HCS SB 55 -- EDUCATION

SPONSOR:  Days (Wallace)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Elementary
and Secondary Education by a vote of 13 to 0.

This substitute changes the laws regarding education.  In its
main provisions, the substitute:

(1)  Exempts fuel used to operate school buses transporting
students for educational purposes from the motor fuel tax;

(2)  Clarifies that the requirements for two-year private
vocational schools approved for students in the A+ Schools
Program are applicable to private schools only and not to public
vocational or technical schools.  Currently, vocational schools
that provide services for A+ students must be accredited by the
Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central
Association of Colleges and Schools, must be designated as
nonprofit organizations, and are prohibited from receiving
reimbursements in excess of the rate charged by a public
community college;

(3)  Revises the definition of "bullying" as it relates to a
school district's anti-bullying policies to include cyberbullying
and electronic communications;

(4)  Requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education to develop teaching standards for all public schools by
June 30, 2010.  Standards to be addressed include student
participation, use of various forms of assessment, communication
skills, instructional knowledge, and professional behavior.
School districts must develop key criteria by which teaching may
be evaluated under the standards;

(5)  Creates the General Educational Development (GED) Revolving
Fund to be administered by the Commissioner of the Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education.  The source of funds will be
fees charged to GED test applicants and examinees to be used for
the specified costs of test administration;

(6)  Allows the State Board of Education to appoint additional
members to any special administrative board appointed under
Section 162.081, RSMo, regarding lapsed school districts.  The
state board may set a final term with an end date of June 30 for
any member whose successor will be elected by the district's
voters on the municipal election day immediately prior to the
expiration of the final term of office.  Otherwise qualified
appointed special board members are allowed to run for an elected
seat on the board.  If the state board replaces the chair of the
special board, the members of the special board are authorized to
appoint and sign a contract for a superintendent of schools.  The
state board may also set a date for the school district to return
to local governance and continue operation as a district as
authorized by law;

(7)  Allows school districts to maintain permanent records in a
digital or electronic format.  School districts must follow the
manufacturer's guidelines for the use of the media, including the
manufacturer-suggested period of time for use and storage;

(8)  Requires a local school board to identify a designee to bind
the school district in a settlement agreement that was reached
during a resolution session of a special education due process
hearing and removes the exception for expedited special education
due process hearings of the required five-business day notice for
the introduction of evidence and applies the five-day notice to
all special education due process hearings including expedited
hearings;

(9)  Specifies that school districts offering virtual courses to
resident-enrolled students will receive state school funding for
those students.  School districts may offer virtual courses
through technologies specified in the substitute and develop a
virtual program for any grade level.  Charter schools may also
offer virtual courses for students enrolled in the charter school
and receive state funding.  Private, parochial, or homeschooled
students residing within a school district offering virtual
school courses may enroll to participate in virtual school
courses.  Attendance of a student enrolled in a virtual class
will equal, upon course completion, 94% of the hours of
attendance for the class delivered in the non-virtual program.
Course completion will be calculated in two 50% increments, and
state funding will be distributed in two increments at an amount
equal to 47% of hours of attendance possible for the course
delivered in the non-virtual program of the school.  Special
school districts must count any student's completion of a virtual
course or program in the same manner as the completion of any
other course or program.  School districts and charter schools
must ensure that courses purchased from outside vendors are
aligned with the Show-Me curriculum standards and comply with
state requirements for teacher certification.  A school district
or charter school offering virtual courses or developing virtual
courses or a virtual program must ensure that they comply with
various standards, as specified in the substitute.  A school
district or charter school may contract with multiple providers
as long as the providers meet the criteria for virtual courses or
virtual programs under these provisions;

(10)  Removes the current 5% cap on the calculation of current
operating expenditures as of July 1, 2010; removes references to
the Schools First Elementary and Secondary Education Improvement
Fund, as enacted by Proposition A in 2008, from the definition of
the state adequacy target as of July 1, 2009; and adds a weight
to the school funding formula of twenty-five hundredths for the
number of gifted education students as of July 1, 2010;

(11)  Removes the state aid penalty on any reduction in a school
district's summer school attendance from school year 2005-2006
that is in excess of 35% at the end of the 2008-2009 school year.
Currently, the penalty runs through school year 2011-2012;

(12)  Requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education to recalculate the state school aid for the Riverview
Gardens School District due to the district setting its levy in
the capital projects fund instead of the incidental fund in
calendar year 2005.  The department must calculate the amount the
district would have received in state aid and use the revised aid
amount to distribute aid for Fiscal Year 2010 and subsequent
years.  The State Auditor must perform a follow-up to its 2007
audit on the district's effort to address the audit's issues
after the 2010-2011 school year, and the district is required to
obtain an independent appraisal prior to selling any property;

(13)  Establishes the Foster Care Education Bill of Rights,
requiring each school district to designate a staff person to act
as an educational liaison for foster care children.  The liaison
will facilitate proper placement and expedite record requests and
submissions.  Foster care pupils have the right to remain
enrolled in their school of origin while placement disputes are
pending.  Districts must accept credit for work satisfactorily
completed; and if a pupil under the jurisdiction of the juvenile
court completes graduation requirements, the school district of
record must issue a diploma.  Students must not be penalized for
absences resulting from required court appearances or court-
related activities.  Districts must offer access to the pupil's
records to child-placement agencies within the limits of federal
law;

(14)  Establishes physical education standards for elementary
schools as of the 2010-2011 school year that include moderate
physical activity for an average of 30 minutes per day.  Middle
school students may, at the school's discretion, participate for
at least 225 minutes per week.  Elementary schools must provide
one 20-minute recess period which may be incorporated into the
lunch period.  Students with disabilities will participate to the
extent appropriate.  Schools are allowed to meet the requirements
by additional physical education instruction or other activities
approved by the school district under the direction of a
certificated teacher, administrator, or other employee under the
supervision of a certificated teacher or administrator;

(15)  Makes the background check for teachers and other school
personnel who have contact with students valid for one year and
transferrable from one school district to another, even if there
is a change in the type of certification a teacher holds;

(16)  Specifies that equipment and educational materials
necessary for the supplemental educational services will not be
deemed incentives for the purposes of complying with the
department's rules for supplemental educational services
providers.  The department must not prohibit providers of
supplemental and educational services from allowing the student
to retain equipment, such as a computer, when the student
successfully completes the supplemental and educational services;
and

(17)  Allows schools to make up half of the remaining school days
lost due to inclement weather in excess of the first six up to a
total of 10 full make-up days.

The provisions regarding the penalty for summer school
attendance, the recalculation of aid for Riverview Gardens School
District, and the change to the definition of state adequacy
target become effective July 1, 2009, or upon passage and
approval, whichever occurs later.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Cost on General Revenue Fund of
$67,663,037 in FY 2010, $67,878,885 in FY 2011, and $68,257,903
in FY 2012.  Estimated Cost on Other State Funds of $1,964,000 in
FY 2010, $2,366,000 in FY 2011, and $2,377,000 in FY 2012.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the current provisions regarding
maintaining school records are not specific on electronic
storage.  The flexibility allowed by the bill will help school
districts.

Testifying for the bill were Senator Days; Missouri School Boards
Association; Missouri State Teachers Association; Missouri
National Education Association; Penney Rector, School
Administrators Coalition; and Missouri Federation of Teachers and
School Related Personnel.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

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