is defined in section 163.011, shall provide written notice to the department of elementary and secondary education asserting that the district is providing an adequate education to the students of such district. If a school district asserts that it is not providing an adequate education to its students, such inadequacy shall be deemed to be a result of insufficient local effort. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any special district established under sections 162.815 to 162.940.
163.073. 1. When an education program, as approved under section 219.056, is provided for pupils by the division of youth services in one of the facilities operated by the division for children who have been assigned there by the courts, the division of youth services shall be entitled to state aid for pupils being educated by the division of youth services in an amount to be determined as follows: the total amount apportioned to the division of youth services shall be an amount equal to the average per weighted average daily attendance amount apportioned for the preceding school year under section 163.031, multiplied by the number of full-time equivalent students served by facilities operated by the division of youth services. The number of full-time equivalent students shall be determined by dividing by one [hundred seventy-four days] thousand eighty-five hours the number of [student-days] student-hours of education service provided by the division of youth services to elementary and secondary students who have been assigned to the division by the courts and who have been determined as inappropriate for attendance in a local public school. A student [day] hour shall mean one [day] hour of education services provided for one student. In addition, other provisions of law notwithstanding, the division of youth services shall be entitled to funds under section 163.087. The number of full-time equivalent students as defined in this section shall be considered as "September membership" and as "average daily attendance" for the apportioning of funds under section 163.087.
2. The educational program approved under section 219.056 as provided for pupils by the division of youth services shall qualify for funding for those services provided to handicapped or severely handicapped children. The department of elementary and secondary education shall cooperate with the division of youth services in arriving at an equitable funding for the services provided to handicapped children in the facilities operated by the division of youth services.
3. Each local school district or special school district constituting the domicile of a child placed in programs or facilities operated by the division of youth services or residing in another district pursuant to assignment by the division of youth services shall pay toward the per pupil cost of educational services provided by the serving district or agency an amount equal to the average sum produced per child by the local tax effort of that district. A special school district shall pay the average sum produced per child by the local tax efforts of the component districts. This amount paid by the local school district or the special school district shall be on the basis of full-time equivalence as determined in section 163.011, not to exceed the actual per pupil local tax effort.
167.227. 1. A summer school term shall not start before the second Monday in June and shall not extend beyond the last day in July. Each summer school term shall provide a break of at least four school days contiguous to the July fourth holiday.
2. A pupil may attend a summer school program in a public school district other than his district of residence if accepted by the district offering the program. Such summer programs may be advanced, academic or remedial programs but shall not include those programs funded wholly by federal moneys. No pupil shall attend summer school classes in more than one district during any one summer.
[2.] 3. For purposes of funding summer school programs, each district shall either consider all nonresident students residents for purposes of receiving state aid or consider all nonresident students nonresidents for purposes of collecting tuition. Any pupil attending a summer school program in a public school district other than his district of residence shall for purposes of state aid for the summer term be considered a resident of the district in which he is attending.
[3.] 4. Any public school district may cooperate with other public school districts to make optimum use of faculty and resources in providing summer school options for pupils in all districts. Nothing in this section shall prohibit schools from establishing contractual services for certain summer school students.
5. A school district shall require a student who scores less than proficient on a statewide assessment to attend the summer school term immediately following the school term in which the student was assessed.
6. A school district shall develop a policy for selection of teachers for summer school employment under subsection 5 of this section. The policy shall describe objective qualifications for expertise in remedial and developmental instruction necessary for achieving academic success with struggling students. A contract under subsection 5 of this section shall not be based solely on years of experience.
171.031. 1. Each school board shall prepare annually a calendar for the school term, specifying the opening date no earlier than the first day of September, the closing date no later than the last day of May, days of planned attendance, and providing a minimum school term of at least one [hundred seventy-four days for schools with a five-day school week or one hundred forty-two days for schools with a four-day school week, and one thousand forty-four] thousand eighty-five hours of actual pupil attendance. In addition, such calendar shall include [six make-up days] forty-two makeup hours for possible loss of attendance due to inclement weather as defined in subsection 1 of section 171.033.
2. [Each local school district may set its opening date each year, which date shall be no earlier than ten calendar days prior to the first Monday in September. No public school district shall select an earlier start date unless the district follows the procedure set forth in subsection 3 of this section.
3. A district may set an opening date that is more than ten calendar days prior to the first Monday in September only if the local school board first gives public notice of a public meeting to discuss the proposal of opening school on a date more than ten days prior to the first Monday in September, and the local school board holds said meeting and, at the same public meeting, a majority of the board votes to allow an earlier opening date. If all of the previous conditions are met, the district may set its opening date more than ten calendar days prior to the first Monday in September. The condition provided in this subsection must be satisfied by the local school board each year that the board proposes an opening date more than ten days before the first Monday in September.
4. If any local district violates the provisions of this section, the department of elementary and secondary education shall withhold an amount equal to one quarter of the state funding the district generated under section 163.031 for each date the district was in violation of this section.
5. The provisions of subsections 2 to 4 of this section shall not apply to school districts in which school is in session for twelve months of each calendar year.
6. The state board of education may grant an exemption from this section to a school district that demonstrates highly unusual and extenuating circumstances justifying exemption from the provisions of subsections 2 to 4 of this section. Any exemption granted by the state board of education shall be valid for one academic year only.
7.] No school day [for schools with a five-day school week] shall be longer than seven hours except for vocational schools which may adopt an eight-hour day [in a metropolitan school district and a school district in a first class county adjacent to a city not within a county, and any school that adopts a four-day school week in accordance with section 171.029].
171.033. 1. "Inclement weather", for purposes of this section, shall be defined as ice, snow, extreme cold, flooding, or a tornado, but such term shall not include excessive heat.
2. A district shall be required to make up the first [six days] forty-two hours of school lost or cancelled due to inclement weather and half the number of [days] hours lost or cancelled in excess of [six days] forty-two hours if the makeup of the [days] hours is necessary to ensure that the district's students will attend a minimum of one [hundred forty-two days and a minimum of one thousand forty-four] thousand eighty-five hours for the school year except as otherwise provided in this section. [Schools with a four-day school week may schedule such make-up days on Fridays.]
3. [In the 2008-09 school year a school district may be exempt from the requirement to make up days of school lost or cancelled due to inclement weather in the school district when the school district has made up the six days required under subsection 2 of this section and half the number of additional lost or cancelled days up to eight days, resulting in no more than ten total make-up days required by this section.
4.] In the [2009-10] 2015-16 school year and subsequent years, a school district may be exempt from the requirement to make up [days of] school lost or cancelled due to inclement weather in the school district when the school district has made up the [six days] forty-two hours required under subsection 2 of this section and half the number of additional lost or cancelled [days] hours up to [eight days] fifty-six hours, resulting in no more than [ten] seventy total make-up [days] hours required by this section.
[5.] 4. The commissioner of education may provide, for any school district [in which schools are in session for twelve months of each calendar year] that cannot meet the minimum school calendar requirement of at least one [hundred seventy-four days for schools with a five-day school week or one hundred forty-two days for schools with a four-day school week and one thousand forty-four] thousand eighty-five hours of actual pupil attendance, upon request, a waiver to be excused from such requirement. This waiver shall be requested from the commissioner of education and may be granted if the school was closed due to circumstances beyond school district control, including inclement weather[, flooding] or fire.
[171.029. 1. The school board of any school district in the state, upon adoption of a resolution by the vote of a majority of all its members to authorize such action, may establish a four-day school week or other calendar consisting of less than one hundred seventy-four days in lieu of a five-day school week. Upon adoption of a four-day school week or other calendar consisting of less than one hundred seventy-four days, the school shall file a calendar with the department of elementary and secondary education in accordance with section 171.031. Such calendar shall include, but not be limited to, a minimum term of one hundred forty-two days and one thousand forty-four hours of actual pupil attendance.
2. If a school district that attends less than one hundred seventy-four days meets at least two fewer performance standards on two successive annual performance reports than it met on its last annual performance report received prior to implementing a calendar year of less than one hundred seventy-four days, it shall be required to revert to a one hundred seventy-four-day school year in the school year following the report of the drop in the number of performance standards met. When the number of performance standards met reaches the earlier number, the district may return to the four-day week or other calendar consisting of less than one hundred seventy-four days in the next school year.]
Section B. This act shall be effective July 1, 2015.
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