CCS/HS/HCS/SCS/SB 686 - This act articulates the conditions upon which school districts may transfer unrestricted funds.

SPECIAL PRIMARY ELECTION - This act designates a special primary election on August 5, 2003, for the purpose of permitting school districts and other political subdivisions to incur debt with the approval of four-sevenths of the eligible voters in order to provide funds to repair damage caused by inclement weather in April and May of 2003. This section contains an emergency clause (Section 115.121).

NONPARTISAN, UNCONTESTED SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS - Currently, school board elections are excluded from a provision of law which states that an election shall not take place if the number of candidates who have filed for a particular office is equal to the number of positions in that office. This section removes the aforementioned school board election exclusion (Section 115.124).

MEMBERSHIP QUALIFICATIONS FOR SCHOOL BOARDS - The act asserts that no school board of any public school shall hire a spouse of any member of such board unless the position has been advertised pursuant to board policy and the superintendent of schools submits a written recommendation for the employment of the spouse to the board of education. The names of all applicants as well as the name of the applicant hired for the position are to be included in the board minutes (Section 162.261).

This section contains provisions similar to the perfected SB 422.

SCHOOL DISTRICT BOUNDARY CHANGES - This act applies standards to be utilized by the Board of Arbitration in determining whether a proposed school district boundary change is necessary. The standards for such a determination include the presence of: school-aged children in the affected area; actual educational harm to school-age children (significant differences in transportation time or educational opportunities); an educational necessity, not a commercial benefit to landowners (Section 162.431).

This section contains the provisions of SB 519.

MEMBERSHIP QUALIFICATIONS FOR SCHOOL BOARDS - This act removes a provision of law which disallows any person from running for the Board of Education of the St. Louis Public Schools who is employed by the school district or who is related to an employee of the school district within the second degree of affinity or consanguinity. Second degree of affinity or consanguinity is defined as a spouse, parent, child, grandparent, brother, sister, grandchild, mother-in-law, father-in-law, daughter-in-law, or son-in-law (Section 162.601).

This section contains provisions of the perfected SB 422.

EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCIES - This act authorizes school districts to designate an educational service agency, organized as a nonprofit corporation, for the purpose of developing, managing, and providing instructional services or programs to the participating district or districts (Section 162.1180).

This section contains provisions identical to HB 400 and similar to SB 204.

ALTERS CONDITIONS BY WHICH A SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY TRANSFER MONEYS TO AND FROM CERTAIN FUNDS - The act deletes a provision which disallows school districts from making expenditures for certain lease purchase obligations from the district's capital projects fund unless the district levies, in the current year, a tax rate in the capital projects fund which is sufficient to generate revenues equal to or greater than the amount of such expenditure and collects such revenues and credits such revenues to the capital projects fund.

Further, the act alters the conditions by which a school district may transfer moneys from the incidental fund to the capital projects fund. The subsections prescribe that any amount expended from the incidental fund for classroom instructional capital outlays must be subtracted from the 9% of the district's entitlement used to calculate the limit on such transfers.

Also, the act modifies the qualifications for school districts making transfers from the incidental fund to the capital projects fund by deleting the minimum levy and lease-purchase conditions and substituting compliance with provisions concerning compensation of certificated staff in the second preceding year or payment of all penalties for the second preceding year (Subsections 2,4 & 7 - Section 165.011)

These subsections contain several of the provisions of the SCS/SB 215.

The act allows school districts to transfer unrestricted funds from the capital projects fund to the incidental fund in any year in which that year's June 30 combined incidental and teachers funds unrestricted balance compared to the combined incidental and teachers funds expenditures would be less than ten percent without such transfer (Subsection 13 - Section 165.011). The provisions of this subsection are identical to SCS/SB 686.

The act clarifies provisions relating to qualified zone academy bonds by formulating fiscal procedures for school districts that have issued qualified zone academy bonds pursuant to federal law but have incorrectly handled the placement of the bond proceeds in the districts' accounts (Subsection 14 - Section 165.011). The provisions of this subsection are similar to those contained in HB 706.

The act allows two specific school districts to make a one- time additional transfer from the incidental fund to the capital projects fund for the completion of a sewer project (Subsection 15 - Section 165.011).

The act allows one specific school district to make a one- time additional transfer from the incidental fund to the capital projects fund for the purpose of improving the library media and technology center that serves the district's high school and middle school (Subsection 16 - Section 165.011).

The act lays out conditions under which certain school district may refinance certain lease-purchase obligations (Subsection 17 - Section 165.011). This subsection contains one of the provisions of the SCS/SB 215. Section 165.011 contains an emergency clause.

SALARY COMPLIANCE PROVISIONS - This act asserts that in any fiscal year that the state distributes 96% or less for the formula than it did in fiscal year 2002, certain districts shall not be obligated to comply with the salary compliance provisions of Section 165.016, RSMo. The act prescribes that the district must have unrestricted fund balances in the combined incidental and teacher funds on June 30th of the preceding year which is equal to or less than seventeen percent of the combined expenditures for the preceding year from these funds as a condition for said non-compliance.

Further, this act articulates another set of specifications school districts may meet in order to be exempt from the salary compliance provisions of the section:

- School districts with ten percent or more of its assessed valuation owned by one person or corporation who is delinquent in a property tax payment;

- School districts with unrestricted fund balances in the combined incidental and teacher funds on June thirtieth of the preceding year which are equal to or less than one half of the local property tax revenue for the previous year; and

- School districts which receive in the current fiscal year ninety-six percent (or less) of their fiscal year 2002 formula distribution (Section 165.016 ).

This section contains provisions similar to the SS/SCS/SB 264. This section contains an emergency clause.

DELETES SCHOOL YEAR START DATE PROVISION - This act removes a provision of law which prohibits public schools from beginning the school year earlier than September 1 (Section 171.031).

SCHOOL DISTRICT ADVERTISING/BID REQUIREMENTS - This act raises from $12,500 to $15,000 the threshold utilized in order to require bids for school construction projects. It clarifies that the two-consecutive-week advertisement requirement is met with advertisements once a week within the two consecutive weeks and that advertising may be in business or trade papers (Section 177.086).

BOARD OF THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE'S EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR LICENSURE - The Board of Therapeutic Massage has promulgated a rule (4 CSR 197-2.010) which requires as a condition for application for a massage therapy license that a person complete "massage therapy studies consisting of at least five hundred (500) clock hours of supervised instruction in a Coordinating Board of Higher Education(CBHE) certified school". However, the CBHE only certifies private schools.

This act adds a provision to the Board of Therapeutic Massage's educational requirements for licensure by stating that the board must allow clock hours of supervised instruction at a vocational technical school as an option for candidates applying for a massage therapy license (Section 324.245).

PIPELINE CAPACITY COSTS FOR SCHOOLS WHICH AGGREGATELY PURCHASE NATURAL GAS - This act requires the Public Service Commission to treat a gas corporation's pipeline capacity costs for schools which aggregately purchase natural gas in the same manner as large industrial or commercial basic transportation customers (Section 393.310).

MENINGOCOCCAL DISEASE/ON-CAMPUS HOUSING - The act requires every public institution of higher education in this state to require all students who reside in on-campus housing to sign a written waiver stating that the institution has provided the student with detailed written information of the risks associated with meningococcal disease and the availability and effectiveness of the meningococcal vaccine (Section 1).
DONALD THALHUBER