HB 1102 -- School Failure Prevention

Sponsor:  Wallace

This bill establishes procedures to address the problems of
underperforming school districts that are targeted for
intervention through the Missouri School Improvement Program.

CHRONICALLY FAILING SCHOOLS

By July 1, 2010, the State Board of Education must establish a
process for designating a school building as chronically failing
if it has underperformed for two years.  Once the building is
targeted for intervention, the district must notify contractual
employees that a designation of chronically failing may void
their contracts.  Upon this designation, the superintendent, in
consultation with the local board of education, is authorized to
immediately dismiss the building principal, who may not serve as
an administrator for the next year unless the board finds the
principal did not play a significant role in the building's
underperformance.  The board, with the recommendation of the
principal, may terminate the contract of any employee with good
cause, as specified in the bill; and the employee may not
displace any employee in another building.  Terminated employees
will receive five days' notice and may seek review by the board.
Either party may appeal to the Administrative Hearing Commission.
A board may suspend permanent teachers and issue probationary
contracts to all certificated employees in a chronically failing
building.  Certificated employees may seek review of the
suspension by the board, and any party may appeal to the
Administrative Hearing Commission.  The Commissioner of
Education, or the local board with the commissioner's approval,
may appoint an advisory council, the majority of whom must hold
advanced degrees in education, to assist in the building's
improvement efforts.  Districts with chronically failing
buildings must provide summer school in core subjects if students
apply for it.  If a chronically failing building does not receive
at least average per-pupil funding from the district for
buildings of the same classification and grade level, the
district must provide sufficient funding to bring the building up
to district average.

SCHOOL REVITALIZATION

The Commissioner of Education is required to appoint a director
of school revitalization to oversee the activities of the
advisory councils.  The commissioner must make funds available to
allow a superintendent to increase the salary of certificated
employees assigned to a chronically failing building, up to 1%
for every 10% of the enrollment of the building that is eligible
for a free or reduced-price lunch.  Principals may also receive
performance-based increases in compensation for increased student
achievement as established by the Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education.  The bill establishes a two-year grant
program for school improvement efforts, conditioned upon a
districtwide professional development plan that addresses the
district's needs.

SCHOOL FLEX PROGRAM

The School Flex Program is established to allow eligible students
to attend school a minimum of two instructional hours per day
while pursuing either higher education or a job aligned with a
career academic plan and be counted in state aid calculations.
The department will report annually to the Joint Committee on
Education regarding the effectiveness of the program.

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

The bill:

(1)  Changes the compulsory school attendance age from 16 years
of age to the successful completion of at least 16 credits toward
high school graduation;

(2)  Requires any eighth grade student who fails a core
curriculum course for two or more quarters to pass a 120-hour
summer school class in that course or repeat the eighth grade;

(3)  Directs the additional gaming funds generated from the
repeal of the loss limits with the passage of Proposition A in
2008 out of the state adequacy target calculation for state
school aid and distributes the additional funds on a per-pupil
basis with no less than 90% to be credited to the teachers' fund
and requires 90% of the funds received by a district each year to
be spent in that year;

(4)  Removes the dollar-for-dollar penalty at the end of the
2008-2009 school year that a school district must pay on any
reduction in its summer school attendance from school year
2005-2006 that is in excess of 35%.  Currently, the penalty will
be in effect through the 2011-2012 school year; and

(5)  Extends the Small Schools Grant Program to districts with a
daily attendance of up to 449 students, on a basis of 99% for an
average daily attendance of 351 students decreasing to 1% for 449
students with the additional funding to come from the Proposition
A funds.

The bill contains an emergency clause for the provisions
regarding the additional gaming funds, the summer school
attendance penalty, and the extension of the Small Schools Grant
Program.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 1st Regular Session
Last Updated November 17, 2009 at 9:26 am