(1) Expands the reporting of acts of violence to include all
teachers at the student’s school building and other employees who
need to know.

(2) Specifies that a suspended student who is not allowed on
school property without specific permission is also prohibited
from attending school events occurring off school property.

(3) Expands employee immunity from following established
discipline policies to include policies of student discipline.

(4) Adds the use of reasonable force to protect persons or
property by school district personnel to the provisions regarding
spanking. Neither act is to be considered as abuse that would be
investigated by the Children’s Division within the Department of
Social Services as long as the spanking or use of force does not
give rise to an allegation of sexual misconduct and another
employee is present as a witness at the spanking.

(5) Adds “cyberbullying” and electronic communications to the
list of required elements for school district anti-bullying
policies.

(6) Specifies that in fiscal years 2011 to 2103 the Department
of Elementary and Secondary Education cannot penalize a school
district on its Missouri School Improvement Program accreditation
review for failing to achieve resource standards if the school
funding formula or transportation categorical is underfunded as
specified and the district cannot be penalized in the following
fiscal year if the Governor withholds funds.

(7) Requires the Office of Administration to issue regulations
for the contractors or subcontractors on public works
construction projects at public schools which require these
contractors to establish a drug and alcohol random testing
program. Any program must be administered by a certified
laboratory and must require notification to the employer and
employee of the results of any positive drug and alcohol test.
The school district must be notified of the action to protect the
safety of the students as a result of a positive test. The
employer will pay for the costs.

(8) Specifies that in fiscal years 2011 to 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 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.

(9) Allows all public school districts to require a school
uniform or restrict student dress. Currently, these provisions
require only the St. Louis City School District to consider
adopting a school uniform.

(10) Exempts unqualified employees who refuse to administer
medication or medical services from disciplinary action for the
refusal.

(11) Exempts qualified employees from any civil liability for
administering medication or medical services, including
cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other lifesaving methods, in
good faith and according to standard medical practices.

(12) Specifies that a student must be allowed to self-administer
medication for any chronic health condition.

(13) Adds other school employees trained and supervised by the
school nurse to the list of individuals who are authorized to use
an epinephrine auto-syringe on a student and specifies that these
employees will be immune from civil liability when done in good
faith and according to standard medical practices.

(14) Removes the requirement but allows the General Assembly to
make an annual appropriation to the Missouri Career Development
and Teacher Excellence Plan, commonly known as the Career Ladder
Program. Beginning in Fiscal Year 2012, the state portion of
career ladder payments will only be made available to school
districts if an appropriation is made. Any state appropriation
must be made prospectively in relation to the year in which work
under the program is performed. A school district may fund the
program for its teachers for work performed in years for which no
state appropriation is made available. The variable match
formula of the program is removed, and the payment must be on a
matching basis with 60% local funding and 40% state funding.

(15) 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.

(16) 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.

SB 815 included many of the same provisions, but also added good education reforms. Some of those reforms included allowing for private universities to sponsor charter schools in Kansas City and making the “Teacher Choice and Compensation Package” available to teachers statewide. This bill passed both chambers, but there was not enough time left in the session for the bill to go to a conference committee.

One of the suggestions that is drawing much attention is a proposal to merge the Department of Higher Education and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Testimony in the committee hearing said that the merger could save $1 million. Senator Pearce reported that the committee supports the merger idea. The proposal is likely to save Missouri money, but will also align the government structure with the P-20 council, created in 2006, to focus on student learning from childhood through graduate school.

Other cost saving suggestions that the committee heard was an increase in virtual schools, implementing merit pay systems statewide, cutting money from the Regional Professional Development Centers and only allowing schools to accept 100% of the funding formula calculation. That proposal, according to Senate staff, would save the state $16.5 million.

The “reboot” meetings come on the same day that the Missouri House of Representatives voted to freeze spending on K-12 education. While education spending would remain the same from last year, the vote removes a $105 million increase that was scheduled to go into the phase in of the state’s funding formula. The measure came in the form of an amendment to the state’s budget bill, currently being debated by the full House. Amendment sponsor, Representative Maynard Wallace, told his colleagues that he didn’t want the state to promise schools money, then not give it to them. The state’s deteriorating budget situation has already caused a $43 million reduction in school funding for the remainder of the year.

In some cases, as Meta, MO mother Lois Wankum testified to the committee at their October 20th hearing, students are much closer to a school in an adjacent district than the one to which they are assigned. In other cases, parents are simply looking to remove their child from a failing school district and enroll them in ones that are better performing. For many special needs parents this policy could unlock the doors of educational opportunity for their child that is trapped in a district that does not have the appropriate services to help their child.

Open enrollment would allow for these parents, who often do not have the means to send their child to a private education service such as TouchPoint or Giant Steps, to move their child to a district that may have better services. For example, the Rockwood School District in suburban St. Louis County gave an excellent presentation on their special needs services at the St. Louis meeting of the Interim Committee on Autism Spectrum Disorders. At the same hearing a mother gave desperate testimony on how her autistic child was having many problems in his local school district and she could not afford to send her child to a specialized private school. “I am drowning here” was the phrase that she repeated over and over. Why should her head continue to be held under water by outdated school district lines? Why should these district lines trap her son in the boundaries of receiving an ineffective education instead of receiving a possible lifeline of intervention leading to a productive, healthy life?

A study in Minnesota, one of 25 states that have open enrollment, shows that “the families of special-needs students are increasingly using the open-enrollment option and are satisfied with their choices.” This same option could be a reality for the families of 133,000+ IEP students in the state of Missouri, should the state choose to allow this policy. These families are not concerned with outdated school boundaries, only with seeing that their child has the best possible education options, and thus the best chance for leading a productive life.

“This bill includes several important provisions to move education reform forward in the state of Missouri,” said CECM State Director Earl Simms. “The winners today, if the bill is signed by Governor Nixon, are the children of the state.”

Among the highlights of the bill are studies to be conducted by the Joint Committee on Education regarding the issue of open enrollment and a study comparing the performance of charter school students with a group of district students representing an equivalent demographic and geographic population. The bill also establishes the Teacher Choice Compensation Package for the St. Louis City School District to allow for performance-based salary stipends upon the decision of a teacher. Teachers would have to leave the tenure program to be eligible and could receive stipends up to $15,000 for entering the program.

“The members of both the House and the Senate, especially the chairman of both chamber’s education committees, Senator Mayer and Representative Wallace, should be commended for their hard work on this bipartisan bill,” added Simms. The bill now heads to Governor Jay Nixon’s desk to be signed into law.

Other provisions of the bill include legislation that:

• Prohibits any school discipline policy which confines an unattended student in a locked space, except when awaiting law enforcement personnel.
• Establishes the Missouri Senior Cadet Program to provide opportunities for twelfth graders in public school to mentor kindergarten through eighth grade students.
• Allows the Governor to establish the P-20 Council as a private not-for-profit corporation to coordinate the preparation of students for entering the workforce.
• Requires the State Board of Education to provide seven days’ written notice of board meetings to members. The number of members needed to request a meeting of the board is reduced from four to three. Any business before the board must be made available by free electronic record at least seven business days before the meeting. All records must be available by free electronic media within 48 hours after a meeting. Any materials prepared for board members must be delivered to the members at least five days before the meeting.
• Requires public schools to develop teaching standards by June 30, 2010.
• Establishes a bill of rights for the parents of children with individualized education programs and requires the department to publish a guide in clear concise language that includes, but is not limited to, the parents’ rights to participate in meetings, to obtain copies of records, to have an advocate present, and to receive a nonexclusive list of services to which a child may be entitled.
• Specifies that school districts offering virtual courses to resident-enrolled students will receive state school funding for those students.
• 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.

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