MSTA ACTION
THE LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN OF THE MISSOURI STATE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION • PLEASE POST
Higher education bill
becomes a K-12 bill
SB650 (Pearce) started as a bill dealing
with higher education financial aid eligibility
and turned into a bill that deals with some
K-12 issues when it was on the House floor.
K-12 provisions that were added to the bill
include:
• HB2185 (Cookson) creates the Missouri
State High School Activities Association
(MSHSAA) Interim Committee, which
will meet at least one time during the
interim with the purpose of reviewing
issues pertaining to the association.
• HB1419 (Pfautsch) says that beginning
in the 2017-2018 school year, a school
district will incur a reduction in funding
if it experiences a decrease in its gifted
program enrollment of more than 20
percent. If a school district experiences
a decrease of 20 percent or more in its
gifted program enrollment, the difference
between the number of students enrolled
in the gifted program in the current school
year and the number of students enrolled
in the previous school year multiplied by
$680 must be subtracted from the school
district’s current year payment amount.
This provision does not apply to a school
with fewer than 350 enrolled students.
• HB1643 (Hicks) says that beginning
in the 2017-18 school year, a student may
not receive a certificate of graduation
from any public or charter school unless
he or she has received 30 minutes of
cardiopulmonary resuscitation instruction
and training in the proper performance
of the Heimlich maneuver or other first
aid for choking given any time during the
student’s four years of high school and
included in the school district’s existing
health or physical education curriculum.
• HB2569 (Hummel) requires a student
to receive instruction in Braille reading and
writing as part of his or her IEP unless, as
a result of an assessment, instruction in
Braille or the use of Braille is determined not
appropriate for the child. This bill defines
“assessment” as the National Reading
Media Assessment or another researchbased assessment or series of researchbased assessments under the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act that
determines a child’s learning media skills.
• Changes in the school calendar - In the
school year 2017-18 and subsequent years,
1,044 hours of actual pupil attendance
shall be required with no minimum
number of school days required.
A district shall be required to make up
the first 36 hours of school lost or cancelled
due to inclement weather and half the
number of hours lost or cancelled in excess
of 36 if the makeup of the hours is necessary
to ensure that the district’s students attend
a minimum of 1,044 for the school year.
• HB1928 (Burlison) creates the Legislative
Task Force on Dyslexia. The task force will
advise and make recommendations to the
governor, General Assembly, and relevant
state agencies. The task force will consist
of 17 members. Except for four legislative
members and the Commissioner of
Education, the members will be appointed
by the President Pro Tempore of the
Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives. The task force will make
recommendations for a statewide system
for identification, intervention, and delivery
of supports for students with dyslexia.
The task force will hire or contract
for hire specialist services to support the
work of the task force as necessary with
appropriations or from other available
funding.
This bill is in a conference committee
to work out the differences between the two
versions of the bill. House members on the
conference committee are Reps. Cookson,
Dohrman, Lichtenegger, McNeil, and Rizzo.
Senate members are Sens. Pearce, Schaaf,
Onder, Nasheed, and Chappelle-Nadal.
Teacher on State Board Bill
Heard in Senate Committee
With only one week remaining in the
2016 legislative session, there was movement
on the bill that would place a teacher on
the State Board of Education (SBOE). The
provisions contained in HB1601 (Ruth) were
added as an amendment to SB638 (Riddle).
The Senate Education Committee heard
HB1601 (Ruth), which would require the
governor to appoint a teacher representative to
the SBOE. This teacher representative would
be an ex-officio member but would be allowed
to attend all SBOE meetings and participate
in deliberations. However, the teacher
representative will not have the right to vote
on any matter or be counted in establishing a
quorum.
The bill states that the teacher must be a
resident of Missouri, hold a valid certification
to teach, have at least five years of teaching
experience, and be employed full time (not
on leave) as a teacher. The teacher must have
the written support from their local school
board before being appointed. The teacher’s
MSTA ACTION • NO. 17 • MAY 6, 2016
Legislature overrides
governor’s veto of formula
change bill
On Wednesday, the governor vetoed
SB586 (Wasson), and by the end of the week
the legislature voted to override the veto.
The bill modifies the definition of
“current operating expenditures” by
removing the 2010 expiration date on the 5
percent per calculation cap on the growth
of current operating expenditures. The
act also modifies the definition of “state
adequacy target.” The recalculation of the
state adequacy target shall never result in a
decrease from the state adequacy target as
calculated for fiscal years 2017 and 2018 and
any state adequacy target figure calculated
subsequent to fiscal year 2018.
When the formula was created in 2005,
it contained a 5 percent cap meant to limit
the growth of the state’s target for adequately
funding schools. The cap was removed
in 2009 because the state was expecting a
significant increase in new gaming revenues.
The state, however, is actually receiving less
in gambling revenue that it did in 2010. At
the same time, the state has fallen further
behind in matching funding for the formula.
The bill also contains a provision that
clarifies that charter schools shall receive
early childhood education funding at the
same time as the district in which the charter
school is located.
term will be four years and subsequent
appointments will be made in rotation from
each congressional district, beginning with
the First District.
The bill has an eight year sunset and
during this time there could not be other nonvoting members placed on the State Board.
Earlier this legislative session, MSTA
President, Glenda Thurlkill, a teacher from
Springfield came to Jefferson City to support
the bill and provided testimony about the
importance of having a teacher’s voice at
the table when decisions about standards,
assessments and accreditation are made.
Currently, the board is made up of
eight citizens appointed by the governor
and confirmed by the Senate. Members
serve staggered, eight-year terms so that
one term expires each year. No more than
four members of the board may belong to
the same political party. No more than one
member of the board may reside in the same
county or Congressional district. When terms
expire, members continue to serve until being
replaced or reappointed.
Civics Education bill gets
amendments added on
House floor
SB638 (Riddle) started out as a simple bill
requiring any student entering ninth grade
after July 1, 2017, who is attending a public,
charter, or private school, except for private
trade schools, to pass an examination on the
provisions and principles of American civics.
The test would consist of one hundred questions
similar to the one hundred questions used by
the United States Citizenship and Immigration
Services.
Each district must adopt a policy
permitting a student with a disability to receive
a waiver from the basic civics test requirement if
the student’s IEP committee recommends it.
Before the bill left the Senate there were
provisions added that included allowing school
districts to recognize a student’s participation
in the Constitution Project of the Missouri
Supreme Court and creating the Legislative
Task Force on Dyslexia. The task force will
advise and make recommendations to the
governor, General Assembly, and relevant
state agencies. The task force will consist of 17
members. Except for four legislative members
and the Commissioner of Education, the
members will be appointed by the President Pro
Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the
House of Representatives. The task force will
make recommendations for a statewide system
for identification, intervention, and delivery of
supports for students with dyslexia.
The House added the following amendments to
the bill:
• HB1613 (Swan) allows each student during
his or her ninth grade year at a public school
or charter school to develop a personal plan
of study with help from the school’s guidance
counselors that must be reviewed at least
annually by school personnel and the student’s
parent or guardian and updated based on the
needs of the student and requires, no later than
January 1, 2017, the Department of Elementary
and Secondary Education (DESE) to develop
a process for recognition of a school district’s
program for developing personalized plans of
study for all students prior to entering ninth
grade. The bill requires each school district to
develop a policy and implement a system by
July 1, 2018, for identifying students in their
ninth grade year who are at risk of not being
ready for college-level work or for entry-level
career positions. By January 1, 2017, DESE must
develop a process for recognition of a school
district’s program of academic and career
counseling for these specified students.
• HB2185 (Cookson) creates the Missouri
State High School Activities Association
(MSHSAA) Interim Committee, which will
meet at least one time during the interim with
the purpose of reviewing issues pertaining to
the association.
• HB1601 (Ruth) requires the governor to
appoint a teacher representative to the State
Board of Education (SBOE). This teacher
representative is allowed to attend all SBOE
meetings and participate in deliberations.
However, the teacher representative will not
have the right to vote on any matter or be
counted in establishing a quorum. The teacher
representative must be a resident of Missouri,
certified to teach, employed full-time as a
teacher in the state, have at least five years’
experience, not on leave, and have written
support from the local school board. The
teacher’s term will be four years and subsequent
appointments will be made in rotation from
each Congressional district, beginning with the
First Congressional District and continuing in
numerical order.
• HB1643 (Hicks) says that beginning in the
2017-18 school year, a student may not receive
a certificate of graduation from any public or
charter school unless he or she has received
30 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation
(CPR) instruction and training in the proper
performance of the Heimlich maneuver or other
first aid for choking given any time during the
student’s four years of high school and included
in the school district’s existing health or
physical education curriculum.
• HB1451 (Wood) modifies several provisions
related to charter schools.
• HB1419 (Pfautsch) says that beginning in
the 2017-2018 school year, a school district will
incur a reduction in funding if it experiences
a decrease in its gifted program enrollment
of more than 20 percent. If a school district
experiences a decrease of 20 percent or more in
its gifted program enrollment, the difference
between the number of students enrolled in
the gifted program in the current school year
and the number of students enrolled in the
previous school year multiplied by $680 must
be subtracted from the school district’s current
year payment amount. This provision does not
apply to a school with fewer than 350 enrolled
students.
• HB2566 (Pfautsch) establishes an early
learning quality assurance report threeyear pilot program in collaboration with the
Missouri Head Start Collaboration Office and
the departments of Health and Senior Services,
Mental Health, and Social Services. The
program is voluntary for any licensed or licenseexempt early learning providers that are centerbased or home-based and providing services for
children from any age up to kindergarten. This
bill also repeals a current section prohibiting
certain public institutions from operating or
mandating participation in a quality rating
system or training quality assurance system.
• HB2564 & 2565 (Montecillo) establishes
the “Trauma-Informed Schools Initiative”
beginning July 1, 2017. Accordingly, DESE shall
provide information regarding the traumainformed approach to all school districts, and
offer training on recognizing and responding
to trauma. This bill also establishes the
“Trauma-Informed Schools Pilot Program.”
Under said program, DESE shall choose five
schools across Missouri to receive intensive
trauma-informed training regarding how to
recognize and respond to the signs of trauma in
students, teachers, and staff. The program will
be terminated on August 28, 2019, and before
December 31, 2019 the department shall submit
a report to the General Assembly on the results
of the pilot program.
Retirement legislation
in limbo as session
enters the final week
MSTA priority legislation of reinstating
the 2.55 factor for PSRS members who
work 31 or more years is in limbo as the
legislature enters the final week of session.
HB1780 (P. Fitzwater) passed the House
earlier in the session and is now waiting action
by the Senate. The provisions of this bill have
also been added to SB639 (Riddle) when the
bill was debated by the House. The bill is in
a conference committee awaiting action.
This week Senator Pearce offered
an amendment to HB1443 (Leara). That
amendment is still pending and will be
acted on if the Senate goes back to the bill.
Two other retirement provisions
that MSTA supports that are
also included in SB639 are:
• HB1710 (Lair) changes the laws on
working after retirement. Currently, a retired
teacher receiving an allowance from the
Missouri Public School Retirement System can
work part-time for a school district covered by
the retirement system and not forfeit his or her
retirement allowance. The retired person can
work up to 550 hours and earn up to 50 percent
of the annual salary received by the person
while they were teaching prior to retirement.
The bill expands this provision to
any individual who is employed by a
third party or working as an independent
contractor as a substitute teacher or other
position normally requiring certification.
Documentation may be required showing
proof of compliance with this provision.
• HB1709 (Lair) allows retired members
of the Public School or Public Education
Employees Retirement Systems who have
elected a reduced retirement allowance to
provide for survivor benefits for his or her
spouse to have the retirement allowance
increased to the single life annuity
amount, with no survivor benefits, if the
member and his or her spouse become
divorced on or after September 1, 2016
only if the dissolution decree provides
for sole retention by the retired person of
all rights in the retirement allowance.
Any such increase in the retirement
allowance will be effective upon the
receipt of an application for the increase
and a certified copy of the decree of
dissolution that meets the requirements.
© 2016 Missouri State Teachers Association P.O.
Box 458, Columbia, MO 65205
(800) 392-0532 > www.msta.org
Permission to reprint gladly granted on condition
that reprinted materials are credited to
MSTA Action, the legislative bulletin of the Missouri
State Teachers Association.
MSTA ACTION • NO. 17 • MAY 6, 2016