SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL NOS. 2281, 2489 & 2537
94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Reported from the Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education April 24, 2008 with recommendation that House Committee Substitute for House Bill Nos. 2281, 2489 & 2537 Do Pass. Referred to the Committee on Rules pursuant to Rule 25(21)(f).
D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal sections 165.111, 169.010, and 169.020, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof four new sections relating to education personnel, with a penalty provision and an emergency clause for a certain section.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 165.111, 169.010, and 169.020, RSMo, are repealed and four new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 165.111, 168.218, 169.010, and 169.020, to read as follows:
165.111. 1. The school board of each district, for any year for which it does not cause an audit to be performed by October thirty-first after the close of the school year, shall make and publish, not later than September first, in some newspaper as described in section 493.050, RSMo, published in the school district, and if there is none then in some newspaper of general circulation within the district, a statement of all receipts of school moneys, when and from what source derived, and all expenditures, and on what account; also, the present indebtedness of the district and its nature, and the rate of taxation for all purposes for the year, including the property tax rate. The statement shall be duly attested by the president and secretary of the board, and the secretary shall forward a copy to the state board of education on forms prescribed by the board.
2. The school board of each district for any given year shall provide a full detailed financial statement that will include the names and total compensation packages of the district's superintendent, and all assistant superintendents when the value of the total compensation package exceeds one hundred thousand dollars per school year. If consultants are hired for administrative duties, the district shall publish the total compensation package of each consultant, and the disclosure shall be made separate for each individual administrator. The statement shall be forwarded to the department of elementary and secondary education, and all the information included in the statement required under this subsection shall be published on the department's Internet web site.
3. For purposes of subsection 2 of this section, "total compensation package" includes, but is not limited to, base salary, retirement benefits, annuities, dues and club memberships, individual or season tickets to any sporting events, amusement parks, or community entertainment events, concerts, housing and auto allowances, mileage reimbursements, entertainment allowances, cell phone or personal digital assistant and service contract, deferred compensation, buy-out clause, pay-for-performance goals, donations from school foundations, and any other valuable consideration provided as cash, credit, or services as a result of employment, expressed in dollars.
4. The department of elementary and secondary education shall create a central repository of information applicable to all districts. The objective of the repository is to provide public access to a complete, transparent, and comprehensive database of school district financial and policy information, as a means of creating better public understanding of school district operations. School districts shall annually provide the department, as a central repository, with detailed compensation information as required by this section.
5. The department shall establish clear standards for district information format and detail, to ensure that all school district submissions under this section contain all necessary information and present the information according to consistent reporting standards. The department shall, to the maximum extent possible, maintain such information online and updated and shall minimize duplication of existing reporting requirements for school districts, such as the annual secretary of the board report under section 162.821, RSMo, and annual school accountability report cards under section 160.522, RSMo. The department may contract with one or more entities to create and maintain the information repository.
6. The state board of education shall not release the state aid apportioned to the district for the next ensuing school year until a copy of the required statement has been received at its office in Jefferson City and has been approved by it. Any school board which fails, refuses or neglects to order the statement to be made, and any officer of the board who fails, refuses, or neglects to prepare, publish and forward the statement, as required by this section, when ordered by the board, is guilty of a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine not to exceed one hundred dollars. Annual or biennial audit summaries shall be published according to section 165.121.
168.218. 1. Two or more adjacent school districts may share a superintendent who possesses a valid Missouri superintendent's license when at least one of the sharing districts is classified as accredited or provisionally accredited by the state board of education.
2. The department of elementary and secondary education may issue rules or regulations to carry out the provisions of this section. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, RSMo, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536, RSMo, and, if applicable, section 536.028, RSMo. This section and chapter 536, RSMo, are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536, RSMo, to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2008, shall be invalid and void.
169.010. The following words and phrases, as used in sections 169.010 to 169.130, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context, shall have the following meanings:
(1) "Accumulated contributions" shall mean the sum of the annual contributions a member has made to the retirement system through deductions from the member's salary, plus interest compounded annually on each year's contributions from the end of the school year during which such contributions were made;
(2) "Board" shall mean the board of trustees provided for in sections 169.010 to 169.130;
(3) "Creditable service" shall mean prior service or membership service, or the sum of the two, if the member has both to the member's credit;
(4) "District" shall mean public school, as herein defined;
(5) "Employ" shall have a meaning agreeable with that herein given to employer and employee;
(6) "Employee" shall be synonymous with the term "teacher" as the same is herein defined;
(7) "Employer" shall mean the district that makes payment directly to the teacher or employee for such person's services;
(8) "Final average salary" shall mean the total compensation payable to a member for any three consecutive years of creditable service, as elected by the member, divided by thirty-six; with the proviso that any annual compensation entering into the total compensation shall not exceed twelve thousand six hundred dollars for any year prior to July 1, 1967; and with the proviso that the board may set a maximum percentage of increase in annual compensation from one year to the next in the final average salary period. In no instance shall the maximum percentage of increase in annual compensation from one year to the next in the final average salary period exceed ten percent for the superintendent of schools or other certified central office personnel of a school district or twenty percent for any other member. This limit will not apply to increases due to bonafide changes in position or employer increases required by state statute, or districtwide salary schedule adjustments for previously unrecognized education-related services;
(9) "Member" shall mean a person who holds membership in the retirement system;
(10) "Membership service" shall mean service rendered by a member of the retirement system after the system becomes operative, and may include a period of service in the armed forces of the United States as provided for in section 169.055;
(11) "Prior service" shall mean service rendered by a member of the retirement system before the system becomes operative, and may include service rendered by a member of the armed forces if the member was a teacher at the time the member was inducted, for which credit has been approved by the board of trustees;
(12) "Public school" shall mean any school conducted within the state under the authority and supervision of a duly elected district or city or town board of directors or board of education and the board of regents of the several state teachers' colleges, or state colleges, board of trustees of the public school retirement system of Missouri, and also the state of Missouri and each county thereof, to the extent that the state and the several counties are employers of teachers as herein designated;
(13) "Retirement allowance" shall mean a monthly payment for life during retirement;
(14) "Retirement system" or "system" shall mean the public school retirement system of Missouri created by sections 169.010 to 169.130;
(15) "Salary", "salary rate" or "compensation" shall mean the regular remuneration, including any payments made pursuant to sections 168.500 to 168.515, RSMo, which is earned by a member as an employee of a district, but not including employer-paid fringe benefits except the value of employer-paid medical benefits (including dental and vision) for members, and not including employer-paid medical benefits (including dental and vision) for anyone other than the member, employer contributions to any deferred compensation plan, consideration for agreeing to terminate employment or other nonrecurring or unusual payments that are not a part of regular remuneration. The board by its rules may further define salary, salary rate and compensation in a manner consistent with this definition and with sections 169.010 to 169.141;
(16) "School year" shall mean the year from July first of one year to June thirtieth of next year, inclusive, which shall also be the fiscal year of the system;
(17) "Teacher" shall mean any person who shall be employed by any public school on a full-time basis and who shall be duly certificated under the law governing the certification of teachers; any person employed in the state department of elementary and secondary education or by the state board of education on a full-time basis who shall be duly certificated under the law governing the certification of teachers and who did not become a member of the Missouri state employees' retirement system pursuant to section 104.342, RSMo; and persons employed by the board of trustees of the public school retirement system of Missouri on a full-time basis who shall be duly certified under the law governing the certification of teachers. The term "teacher" shall be synonymous with the term "employee" as defined in this section.
169.020. 1. For the purpose of providing retirement allowances and other benefits for public school teachers, there is hereby created and established a retirement system which shall be a body corporate, shall be under the management of a board of trustees herein described, and shall be known as "The Public School Retirement System of Missouri". Such system shall, by and in such name, sue and be sued, transact all of its business, invest all of its funds, and hold all of its cash, securities, and other property. The system so created shall include all school districts in this state, except those in cities that had populations of four hundred thousand or more according to the latest United States decennial census, and such others as are or hereafter may be included in a similar system or in similar systems established by law and made operative; provided, that teachers in school districts of more than four hundred thousand inhabitants who are or may become members of a local retirement system may become members of this system with the same legal benefits as accrue to present members of such state system on the terms and under the conditions provided for in section 169.021. The system hereby established shall begin operations on the first day of July next following the date upon which sections 169.010 to 169.130 shall take effect.
2. The general administration and the responsibility for the proper operation of the retirement system and for making effective the provisions of sections 169.010 to 169.141 are hereby vested in a board of trustees of seven persons as follows: four persons to be elected as trustees by the members and retired members of the public school retirement system created by sections 169.010 to 169.141 and the public education employee retirement system created by sections 169.600 to 169.715; and three members appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate. The first member appointed by the governor shall replace the commissioner of education for a term beginning August 28, 1998. The other two members shall be appointed by the governor at the time each member's, who was appointed by the state board of education, term expires.
3. Trustees appointed and elected shall be chosen for terms of four years from the first day of July next following their appointment or election, except that one of the elected trustees shall be a member of the public education employee retirement system and shall be initially elected for a term of three years from July 1, 1991. The initial term of one other elected trustee shall commence on July 1, 1992.
4. Trustees appointed by the governor shall be residents of school districts included in the retirement system, but not employees of such districts or a state employee or a state elected official. At least one trustee so appointed shall be a retired member of the public school retirement system or the public education employee retirement system. Three elected trustees shall be members of the public school retirement system and one elected trustee shall be a member of the public education employee retirement system.
5. The elections of the trustees shall be arranged for, managed and conducted by the board of trustees of the retirement system.
6. If a vacancy occurs in the office of trustee, the vacancy shall be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as the office was previously filled.
7. Trustees of the retirement system shall serve without compensation but they shall be reimbursed for expenses necessarily incurred through service on the board of trustees.
8. Each trustee shall be commissioned by the governor, and before entering upon the duties of the trustee's office, shall take and subscribe to an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States, and of the state of Missouri and to demean himself or herself faithfully in the trustee's office. Such oath as subscribed to shall be filed in the office of secretary of state of this state.
9. Each trustee shall be entitled to one vote in the board of trustees. Four votes shall be necessary for a decision by the trustees at any meeting of the board of trustees. Unless otherwise expressly provided herein, a meeting need not be called or held to make any decision on a matter before the board. Each member must be sent by the executive director a copy of the matter to be decided with full information from the files of the board of trustees. The unanimous decision of four trustees may decide the issue by signing a document declaring their decision and sending such written instrument to the executive director of the board, provided that no other member of the board of trustees shall send a dissenting decision to the executive director of the board within fifteen days after such document and information was mailed to the trustee. If any member is not in agreement with four members the matter is to be passed on at a regular board meeting or a special meeting called for the purpose.
10. The board of trustees shall elect one of their number as chairman, and shall employ a full-time executive director, not one of their number, who shall be the executive officer of the board. Other employees of the board shall be chosen only upon the recommendation of the executive director.
11. The board of trustees shall employ an actuary who shall be its technical advisor on matters regarding the operation of the retirement system, and shall perform such duties as are essential in connection therewith, including the recommendation for adoption by the board of mortality and other necessary tables, and the recommendation of the level rate of contributions required for operation of the system.
12. As soon as practicable after the establishment of the retirement system, and annually thereafter, the actuary shall make a valuation of the system's assets and liabilities on the basis of such tables as have been adopted.
13. At least once in the three-year period following the establishment of the retirement system, and in each five-year period thereafter, the board of trustees shall cause to be made an actuarial investigation into the mortality, service, and compensation experience of the members and beneficiaries of the system, and shall make any changes in the mortality, service, and other tables then in use which the results of the investigation show to be necessary.
14. Subject to the limitations of sections 169.010 to 169.141 and 169.600 to 169.715, the board of trustees shall formulate and adopt rules and regulations for the government of its own proceedings and for the administration of the retirement system.
15. The board of trustees shall determine and decide all questions of doubt as to what constitutes employment within the meaning of sections 169.010 to 169.141 and 169.600 to 169.715, the amount of benefits to be paid to members, retired members, beneficiaries and survivors and the amount of contributions to be paid by employer and employee. The executive director shall notify by certified mail both employer and member, retired member, beneficiary or survivor interested in such determination. Any member, retired member, beneficiary or survivor, district or employer adversely affected by such determination, at any time within thirty days after being notified of such determination, may appeal to the circuit court of Cole County. Such appeal shall be tried and determined anew in the circuit court and such court shall hear and consider any and all competent testimony relative to the issues in the case, which may be offered by either party thereto. The circuit court shall determine the rights of the parties under sections 169.010 to 169.141 and 169.600 to 169.715 using the same standard provided in section 536.150, RSMo, and the judgment or order of such circuit court shall be binding upon the parties and the board shall carry out such judgment or order unless an appeal is taken from such decision of the circuit court. Appeals may be had from the circuit court by the employer, member, retired member, beneficiary, survivor or the board, in the manner provided by the civil code.
16. The board of trustees shall keep a record of all its proceedings, which shall be open to public inspection. It shall prepare annually a comprehensive annual financial report, the financial section of which shall be prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards and shall include the independent auditor's opinion letter. The report shall also include information on the actuarial status and the investments of the system. The reports shall be preserved by the executive director and made available for public inspection.
17. The board of trustees shall provide for the maintenance of an individual account with each member, setting forth such data as may be necessary for a ready determination of the member's earnings, contributions, and interest accumulations. It shall also collect and keep in convenient form such data as shall be necessary for the preparation of the required mortality and service tables and for the compilation of such other information as shall be required for the valuation of the system's assets and liabilities. All individually identifiable information pertaining to members, retirees, beneficiaries and survivors shall be confidential unless the individual is post-retirement, employed as a part-time employee, consultant, or independent contractor directly or indirectly with a public school or public college.
18. The board of trustees shall meet regularly at least twice each year, with the dates of such meetings to be designated in the rules and regulations adopted by the board. Such other meetings as are deemed necessary may be called by the chairman of the board or by any four members acting jointly.
19. The headquarters of the retirement system shall be in Jefferson City, where suitable office space, utilities and other services and equipment necessary for the operation of the system shall be provided by the board of trustees and all costs shall be paid from funds of the system. All suits in which the board of trustees, the board's members or employees or the retirement system established by sections 169.010 to 169.141 or 169.600 to 169.715 are parties shall be brought in Cole County.
20. The board may appoint an attorney or firm of attorneys to be the legal advisor to the board and to represent the board in legal proceedings, however, if the board does not make such an appointment, the attorney general shall be the legal advisor of the board of trustees, and shall represent the board in all legal proceedings.
21. The board of trustees shall arrange for adequate surety bonds covering the executive director. When approved by the board, such bonds shall be deposited in the office of the secretary of state of this state.
22. The board shall arrange for annual audits of the records and accounts of the system by a firm of certified public accountants, the state auditor shall review the audit of the records and accounts of the system at least once every three years and shall report the results to the board of trustees and the governor.
23. The board by its rules may establish an interest charge to be paid by the employer on any payments of contributions which are delinquent. The rate charged shall not exceed the actuarially assumed rate of return on invested funds of the pertinent system.
Section B. Because of the immediate need to clarify the calculation of retirement benefits for members retiring under the Missouri public school retirement system, the repeal and reenactment of section 169.010 of 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 169.010 of section A of this act shall be in full force and effect upon its passage and approval.
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