SS/HB 1678 - This act modifies various provisions relating to members of the military forces and their families. The act: Adds the chair of the Missouri Veterans' Commission, or a designee, as an ex officio member of the Missouri Military Preparedness and Enhancement Commission, and provides that the Military preparedness and enhancement commission's duties include developing methods to improve the prosperity and employment opportunities of retired military members and the families of former military members. Section 41.1010.
Adds the chair of the Missouri Military Preparedness and Enhancement Commission, or a designee, as an ex officio member of the Missouri Veterans' Commission, and provides that the Missouri Military Preparedness and Enhancement Commission shall assist all veterans who are legal residents of Missouri. Section 42.007.
Allows military dependents who do not meet our state's age requirements to enter kindergarten or first grade if the child has completed an accredited prekindergarten or kindergarten program in another state. Section 160.053.
Requires the State Board of Education to develop recommendations for alternate assessments for military dependents who relocate after the commencement of a school term, in order to accommodate the student while ensuring he or she is proficient in the knowledge, skills, and competencies adopted by the State Board of Education. Section 160.518.
Requires the State Board of Education to establish rules allowing a provisional certificate of license to be issued to any spouse of a military member stationed in Missouri, who relocated to this state within one year of application, who had to complete a criminal background check in another state in order to be issued a certificate of license from another state, and who otherwise qualifies. Section 168.021.
Allows school districts to accept a course in state government completed in another state, for purposes of satisfying Missouri's graduation requirements, when a student transfers to a Missouri high school in ninth to twelfth grade. The act also deletes provisions in current law that require the state commissioners of education and higher education to make arrangements to carry out the provisions of this section, and to prescribe a list of suitable texts, and deletes provisions that provide that neglect by any superintendent, principal or teacher to observe the provisions of this section shall be sufficient cause for termination of his or her contract. Section 170.011.
Establishes a tuition grant program for spouses and children of war veterans who die, or who become eighty percent disabled, as the result of injury or illness sustained while serving in combat. Within the limits of amounts appropriated therefor, the Coordinating Board for Higher Education shall provide up to twenty-five tuition grants to the surviving spouses and children of any member of the military who served in armed combat and who was killed in the line of duty and who was a citizen of Missouri at the time of enlistment and at the time death or injury occurred. The grants shall pay an amount not to exceed the actual amount of tuition, the actual cost of books up to five hundred dollars per semester, and up to two thousand dollars per semester for room and board. The grant will continue to be awarded annually to eligible recipients as long as the recipient achieves and maintains a cumulative grade point average of at least two and one-half on a four point scale, or its equivalent. The grant may not be used for graduate study, and is not available to surviving children who are twenty-five years of age or older. The act delineates specific eligibility criteria for both the recipients and the higher education institutions. The provisions of this section shall automatically expire six years from the effective date of this act. Section 173.234.
Establishes the "Missouri Returning Heroes' Education Act," which provides that all public institutions of higher education that receive any state funds appropriated by the general assembly shall limit the tuition charged to combat veterans to fifty dollars per credit hour, for any program leading to a certificate, or an associate or baccalaureate degree. A "combat veteran" is any person who served in armed combat after September 11, 2001, who was a Missouri resident when first entering the military, and who was discharged from military service under honorable conditions. An eligible combat veteran shall receive the tuition limitation as long as the veteran achieves and maintains a cumulative grade point average of at least two and one-half points on a four point scale, or its equivalent. The eligibility period for the tuition limitation shall expire ten years from the date of the veteran's last discharge from service.
The Coordinating Board for Higher Education shall ensure that the institutions comply with the provisions of this act, and the board may promulgate any rules for the efficient implementation of the act. Any other financial assistance for which the veteran is eligible must be reported to the board, and no combat veteran shall receive more than the actual cost of attendance when the limitation is combined with any other financial assistance made available to such veteran.
Each institution may report to the board the amount of tuition waived in the previous fiscal year under this act, which may be included in each institution's request for appropriations to the board for the following year. The board may include information about the amount of tuition waived in the previous year in its appropriations recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly, and the General Assembly may reimburse institutions for the cost of the waiver for the previous year as part of the operating budget. However, this shall not be construed to deny a combat veteran a tuition limitation if the
General Assembly does not appropriate money for reimbursement to an institution. Section 173.900.
Provides that a party's absence, relocation, or failure to comply with custody and visitation orders shall not, by itself, be sufficient to justify a modification of a custody or visitation order if the reason for the failure to comply is due to the party's activation for military service and deployment out of the state. Section 452.412.
Modifies the Guard at Home program by renaming it the "Hero at Home" program, and by providing that services under the program shall continue to be available to national guard members and their families, as well as reserve component service members and their families, during the one year period following a National Guard member or any reserve component member's discharge from deployment. The program shall also assist returning National Guard or reserve component service members to find employment in situations where the individual cannot return to employment held prior to deployment. Also, the act allows the Department of Economic Development to operate the Hero at Home program by utilizing existing programs, or by entering into contracts with qualified providers. Section 620.515.
Authorizes Missouri to enter into the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. The Compact shall become effective and binding upon legislative enactment into law by no less than ten states. The Compact shall apply to the school-aged children of active duty uniformed members of the military forces of the United States, including National Guard and Reserve members, children of members or veterans who are medically discharged or retired for one year, and children of members who die on active duty or as a result of injuries sustained on active duty. The provisions shall only apply to local education agencies that provide control of and direction for Kindergarten through Twelfth grade public educational institutions.
The Compact requires that the custodian of records in any state from which a child of a military family is sent shall furnish unofficial education records to the parent, containing information enumerated in the Compact. The school in the state to which the child is sent shall enroll the child pending validation by official records. The school in the receiving state shall requires the student's official education record, and the school in the state that sent the child shall furnish such records within ten days, or within such time as determined by rules promulgated by the Interstate Commission.
States who have entered into this Compact shall give thirty days from the date of enrollment for students to obtain immunizations, or within such time as determined by rules promulgated by the Interstate Commission.
Students shall be allowed to continue their enrollment in the receiving state at the same grade level, including kindergarten, as he or she was attending in the sending state, or shall be able to attend the next highest grade level in the receiving state if he or she completed the prerequisite grade level in the sending state. When a student transfers before or during the school year, the receiving state shall honor placement of the student in courses based on the student's enrollment and assessments conducted at the school of the sending state. The receiving state school shall also honor placement of the student in educational programs based on assessments conducted at the school of the sending state. This does not preclude the receiving state from performing evaluations to ensure appropriate placement. A receiving state shall provide comparable services to a student with disabilities based on his or her current Individualized Education Program and in compliance with federal disability laws, in order to address the needs of incoming students with disabilities. This does not preclude the receiving state from performing evaluations to ensure appropriate placement.
Local education agency officials shall have flexibility in waiving course program prerequisites or other preconditions for placement in courses or programs. A student whose parent or guardian has been called for, is on leave from, or who has immediately returned from deployment to a combat zone or combat support posting shall be granted additional excused absences, at the discretion of the local education agency superintendent. Local education agencies shall not charge tuition to a transitioning military child placed in the care of a non-custodial parent or other person standing in loco parentis who lives in a jurisdiction other than that of the custodial parent. Such a child may continue to attend the school in which he or she was enrolled while residing with the custodial parent. State and local education agencies shall facilitate the opportunity for transitioning military children to participate in extracurricular activities, regardless of application deadlines, to the extent they are otherwise qualified.
State and local education agencies shall waive specific courses required for graduation if similar course work has been satisfactorily completed in another agency, or shall provide justification for denial of graduation. If a waiver is not granted to a student who would qualify to graduate from a sending school, the agency shall provide alternative means of acquiring required course work so that graduation can occur. States shall also accept exit or end-of-course exams required for graduation, or national achievement tests, or alternative testing in lieu of testing requirements for graduation in the sending state. If a military student transfers at the beginning or during his or her senior year and is ineligible to graduate from the receiving education agency after all alternatives have been considered, the sending and receiving local education agencies shall ensure the receipt of a diploma from the sending local agency, if the student meets requirements of such agency. If the sending state is not a member of this Compact, the member state shall use best efforts to facilitate the on-time graduation of the student.
Each member state shall provide for coordination among its agencies to ensure compliance with this Compact and Interstate Commission activities by creating a State Council, or by using an existing body or board, as long as the membership thereof includes the state superintendent of education, superintendent of a school district with a high concentration of military children, a representative of a military installation, a representative from the legislative and executive branches government, and any other offices or groups the Council deems appropriate. The Council shall also appoint a military family education liaison.
The Compact also establishes the Interstate Commission on Educational Opportunity for Military Children, having all of the powers and duties described in this Compact, including establishing bylaws and rules to provide for administration of the Compact, collecting standardized data regarding the educational transition of the children of military families, creating a process that will permit military and educational officials and parents to inform the Commission of any violations of the Compact or rules established under the Compact, and reporting to the legislatures and state councils the activities and recommendations of the Commission during the previous year.
The liability of the Interstate Commission shall not exceed the limits of liability set forth under the Constitution and laws of that state for state officials, employees, and agents, and the Commission is considered to be an instrumentality of the state for the purposes of any such action. The Commission shall defend the executive director of the Commission and its employees, and subject to the approval of the Attorney General or other legal counsel of the member state, shall defend such Commission representative in any civil action seeking to impose liability arising out of an act or omission that occurred within the scope of Commission employment or duties. To the extent that the Commission, its representatives, or employees are not covered by the state involved, they shall be held immune from any settlement or judgment obtained from acts or omissions arising out of an act or omission that occurred within the scope of Commission duties, other than intentional, willful, or wanton misconduct.
The Commission shall be organized, and shall have the power to establish committees, as herein provided. The rulemaking procedure of the Commission shall substantially conform to the Model State Administrative Procedure Act, as may be appropriate to the operations of the Commission. The majority of state legislatures of the compacting states may reject a rule by statute or resolution. All branches of government in the compacting state shall enforce this Compact, and shall take all actions necessary to effectuate its purposes. In any proceeding in a member state pertaining to the subject matter of the Compact, or that may affect the powers or duties of the Commission, the Commission shall receive service of process and shall have standing to intervene.
If the Commission determines that a member state has defaulted in its performance of obligations under the Compact, the Commission shall specify the conditions by which the state must cure the default, shall provide training and assistance to cure the default, or, if all other means of securing compliance have been exhausted, shall terminate the state from the Compact, therefore terminating all rights, privileges, and benefits conferred herein. The Commission may levy and collect an annual assessment from each member state to cover the cost of operations and activities of the Commission and its staff, in an amount sufficient to cover the Commission's annual budget, based on a formula to be determined by the Commission.
Any member state may withdraw from the Compact by repealing the statute that enacted the Compact into law, however, the withdrawal shall not become effective until one year after the effective date of such statute, and until written notice of withdrawal has been given to the Governor of each other member state. Section 160.2000.
Provisions of this act are similar to SB 663 (2007), SCS/SB 12 (2007), SCS/SB 75 (2007), SB 1036 (2008), HCS/SCS/SB 830 (2008), and HCS/HB 2062 & 1518 (2008).
ALEXA PEARSON