Although the bill contained little in the way of significant education reform, HB 1543 cleared both chambers of the Missouri legislature in the last week of the 2010 legislative session. The bill primarily focused on relaxing requirements for local school district spending and improving school safety. Below is a summary of what was included in HB 1543.

(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.

Related Posts

States Leaving Feds Behind on School Reforms

By Ben Wolfgang, Washington Times A growing number of states are not waiting for the federal government’s lead in overhauling education. This year alone, 36 states have either passed or are considering comprehensive...

Charter School Bill Passes State House

The Missouri House passed HB 473, expanding where charter public schools can open and increasing the accountability on these schools, by a vote of 86-70. The bill passed after much debate on the effects of the legislation...

School Choice “Turner Fix” Passes Senate Committee

The Senate General Laws Committee passed legislation that will use school choice as a “fix” to the Turner v. Clayton case.  SB 369, which passed the committee in a 6-2 vote, allows for students to transfer to accredited...