Bill Text: MO HB2265 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Changes the laws regarding unaccredited or provisionally accredited school districts
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-05-16 - Referred: Elementary and Secondary Education(H) [HB2265 Detail]
Download: Missouri-2014-HB2265-Introduced.html
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE SOMMER.
6080L.01I D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal sections 162.203 and 167.131, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof five new sections relating to elementary and secondary education.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 162.203 and 167.131, RSMo, are repealed and five new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 161.091, 162.082, 162.086, 162.203, and 167.131, to read as follows:
161.091. The state board of education shall make no declarations of classification under subdivision (9) of section 161.096 that use the term "unaccredited" or "provisionally accredited" to impose a lower level of accreditation status on any district than the district had as of January 1, 2014, until July 1, 2017.
162.082. School boards in provisionally accredited and unaccredited school districts, and those with buildings performing at unaccredited levels, shall enter into a contract with the state board of education to commit to certain interventions for each school building that is performing at an unaccredited or provisionally accredited level. At the discretion of the state board of education, a district that is accredited without provision that has a building that is performing at unaccredited shall enter into a contract under this section. When a contract is executed, the state board of education shall not accredit such district at a level below provisionally accredited for the term of the contract. Such contract shall require intensive professional development for all board members, administrators, and teachers. When the state board of education deems it necessary, the contract shall include provisions requiring the school district to engage community partners to support school improvement projects within thirty days of the contract execution, or the contract shall be null and void.
162.086. 1. When a school district is declared to be provisionally accredited or unaccredited, when a building in an accredited district is performing at unaccredited level and is so designated by the state board of education, and when a district is deemed needing additional support by the department of elementary and secondary education, a review team shall be assigned by the department of elementary and secondary education to perform a thorough review of the district or school. The review team shall then issue a report to the state board of education and the district on appropriate improvement strategies and shall identify priority areas for the district or school. The review team shall work with other local, state, or federal sources to assist in the procurement of additional supports and resources that have been identified as necessary for the improvement of the schools and the students. If the district achieves annual growth in its priority areas identified by the review team and continues to score at provisionally accredited level on its annual performance report, it shall continue to be designated at provisionally accredited level.
2. For a school that is designated unaccredited, the department of elementary and secondary education and a leadership team composed of regional educational leaders and representatives from the school community chosen by the department shall study instructional programs, share options with the community and facilitate the selection of the new design model for a school that is a research-based or evidence-based model. The department and the school district shall agree to a set of common instructional goals as well as student achievement outcomes for regaining accredited without provisions level for individual schools. The department and the school district shall oversee the implementation of the model and assessment of the model's success.
162.203. 1. Board members initially elected or appointed under section 162.291, 162.459, 162.471, or 162.581, and those who have been reelected after a breach in service, after August 28, [1993] 2014, in addition to the qualifications prescribed in those sections, shall successfully complete orientation and training requirements within one year of the date of the election or appointment. The orientation and training shall consist of at least sixteen hours with the cost of such training to be paid by the district.
2. All incumbent board members who have served on the board in the term immediately prior shall complete at least six hours of continuing education training within the first year of each additional term of office. Board members serving in districts that are unaccredited, provisionally accredited, districts with a school building or buildings scoring at the unaccredited or provisionally accredited level, or districts that are deemed needing additional support by the department of elementary and secondary education, shall complete annually at least twelve hours of continuing education training, with at least six hours of training on improving student outcomes and academic success including, but not limited to, governance, personnel, policies and practices, curriculum and instruction, use of data in planning and decision making, and current issues in education as part of their service on the local board. The training required under this subsection shall not replace the training required under subsection 1 of this section, and is in addition to the orientation and training required for new school board members and members who have been reelected after a breach in service.
3. All programs providing the orientation and training required under the provisions of this section shall be offered by a statewide association organized for the benefit of members of boards of education or be approved by the state board of education.
4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, failure to comply with the orientation and training requirements of this section shall result in forfeiture of any member's position on any school board.
167.131. 1. The board of education of each district in this state that does not maintain [an accredited school pursuant to the authority of the state board of education to classify schools as established in section 161.092] a high school serving grades nine through twelve shall pay [the] tuition [of] as calculated by the receiving district under subsection 2 of this section and provide transportation consistent with the provisions of section 167.241 for each pupil resident therein who has completed the work of the highest grade offered in the schools of the district and who attends [an accredited] a public high school in another district of the same or an adjoining county.
2. The rate of tuition to be charged by the district attended and paid by the sending district is the per pupil cost of maintaining the district's grade level grouping which includes the school attended. The cost of maintaining a grade level grouping shall be determined by the board of education of the district but in no case shall it exceed all amounts spent for teachers' wages, incidental purposes, debt service, maintenance and replacements. The term "debt service", as used in this section, means expenditures for the retirement of bonded indebtedness and expenditures for interest on bonded indebtedness. Per pupil cost of the grade level grouping shall be determined by dividing the cost of maintaining the grade level grouping by the average daily pupil attendance. If there is disagreement as to the amount of tuition to be paid, the facts shall be submitted to the state board of education, and its decision in the matter shall be final. Subject to the limitations of this section, each pupil shall be free to attend the public school of his or her choice.
3. Notwithstanding any provision of this section or any other law, students who attended school in a district other than the student's home district during the 2013-14 school year due to the home district's accreditation status under the provisions of law governing student transfers prior to August 28, 2014, shall be permitted to continue to attend in the receiving district until the student graduates, unless the student's home district regains accreditation without provision under the provisions of section 161.092, in which case the provisions of subsection 5 of this section shall apply. The tuition rate for such students shall continue to be calculated as provided in subsection 2 of this section. In order to continue attending school in a receiving district when a student's home district remains unaccredited, students shall:
(1) Maintain residency in the sending district;
(2) Continuously attend school in the receiving district; once a student ceases attending school in a receiving district, the student shall no longer be eligible to participate in the transfer, nor shall he or she transfer to any other school.
4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the test scores of students attending school in districts other than their district of residence as provided in subsection 3 of this section shall not be counted as part of the receiving district's test scores.
5. When a sending district regains accreditation without provision, students shall return to their home district when they transition to schools serving different grade levels. The sending district's obligation to provide transportation under section 167.241 shall cease upon the sending district regaining provisionally accredited status.
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