JEFFERSON CITY — Senate Minority Floor Leader Jolie Justus, D-Kansas City, joined all of her colleagues in the Missouri Senate in giving first-round approval to Senate Bill 7 this evening.  The measure removes the two-year waiting period that currently exists from the time a school district becomes unaccredited and the point where the State Board of Education can intervene.  The Senate unanimously approved a similar measure last year, but House leaders refused to pass the bill unless the Senate agreed to pass a teacher tenure reform bill that did not enjoy widespread support in the Senate.  Sen. Justus thanked Senate leadership for moving the legislation early in the session.

“We owe it to the thousands of students in the Kansas City School District to resolve this issue as quickly as possible,” Sen. Justus said. “If we can get this to the governor’s desk in the next few weeks, the state board could begin holding public meetings about the future of the school district this summer instead of waiting until 2014 to fix the problems.”

SB 7 requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to hold at least two public hearings regarding accreditation of the school district, and those hearings must take into consideration community resources which could be utilized to help the district regain accreditation.  If the State Board of Education appoints a special administrative district to oversee the school district, that board must be comprised of a majority of district residents and those members must reflect the population characteristics of the district.

“The Kansas City School District has struggled with governance issues for years, and the abrupt departure of Superintendent Covington in 2011 threw the district into turmoil,” Sen. Justus said.  “Senate Bill 7 provides an opportunity to bring stability to the school district, while it works to improve student test scores in an effort to regain accreditation.”

SB 7 also repeals the requirement that provisionally accredited and unaccredited school districts develop a plan to divide up the district if the district cannot regain accreditation within three years of losing it.  The bill includes an emergency clause which would allow it to go into effect as soon as the governor signs it.