HEALTH AND FAMILY EDUCATION (Section 160.527)

This act defines "health and family education" and requires that the current 1/2 credit hour of health education be renamed as "Health and Family Education" for the 2024-25 school year and all subsequent school years. The act further requires that the State Board of Education convene a work group to develop academic performance standards relating to health and family education. The work group shall include educators, representatives from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and nonprofit organizations with a focus on public health, parenting, and social services. The State Board of Education shall adopt and implement the health and family education performance standards for the 2024-25 school year and each subsequent school year. This provision is identical to a provision in HCS/SB 122 (2023) and in HCS/SS/SCS/SBs 411 & 230 (2023), similar to SB 381 (2023) and HB 2916 (2022), and substantially similar to HCS/HB 883 (2023).

ADULT HIGH SCHOOLS (Sections 160.2705, 160.2720, and 160.2725)

Currently, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is required to authorize the operation of four adult high schools across the state. This act transfers such authority to the Department of Social Services. In addition, the Department of Social Services shall authorize a fifth adult high school to be located in Jackson County or an adjacent county.

The Department of Social Services shall administer funding to the adult high schools subject to appropriations. For the existing adult high schools, the Department shall maintain authorization for the nonprofit organizations to operate the high schools, provided that no more than one organization may be authorized to operate an adult high school in each of the current four locations. An organization may establish satellite campuses for any adult high school it is authorized to operate.

By January 1, 2024, the Department shall select a Missouri-based nonprofit organization to operate the fifth adult high school, provided the organization meets current legal requirements and demonstrates the ability to commit at least $500,000, rather than $2 million, for the necessary infrastructure to establish the school. The act also provides that such organization must limit the administrative fee to no more than ten percent.

Finally, each nonprofit organization must submit an annual report to the Department of Social Services in addition to other entities as provided in current law.

These provisions are identical to provisions in SS/SCS/HCS/HB 417 (2023) and HB 1183 (2023) and similar to SB 199 (2023) and provisions in HCS/SS/SCS/SBs 411 & 230 (2023).

DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION'S AUTHORITY TO AWARD GRANTS (Sections 161.243 and 205.565)

Subject to appropriations, the act authorizes the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to award grants to private entities that offer child care services. In order to qualify to receive such grants, a private entity shall meet the standards for high-quality early childhood education established by the Department under current law. The act also authorizes the Department to award grants to qualifying entities carrying out the Caring Communities youth outreach program under current law.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES FOR CHILDREN WHO ARE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING (Section 161.396)

This act establishes the "Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids (LEAD-K) Act". Under the act, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shall develop a resource for parents to monitor and track expressive and receptive language acquisition and developmental stages toward American Sign Language and English literacy of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. The act further provides that the Department shall select existing tools or assessments for educators that can be used to assess the language and literacy development of children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

To develop these resources, the Department shall select language developmental milestones for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. As defined in the act, language developmental milestones are milestones of language development aligned with the existing state instrument used to meet the requirements of federal law for the assessment of children from birth to five years of age, inclusive.

The Commissioner of Education shall establish an advisory committee to solicit input from experts on the selection of language developmental milestones. The advisory committee shall consist of teachers, parents, speech-language pathologists, and other persons specified in the act who work with children who are deaf or hard of hearing or who are themselves deaf or hard of hearing.

For the 2024-25 school year and all subsequent school years, the Department shall produce an annual report that is specific to language and literacy development of children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

These provisions are identical to HCS/HB 106 (2023) and similar to SB 340 (2023).

EDUCATIONAL FUNDING FOR STUDENTS BEING TREATED IN A RESIDENTIAL CARE FACILITY (Sections 163.063 and 167.126)

This act provides that, for purposes of calculating state and federal aid payments, a child who receives all of their required educational services on-site at a residential care facility shall be included in the average daily attendance of the school district that results in the most state and federal aid to the district in which the facility is located.

Any educational costs incurred by a residential care facility that are not remitted under the act may be reimbursed as provided under current law. A residential care facility and a school district may mutually agree to a financial arrangement that deviates from the provisions of the act.

The act adds children who have been admitted to a psychiatric residential treatment facility under a physician's order due to a diagnosed mental illness to the list of children who have the right to receive educational services in their district of residence. When a child's school district of residence, other than the district of domicile, provides educational services while the child temporarily resides in a psychiatric residential treatment facility for more than three days, the district of domicile shall remit to the district of residence an amount equal to the average per-pupil sum produced by the local tax effort of the district of domicile. In cases where the Department of Mental Health or the Department of Social Services places a child in a psychiatric residential treatment facility, the child's district of residence may receive from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education an amount equal to the sum by which the per-pupil costs of educational services provided to the child exceeds the amount received from the domiciliary district, subject to appropriation.

These provisions are substantially similar to provisions in HCS/SS/SB 198 (2023) and similar to provisions in HCS/SS/SCS/SBs 411 & 230 (2023), in SB 422 (2023), in SB 603 (2023), in HCS/HB 715 (2023), and in HB 716 (2023).

FOSTER CHILD ENROLLMENT (Section 167.019)

In the event that a best interest determination is not completed within 10 days of a child's placement in foster care, the determination shall be that it is in the best interest of the child to enroll in the district where the child resides as a result of the placement. This provision shall apply only to cases where a child's residential address as the result of the foster care placement is located more than 10 miles (or, for children who receive services from a special school district, 15 miles) away from the relevant school building in the district of domicile. This provision is identical to a provision in HCS/SS/SB 198 (2023) and is similar to a provision in HCS/SS/SCS/SBs 411 & 230 (2023).

COMPENSATION OF STUDENT ATHLETES (Section 173.280)

The act requires postsecondary educational institutions to adopt a process for granting athletes a license to use the institution's unique identifiers, including logos and emblems, when earning compensation from the use of such athlete's name or image. No compensation to a student athlete based on such athlete's name or image shall be conditioned on such athlete's athletic performance. A postsecondary educational institution that enters into commercial agreements that require the use of a student athlete's name or image shall offer at least two workshops per year on topics including financial literacy, life skills, and entrepreneurship. The act also outlines conditions under which high school student athletes may earn compensation from the use of their name or image. This provision is identical to a provision in SS/SCS/HCS/HB 417 (2023) and similar to HCS/HB 1346 (2023).

DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION REGARDING CERTAIN CHILDREN (Section 210.1360)

Except as otherwise provided by law, any personally identifiable information regarding a child who is receiving child care or applying for or receiving any services through a state program shall not be subject to disclosure. This provision shall not apply to any state, county, or municipal law enforcement agency acting in its official capacity. Additionally, a state agency shall not be prohibited from disclosing personally identifiable information to any governmental entity or its agents, vendors, grantees, and contractors in connection to matters relating to its official duties. This provision is identical to a provision in CCS/SB 28 (2023), a provision in CCS/HCS/SS/SCS/SBs 45 & 90 (2023), a provision in HCS/SCS/SB 103 (2023), a provision in HCS/SB 198 (2023), and a provision in SCS/HB 677 (2023), and is similar to SB 628 (2023), a provision in HCS/SS/SB 213, and HB 1010 (2023).

OLIVIA SHANNON