SCS/HCS/HB 607 - This act creates and modifies provisions relating to elementary and secondary education.CALCULATION OF STUDENT ATTENDANCE
(Section 160.264)
The act provides that a student who has been suspended or expelled from a public school shall be counted as being in attendance for purposes of calculating the school's attendance rate under the Missouri School Improvement Plan and the school's weighted average daily attendance as used in the calculation of state aid.
This provision is identical to a provision in HCS/SS/SCS/SB 68 (2025).
GRADE-LEVEL EQUIVALENCE
(Sections 160.518 and 160.522)
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) shall develop and use a grade-level equivalence metric to assess students' knowledge and performance for grades 3-8. DESE shall define and categorize performance-level descriptors for advanced, proficient, grade level, basic, and below basic achievement, as described in the act, with each level representing varying degrees of mastery over educational content and readiness for the next grade level. The grade-level equivalence for each student shall be determined at the time of the statewide assessment and provided alongside the student's assessment score to both the student and his or her parent. DESE shall also ensure that data related to grade-level equivalence is made publicly accessible on a building, school, district, and statewide level, while ensuring that no data is disclosed in a way that allows for the personal identification of any student, except by the student and the student's parent. DESE may engage a third-party nonprofit entity to assist in developing the grade-level equivalence metric. The grade-level equivalence data shall be included in the annual performance reports DESE is required to compile under current law.
These provisions are substantially similar to provisions in HCS/SS/SCS/SB 68 (2025) and HCS/HB 712 (2025).
ACTIVE MILITARY MEMBERS
(Section 160.701)
The act provides that a statewide activities association that includes at least one public school district as a fee-paying member shall not require students who are on active duty in the United States Armed Forces, including members of the National Guard and Reserve on active duty orders, to attend a minimum number of practices as a condition of such student's membership on any group or team facilitated or overseen by such association.
ADULT HIGH SCHOOLS
(Sections 160.2700, 160.2705, and 160.2710)
The act lowers the minimum age of a student who may enroll in an adult high school from 21 years of age to 18 years of age.
To be eligible to operate an adult high school, an organization shall demonstrate success in providing job placement services to adults 18 years of age or older, instead of 21 years of age or older, in addition to satisfying certain other conditions set forth in current law.
Additionally, a student transferring from a local education agency to an adult high school shall be considered a transfer student and not a dropout student from the local education agency.
These provisions are identical to HCS/HB 32 (2025) and similar to SB 426 (2025).
VIRTUAL ASSESSMENTS
(Section 161.670)
The act provides that any virtual school or program that is part of the Missouri Course Access and Virtual School Program may administer any statewide assessment virtually, except for college readiness or workforce readiness assessments provided by a national college and career readiness assessment provider. The act outlines requirements for such virtual assessments, including the monitoring of students via a camera and maintaining a student to proctor ratio that is targeted at 10-1 or lower.
This provision is identical to SS/SB 226 (2025) and is similar to HCS/HB 220 (2025) and SB 1049 (2024).
SMALL SCHOOLS GRANT
(Section 163.044)
Nonresident students who enroll in a school district through the Missouri Course Access and Virtual School Program shall not be included in such school district's total pupil count for purposes of determining the district's eligibility for the Small Schools Grant.
This provision is identical to a provision in HCS/HB 220 (2025).
STATE AID FOR SCHOOLS
(Section 163.045)
A school district shall not be deemed ineligible to receive certain state aid moneys on the basis that such school district was in session for fewer than 169 days in a school term because of exceptional or emergency circumstances or a reduction of the required number of school days authorized by the Commissioner of Education under current law.
This provision is identical to HCS/HB 368 (2025) and similar to SB 364 (2025).
MINIMUM TEACHER'S SALARY
(Section 163.172)
This act repeals the requirement for a teacher's master's degree to be in an academic teaching field directly related to the teacher's assignment in order for such teacher to qualify for the minimum salary for teachers with a master's degree and at least 10 years of teaching experience.
This provision is identical to a provision in HCS/HB 712 (2025).
SUSPENDED STUDENTS
(Section 167.164)
The act provides that no school district shall be required to provide a teacher to a suspended student as long as the student is provided an opportunity to attend an alternative school, utilize alternative services or virtual options, or make up missed work upon returning to school.
This provision is identical to a provision in HCS/SS/SCS/SB 68 (2025).
ZERO-TOLERANCE DISCIPLINARY POLICIES
(Section 167.167)
This act requires school districts to prohibit, in name and practice, any zero-tolerance disciplinary policy that results in an automatic consequence against a pupil without the discretion to modify such disciplinary consequence on a case-by-case basis.
This provision is identical to HB 454 (2025) and a provision in HCS/HB 712 (2025).
RECOVERY HIGH SCHOOLS
(Section 167.850)
Currently, a recovery high school is a public high school established by one or more school districts to serve students diagnosed with substance use disorder or dependency. Under this act, a recovery high school is a school established by a sponsoring entity, which may include the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, a school district, a magnet school, a charter school, a private school, or any combination of such entities.
This provision is identical to HB 1386 (2025) and a provision in HCS/SS/SB 63 (2025).
TEACHER CERTIFICATION
(Section 168.021)
The act adds Teachers of Tomorrow to the list of certificating entities from which the State Board of Education shall accept a teacher's credentials for purposes of issuing a license to teach in the public schools of this state, provided that the individual also meets certain other conditions outlined in current law. The act further adds "gifted education" to the list of subject areas for which the State Board of Education shall not issue a teaching license based on certification by such a certificating entity.
This provision is similar to SB 639 (2025), HCS/HB 1153 (2025), and a provision in HCS/SS/SCS/SB 68 (2025).
TEACHER EXTERNSHIPS
(Section 168.025)
The act repeals the August 28, 2024, expiration of the teacher externship program.
This provision is identical to HB 1945 (2024) and a provision in HCS/HB 267 (2025).
SUBSTITUTE TEACHING IN RETIREMENT
(Section 168.036)
Under this act, retired teachers may continue to work as substitutes without discontinuing their retirement benefits until 2030, rather than 2025.
This provision is identical to provisions in HCS/HB 267 (2025) and HCS/HB 1153 (2025).
PUBLIC SCHOOL BACKGROUND CHECKS
(Section 168.133)
This act adds charter schools to provisions of state law requiring background checks to be conducted on school personnel. The act repeals language specifying the types of work screened volunteers might do for a school district or charter school.
The act requires background checks to be conducted not only on school bus drivers, but also on the drivers of other vehicles owned by school districts and charter schools. For drivers employed or contracted by a pupil transportation company that is under contract with a school district or charter school, the pupil transportation company shall conduct the criminal background check.
This provision is identical to SB 460 (2025) and a provision in SCS/HCS/HB 1569 (2024) and substantially similar to HB 538 (2025) and HCS/HB 2423 (2024).
PRINCIPAL-ADMINISTRATOR ACADEMY
(Section 168.409)
The act repeals a provision authorizing DESE to charge a reasonable fee to cover the costs of operating the Principal-Administrator Academy. Instead, the act provides that funding for such programming may include federal funding, money appropriated to the Excellence in Education Fund, or up to 5% of funding appropriated for Career Ladder. DESE may also require matching funds to be provided by individuals or school districts, as provided in the act.
MODELS OF READING INSTRUCTION
(Section 170.014)
Phonics instruction for decoding and encoding words shall be the primary instructional strategy for teaching word reading in school districts and charter schools. Instruction in word reading shall not rely primarily on strategies based on a three-cueing system, as such term is defined in the act. Visual information may be used in reading instruction to improve background and add context, but shall not be used to teach word reading.
This provision is similar to SB 556 (2025), HCS/HB 941 (2025), and a provision in SCS/HCS/HB 1569 (2024).
FOUR-DAY SCHOOL WEEK
(Section 171.027)
The act changes an exemption for certain school districts from the requirement to hold a vote of the district in order to adopt a four-day school week. Under the act, a vote is not required in a school district that had a four-day school week in the 2023-24 school year or in a school district that meets certain population criteria, removing the previous requirement for both conditions to be satisfied.
TEACHER RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION SCHOLARSHIPS
(Section 173.232)
The act adds "educational costs" related to teacher preparation to the costs covered by the Teacher Recruitment and Retention State Scholarship Program.
If the number of scholarships or maximum amount awarded does not exceed limits established in current law, the act requires DESE to use any remaining funds to award additional scholarships to students who are in the final semester of a state-approved baccalaureate-level teacher preparation program and are student teaching. DESE shall determine the amount of each scholarship awarded under this provision based on equal distribution of remaining funds among all eligible students. No amount granted shall exceed the amount of tuition charged a Missouri resident at the University of Missouri-Columbia for attendance for one semester.
The act provides that DESE "shall", rather than "may", sell to the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority loans of scholarship funds that were awarded to scholarship recipients who failed to teach in a hard-to-staff school or hard-to-staff subject area as required under the scholarship program. The act repeals a provision that a school district that hires such an individual as a teacher shall repay 25% of the 1/8 portion of such teacher's scholarship that is not subject to repayment as a loan.
This provision is identical to HB 792 (2025) and a provision in HCS/HB 712 (2025).
INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE EXAMINATIONS
(Section 173.1352)
This act requires public institutions of higher education to adopt a policy to award undergraduate course credit to student who receives a score of 4 or higher on an International Baccalaureate exam.
This provision is identical to SB 243 (2025), HB 1578 (2024), HB 2051 (2024), HB 2415 (2024), and a provision in SCS/HCS/HB 1569 (2024).
SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BIDDING
(Section 177.086)
Currently, any school district authorizing the construction of facilities which may exceed an expenditure of $50,000 shall publicly advertise for bids on the contract. The act exempts from this provision school districts that utilize a cooperative procurement process, state procurement services, or other purchasing processes authorized by state or federal law.
OLIVIA SHANNON