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Missouri Senate Bill SB306

Missouri 2025 Regular Session

Missouri Senate Bill SB306 Compare Versions

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22 EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
33 and is intended to be omitted in the law.
44 FIRST REGULAR SESSION
55 SENATE BILL NO. 306
66 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
77 INTRODUCED BY SENATOR MOSLEY.
88 0059S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
99 AN ACT
1010 To repeal sections 162.081 and 162.083, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections
1111 relating to special administrative boards.
1212
1313 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
1414 Section A. Sections 162.081 and 162.083, RSMo, are 1
1515 repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be 2
1616 known as sections 162.081 and 162.083, to read as follows:3
1717 162.081. 1. Whenever any school district in this 1
1818 state fails or refuses in any school year to provide for the 2
1919 minimum school term required by section 163.021 or is 3
2020 classified unaccredited, the state board of education shall, 4
2121 upon a district's initial classification or reclassification 5
2222 as unaccredited: 6
2323 (1) Review the governance of the district to establish 7
2424 the conditions under which the existing school board shall 8
2525 continue to govern; or 9
2626 (2) Determine the date the distri ct shall [lapse] have 10
2727 its governing or managing authority suspended and determine, 11
2828 as provided in this section, an alternative governing 12
2929 structure for the district. 13
3030 2. If at the time any school district in this state 14
3131 shall be classified as unaccr edited, the department of 15
3232 elementary and secondary education shall conduct at least 16
3333 two public hearings at a location in the unaccredited school 17
3434 district regarding the accreditation status of the school 18 SB 306 2
3535 district. The hearings shall provide an opportun ity to 19
3636 convene community resources that may be useful or necessary 20
3737 in supporting the school district as it attempts to return 21
3838 to accredited status, continues under revised governance, or 22
3939 plans for continuity of educational services and resources 23
4040 upon its attachment to a neighboring district. The 24
4141 department may request the attendance of stakeholders and 25
4242 district officials to review the district's plan to return 26
4343 to accredited status, if any; offer technical assistance; 27
4444 and facilitate and coordinate community resources. Such 28
4545 hearings shall be conducted at least twice annually for 29
4646 every year in which the district remains unaccredited or 30
4747 provisionally accredited. 31
4848 3. Upon classification of a district as unaccredited, 32
4949 the state board of educati on may: 33
5050 (1) Allow continued governance by the existing school 34
5151 district board of education under terms and conditions 35
5252 established by the state board of education; or 36
5353 (2) [Lapse the corporate organization of all or part ] 37
5454 Suspend the governing or managing authority of the elected 38
5555 school board members of the unaccredited district and: 39
5656 (a) Appoint a special administrative board for the 40
5757 operation of [all or part of] the district. [If a special 41
5858 administrative board is appointed for the ope ration of a 42
5959 part of a school district, the state board of education 43
6060 shall determine an equitable apportionment of state and 44
6161 federal aid for the part of the district and the school 45
6262 district shall provide local revenue in proportion to the 46
6363 weighted average daily attendance of the part. ] The number 47
6464 of members of the special administrative board shall [not] 48
6565 be [less than five] seven, [the majority] four of whom, 49
6666 provided that persons possessing the qualifications set 50 SB 306 3
6767 forth herein are residents of the district and ready, 51
6868 willing, and able to serve, shall be residents of the 52
6969 district. The members of the special administrative board 53
7070 shall reflect the population characteristics of the district 54
7171 and shall collectively possess strong experience in school 55
7272 governance, management and finance, and leadership. One 56
7373 member shall be a certified public school teacher from 57
7474 outside the district or retired, one shall be a certified 58
7575 public school principal from outside of the district or 59
7676 retired, one shall be a certified public school 60
7777 superintendent or deputy or associate superintendent from 61
7878 outside of the district or retired, two shall be parents who 62
7979 have been active with the parents -teachers association or 63
8080 organization of the district, one shall be a colleg e or 64
8181 university professor of educational administration, and one 65
8282 shall hold a degree and be experienced in accounting or 66
8383 finance. The special administrative board shall meet not 67
8484 less than once per month. Each appointed member of the 68
8585 special administrative board shall receive a salary of five 69
8686 hundred dollars per month, and shall be reimbursed for their 70
8787 reasonable expenses in attending to their duties as a member 71
8888 of the special administrative board, payable from the 72
8989 district's revenue. Each member of the special 73
9090 administrative board shall be appointed to a term of three 74
9191 years and shall serve until his or her successor is 75
9292 appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed for good 76
9393 cause shown by the state board of education. Notice of the 77
9494 appointment of a person to the special administrative board 78
9595 shall be immediately given to each member of the general 79
9696 assembly whose district includes any part of the school 80
9797 district. Within fifteen days after the vote to appoint a 81
9898 member to the special admini strative board, if a member of 82 SB 306 4
9999 the Missouri house of representatives whose district 83
100100 includes any part of the school district, in whole or in 84
101101 part, submits a request to the president pro tempore of the 85
102102 senate, the appointment shall be subject to the adv ice and 86
103103 consent of the senate. If such request is made, the member 87
104104 whose appointment is subject to the advice and consent 88
105105 process shall abstain from all special administrative board 89
106106 duties until his or her appointment is confirmed. The 90
107107 [state board of education may appoint ] members of the 91
108108 district's elected school board [to] shall be ex-officio non- 92
109109 voting members of the special administrative board, [but 93
110110 members of the elected school board shall not comprise more 94
111111 than forty-nine percent of the sp ecial administrative 95
112112 board's membership] and thus may attend and participate in 96
113113 the meetings and committees of the special administrative 97
114114 board, but shall have no vote nor be counted to determine a 98
115115 quorum, and to that extent the district shall continue to 99
116116 elect members to its school board . Within fourteen days 100
117117 after the appointment by the state board of education, the 101
118118 appointed members of the special administrative board shall 102
119119 organize by the election of a president, vice president, 103
120120 secretary and a treasurer, with their qualifications, 104
121121 duties, and organization as enumerated in section 162.301. 105
122122 The special administrative board shall appoint a 106
123123 superintendent of schools to serve at the will of the board 107
124124 or for a term of not more than three years, to serve as the 108
125125 chief executive officer of the school district [, or a subset 109
126126 of schools,] and to have all powers and duties of any other 110
127127 general superintendent of schools in a seven -director school 111
128128 district. If the district has been classified as 112
129129 provisionally or fully accredited after two successive 113
130130 academic years, the superintendent's term may be renewed for 114 SB 306 5
131131 an additional term of up to three years at the will of the 115
132132 special administrative board. Any special administrative 116
133133 board appointed under this section shall be responsible for 117
134134 the operation of the district [or part of the district ] 118
135135 until such time that the district is classified by the state 119
136136 board of education as provisionally accredited for at least 120
137137 two successive academic years, after which time the state 121
138138 board of education [may] shall provide for a transition 122
139139 pursuant to section 162.083; or 123
140140 (b) Upon failure of the district to be classified as 124
141141 provisionally or fully accredited for at least two 125
142142 successive academic years, the s tate board of education 126
143143 shall require the special administrative board to establish 127
144144 a specific plan and timeline for achieving accreditation, 128
145145 and determine an alternative [governing] educational or 129
146146 academic structure for the district including, at a mi nimum: 130
147147 a. [A rationale for the decision to use an alternative 131
148148 form of governance and ] In the absence of the district's 132
149149 achievement of provisional or full accreditation, the state 133
150150 board of education shall review and [recertify the 134
151151 alternative form of governance every three years ] require 135
152152 the special administrative board to appoint a new 136
153153 superintendent of the school district for a term of not more 137
154154 than three years unless sooner removed at the will of the 138
155155 board; 139
156156 b. A method for the resident s of the district to 140
157157 provide public comment after a stated period of time or upon 141
158158 achievement of specified academic objectives; 142
159159 c. Expectations for progress on academic achievement, 143
160160 which shall include an anticipated time line for the 144
161161 district to reach full accreditation; and 145 SB 306 6
162162 d. Annual reports to the general assembly and the 146
163163 governor on the progress towards accreditation of any 147
164164 district that has been declared unaccredited and is placed 148
165165 under [an alternative form of ] governance of a special 149
166166 administrative board , including a review of the 150
167167 effectiveness of the [alternative governance ] special 151
168168 administrative board ; or 152
169169 (c) Attach the territory of the [lapsed] unaccredited 153
170170 district to another district or districts for school 154
171171 purposes[; or 155
172172 (d) Establish one or more school districts within the 156
173173 territory of the lapsed district, with a governance 157
174174 structure specified by the state board of education, with 158
175175 the option of permitting a district to remain intact for the 159
176176 purposes of assessing, collecting, and distributing property 160
177177 taxes, to be distributed equitably on a weighted average 161
178178 daily attendance basis, but to be divided for operational 162
179179 purposes, which shall take effect sixty days after the 163
180180 adjournment of the regular session of the general assembly 164
181181 next following the state board's decision unless a statute 165
182182 or concurrent resolution is enacted to nullify the state 166
183183 board's decision prior to such effective date ]. 167
184184 4. If a district remains under continued governance by 168
185185 the elected school board under subdivision (1) of subsection 169
186186 3 of this section and either has been unaccredited for three 170
187187 consecutive school years and failed to attain accredited 171
188188 status after the third school year or has been unaccredited 172
189189 for two consecutive school years and the state board of 173
190190 education determines its academic progress is not consistent 174
191191 with attaining accredited status after the third school 175
192192 year, then the state board of education shall proceed under 176 SB 306 7
193193 subdivision (2) of subsection 3 of th is section in the 177
194194 following school year. 178
195195 5. A special administrative board [or any other form 179
196196 of governance] appointed under this section shall retain the 180
197197 authority granted to a board of education for the operation 181
198198 of the [lapsed] school district under the laws of the state 182
199199 in effect at the time of the [lapse] suspension of the 183
200200 governing or managing authority of the elected school board 184
201201 members and may enter into contracts with accredited school 185
202202 districts or other education service providers i n order to 186
203203 deliver high-quality educational programs to the residents 187
204204 of the district. If a student graduates while attending a 188
205205 school building in the district that is operated under a 189
206206 contract with an accredited school district as specified 190
207207 under this subsection, the student shall receive his or her 191
208208 diploma from the accredited school district. The authority 192
209209 of the special administrative board [or any other form of 193
210210 governance] appointed under this section shall expire at the 194
211211 end of the third full school year following its appointment, 195
212212 unless extended for not more than three full school years by 196
213213 the state board of education. No additional extensions 197
214214 shall be granted. Governance of the school district shall 198
215215 be returned to the elected board upo n the expiration of the 199
216216 authority of the special administrative board. If the 200
217217 [lapsed] district is reassigned, the governing board prior 201
218218 to [lapse] reassignment shall provide an accounting of all 202
219219 funds, assets and liabilities of the [lapsed] reassigned 203
220220 district and transfer such funds, assets, and liabilities of 204
221221 the [lapsed] reassigned district as determined by the state 205
222222 board of education. Neither the special administrative 206
223223 board nor any other form of governance [appointed under this 207
224224 section] nor its members or employees shall be deemed to be 208 SB 306 8
225225 the state or a state agency for any purpose, including 209
226226 section 105.711, et seq. The state of Missouri, its 210
227227 agencies and employees shall be absolutely immune from 211
228228 liability for any and all acts or omissi ons relating to or 212
229229 in any way involving the [lapsed] unaccredited district, a 213
230230 special administrative board, any other form of governance 214
231231 [appointed under this section ], or the members or employees 215
232232 of the [lapsed] unaccredited district, a special 216
233233 administrative board, or any other form of governance 217
234234 [appointed under this section ]. Such immunities, and 218
235235 immunity doctrines as exist or may hereafter exist 219
236236 benefitting boards of education, their members and their 220
237237 employees shall be available to the speci al administrative 221
238238 board or any other form of governance [appointed under this 222
239239 section] and the members and employees of the special 223
240240 administrative board or any other form of governance 224
241241 [appointed under this section ]. 225
242242 6. Neither the special admini strative board nor any 226
243243 other form of governance [appointed under this section ] nor 227
244244 any district or other entity assigned territory, assets or 228
245245 funds from [a lapsed] an unaccredited district shall be 229
246246 considered a successor entity for the purpose of emplo yment 230
247247 contracts, unemployment compensation payment pursuant to 231
248248 section 288.110, or any other purpose. 232
249249 7. If additional teachers are needed by a district as 233
250250 a result of increased enrollment due to the annexation of 234
251251 territory of [a lapsed] an unaccredited or dissolved 235
252252 district, such district shall grant an employment interview 236
253253 to any permanent teacher of the [lapsed] unaccredited or 237
254254 dissolved district upon the request of such permanent 238
255255 teacher. 239 SB 306 9
256256 8. In the event that a school district with a n 240
257257 enrollment in excess of five thousand pupils [lapses] 241
258258 becomes unaccredited , no school district shall have all or 242
259259 any part of such [lapsed] school district attached without 243
260260 the approval of the board of the receiving school district. 244
261261 9. If the state board of education reasonably believes 245
262262 that a school district is unlikely to provide for the 246
263263 minimum school term required by section 163.021 because of 247
264264 financial difficulty, the state board of education may, 248
265265 prior to the start of the school term: 249
266266 (1) Allow continued governance by the existing 250
267267 district school board under terms and conditions established 251
268268 by the state board of education; or 252
269269 (2) [Lapse the corporate organization ] Suspend the 253
270270 governing or managing authority of the elected school board 254
271271 members of the district and implement one of the options 255
272272 available under subdivision (2) of subsection 3 of this 256
273273 section. 257
274274 10. The provisions of subsection 9 of this section 258
275275 shall not apply to any district solely on the basis of 259
276276 financial difficulty resulting from paying tuition and 260
277277 providing transportation for transfer students under 261
278278 sections 167.895 and 167.898. 262
279279 162.083. 1. [The state board of education may appoint 1
280280 additional members to any special administra tive board 2
281281 appointed under section 162.081. 3
282282 2. The state board of education may set a final term 4
283283 of office for any member of a special administrative board, 5
284284 after which a successor member shall be elected by the 6
285285 voters of the district. 7 SB 306 10
286286 (1) All final terms of office for members of the 8
287287 special administrative board established under this section 9
288288 shall expire on June thirtieth. 10
289289 (2) The election of a successor member shall occur on 11
290290 the general municipal election day immediately prior to the 12
291291 expiration of the final term of office. 13
292292 (3) The election shall be conducted in a manner 14
293293 consistent with the election laws applicable to the school 15
294294 district. 16
295295 3.] Nothing in [this] section 162.081 shall be 17
296296 construed as barring an otherwis e qualified member of the 18
297297 special administrative board from standing for an elected 19
298298 term on the board, upon the dissolution of the special 20
299299 administrative board or upon his or her resignation from the 21
300300 special administrative board . 22
301301 [4.] 2. Not later than six full school years following 23
302302 appointment of the special administrative board, on a date 24
303303 set by the state board of education, any district operating 25
304304 under the governance of a special administrative board shall 26
305305 return to local governance, and c ontinue operation as a 27
306306 school district as otherwise authorized by law. 28
307307