HB 2338 -- Persistence to Graduation Fund

Sponsor:  Holsman

This bill creates the Persistence to Graduation Fund, which will
be used for renewable grants of up to five years to implement
dropout prevention strategies.  The Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education is required to establish a procedure for
applying for the grants.  School districts must meet specified
criteria to qualify for a grant including having a lower
graduation rate than indicated on their latest annual performance
review, not having full accreditation, or having their latest
annual performance review score consistent with an unaccredited
or provisionally accredited classification.  The department must
give preference to districts proposing a holistic approach as
specified in the bill and must have rules for fund allocation and
the means of judging grant effectiveness established by
January 15, 2009.  The department may stop payments on 30 days'
notice to a district if it determines that the district is
misusing funds or if the district's program is deemed
ineffectual.  The department must report annually to the Governor
and General Assembly by January 15 on the recipients, amount of
grants, and graduation data for the preceding five-year period.
The General Assembly must annually appropriate a minimum of $5
million each fiscal year for the program.  Any moneys in the fund
at the end of the biennium will revert to the General Revenue
Fund.

The provisions of the bill will expire six years from the
effective date.

Missouri House of Representatives
94th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated October 15, 2008 at 3:12 pm