HCS SCS SB 815 -- ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

SPONSOR:  Bartle (Wallace)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Elementary
and Secondary Education by a vote of 10 to 1.

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

(1)  Removes the requirement that a school calendar have a
minimum of 174 days but retains the required 1,044 hours of
actual pupil attendance until, beginning in school year 2012-
2013, the required hours are increased to 1,073 hours (Sections
160.011, 160.041, 163.021, 171.029, 171.031, and 171.033, RSMo);

(2)  Allows any private university that meets certain
requirements to sponsor a charter school in Kansas City;
specifies the procedures for a school district to assume control
of a failing charter school; and clarifies that a charter school
serving dropouts or other high-risk students may use alternative
methods to grant academic credit, requires the Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education to conduct a study of those
methods, and specifies when a nonresident student may be admitted
to these schools (Sections 160.400, 160.405, 160.410, and
160.420);

(3)  Removes the requirement that a school's A+ Schools Program
coordinator be at least a half-time position and specifies that
no minimum percentage of time will be required for the A+
coordination (Section 160.545);

(4)  Specifies that in fiscal years 2011, 2012, and 2013 the
department cannot penalize a school district on its accreditation
review for failing to achieve resource standards if the school
funding formula or transportation categorical is underfunded as
specified.  The district also cannot be penalized in the
following fiscal year if the Governor withholds funds (Section
161.209);

(5)  Requires a candidate for a school board to provide
documentation to the election authority which demonstrates that
he or she does not have any disqualifying information on the
family care safety registry maintained by the Department of
Health and Senior Services or on the central child abuse registry
maintained by the Department of Social Services (Section
162.014);

(6)  Specifies that in fiscal years 2011, 2012, and 2013 the
requirement for school districts to dedicate 1% of their formula
funding to professional development and the 75% funding and fund
placement requirements for teacher salaries will be suspended and
10% flexibility will be granted to use categorical funds as long
as federal funds are not affected if the school funding formula
or transportation categorical is underfunded as specified or will
be suspended in the following fiscal year if the Governor
withholds funds (Section 163.410);

(7)  Allows, during fiscal years 2011 through 2013, a school
district to transfer any unobligated capital projects funds to
its incidental fund once each fiscal year under certain specified
conditions (Section 165.011);

(8)  Allows a student to attend a different school district if
his or her travel time is more than one hour each way, if the
receiving district agrees, and if the travel time to the school
in the receiving district is one-half or less of the travel time
to the school in the student's residence district.  The state aid
received for the student will be awarded to the receiving
district, and the receiving district is obligated to provide
transportation only within its boundaries (Section 167.128);

(9)  Revises the definition of "teacher" to include a teacher not
in the City of St. Louis School District who teaches
prekindergarten and is paid on a school district salary schedule
and removes the provision that requires no fees be charged in the
prekindergarten program (Section 168.104);

(10)  Expands the Teacher Choice Compensation Package from the
City of St. Louis School District to any other district upon
adoption by the school board.  A teacher must opt out of his or
her indefinite contract to take part in the compensation package.
The substitute removes a requirement that stipends under the
package be in increments of $5,000, but the $15,000 cap remains
unchanged (Sections 168.106, 168.745, and 168.747);

(11)  Allows elements other than years of service and highest
degree held to be added to salary schedules including, but not
limited to, additional certification areas, certification in
high-need subjects, mentoring or master teacher, and demonstrated
ability to improve student performance (Section 168.110);

(12)  Allows the special administrative board when it has been
granted governing powers for a district in the City of St. Louis
School District to appoint a hearing officer to conduct a
contested case of a teacher's dismissal (Section 168.221);

(13)  Allows a school district to adopt a year-round schedule and
offer two kindergarten start dates by a resolution of the board.
Parents must be allowed to choose which date to have their child
start kindergarten (Sections 171.015 and 171.017);

(14)  Increases from $5,000 to $15,000 in the City of St. Louis
School District the amount of a contract for repairs or materials
for school property that can be made without the required
advertising or public bid letting process (Sections 177.161 and
177.171);

(15)  Removes the provision which specifies that no fees can be
charged for Parents as Teachers services, clarifies that families
with children younger than the kindergarten entry age will be
eligible to receive specified services, requires priority to be
given to high-needs families according to department criteria,
and allows school districts to establish cost-sharing strategies
for these services (Section 178.697);

(16)  Allows any school district that has levied a voter-approved
separate tax rate for different subclasses of real property and
personal property or a tax rate increase before August 28, 2010,
to use those rates for the single rate calculation using the
specified blended rate calculation method (Section 1); and

(17)  Requires, beginning July 1, 2010, the Department of Social
Services to provide all state licensed child-care providers who
receive federal or state aid and all public school districts with
written information regarding the eligibility criteria and
application procedures for obtaining health insurance coverage
through the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
This information is to be distributed to the parents or guardian
at the time of enrollment on a form indicating whether the child
has health insurance.  If the child does not have health
insurance and the parent or guardian's income does not exceed the
highest level established by federal law, the school district
must provide a notice to the parent or guardian that the
uninsured child may qualify for health insurance coverage under
SCHIP.  The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, in
collaboration with the Department of Social Services, must submit
an annual report to the Governor and the committee chairs of the
House of Representatives Budget Committee and the Senate
Appropriations Committee on the number of families in each
district receiving free or reduced lunches, the number of
families that indicated the absence of health insurance coverage
on the forms, the number of families that received information on
SCHIP, and the number of families who applied for coverage under
SCHIP because of the receipt of the information (Section 2).

The provisions of the substitute regarding the Parents as
Teachers Program will expire December 31, 2015.

The provisions regarding the appointment of a hearing officer in
the City of St. Louis School District become effective July 1,
2011.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Cost on General Revenue Fund of Unknown -
Greater than $512,637 in FY 2011, Unknown - Greater than $627,917
in FY 2012, and Unknown - Greater than $703,551 in FY 2013.  No
impact on Other State Funds in FY 2011, FY 2012, and FY 2013.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the bill provides some options
for school districts, including year-round school and two
kindergarten entry periods, to help student achievement.  The
bond provisions are more like the original federal distribution
requirements than the method the Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education used to distribute the first installment of
moneys.  The requirement for charter schools to undergo a
Missouri School Improvement Review does not seem well-suited to
charter schools.

Testifying for the bill were Senator Bartle; Dale Herl,
Independence School District; Missouri School Boards Association;
Aaron Butler, Construction Career Charter Schools; and Dawn
Finley, University of Missouri, St. Louis.

OPPONENTS:  Those who oppose the bill say that the bond
provisions will send large amounts of money to a few school
districts with a large attendance and will render the ballot
description inaccurate that many districts have already voted on.
The physical education credit guidance is problematic.  If the
Parents as Teachers Program is required to charge for its
services, the program could be disqualified from receiving
certain funding.  The Teacher Choice provisions would be better
if the performance standards were developed locally, and it is
unlikely that many teachers would opt out of tenure when the
economy is bad.

Testifying against the bill were Heather Mudd, L.J. Hart,
Incorporated; Trish Burkeen, DeSoto School District; Missouri
State Teachers Association; Missouri National Education
Association; and Parents as Teachers National Center.

OTHERS:  Others testifying on the bill say year-round school is
currently not prohibited, but there is probably a financial
disincentive to run a year-round program.

Testifying on the bill was Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:15 pm