SECOND REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE BILL NO. 780

89TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY


Reported from the Committee on Education - Elementary & Secondary, April 30, 1998, with recommendation that the House Committee Substitute for Senate Bill No. 780 Do Pass.

ANNE C. WALKER, Chief Clerk

L2874.07C


AN ACT

To repeal sections 160.526, 161.527, 162.152, 162.171, 162.181, 162.201, 162.261, 162.321, 162.371, 162.391, 162.411, 162.501, 162.631, 164.161, 164.221, 165.031, 165.221, 166.131, 166.151, 167.091, 167.101, 167.141, 167.191, 167.211, 167.221, 167.251, 167.260, 167.268, 167.275, 167.278, 167.308, 167.330, 168.171, 168.181, 168.191, 168.201, 168.221, 168.400, 170.031, 170.041, 170.057, 171.031, 171.051, 171.141, 171.181, 177.011, 177.031, 177.051, 177.073, 177.101, 177.131, 177.161, 177.171, 178.290, 178.300, 178.310, 178.320, 178.330, 178.340, 178.350 and 178.360, RSMo 1994, and sections 161.102, 161.205, 162.191, 162.955, 162.961, 162.963, 163.011, 163.021, 163.036, 163.172, 165.011, 165.091, 165.111, 166.300, 167.161, 168.211, 170.250, 177.086 and 177.091, RSMo Supp. 1997, relating to public schools, and to enact in lieu thereof forty-five new sections relating to the same subject, with an effective date for certain sections and an emergency clause for a certain section.


Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

Section A. Sections 160.526, 161.527, 162.152, 162.171, 162.181, 162.201, 162.261, 162.321, 162.371, 162.391, 162.411, 162.501, 162.631, 164.221, 165.031, 165.221, 166.131, 166.151, 167.091, 167.101, 167.141, 167.191, 167.211, 167.221, 167.251, 167.260, 167.268, 167.275, 167.278, 167.308, 167.330, 168.171, 168.181, 168.191, 168.201, 168.221, 168.400, 170.031, 170.041, 170.057, 171.031, 171.051, 171.141, 171.181, 177.011, 177.031, 177.051, 177.073, 177.101, 177.131, 177.161, 177.171, 178.290, 178.300, 178.310, 178.320, 178.330, 178.340, 178.350 and 178.360, RSMo 1994, and sections 161.102, 161.205, 162.191, 162.955, 162.961, 162.963, 163.011, 163.021, 163.036, 163.172, 165.011, 165.091, 165.111, 166.300, 167.161, 168.211, 170.250, 177.086 and 177.091, RSMo Supp. 1997, are repealed and forty-four new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 160.526, 161.220, 161.527, 162.261, 162.321, 162.371, 162.391, 162.411, 162.955, 162.961, 162.963, 163.011, 163.021, 163.036, 163.172, 164.221, 165.011, 165.031, 165.221, 166.131, 166.300, 167.161, 167.191, 167.211, 167.251, 167.260, 167.268, 167.275, 168.181, 168.201, 168.211, 168.221, 168.231, 168.400, 170.250, 171.031, 171.181, 177.011, 177.031, 177.073, 177.086, 177.161, 178.290 and 1, to read as follows:

160.526. 1. In establishing the academic standards authorized by subsection 1 of section 160.514 and the statewide assessment system authorized by subsection 1 of section 160.518, the state board of education shall consider the work that has been done by other states, recognized regional and national experts, professional education discipline-based associations and other professional education associations. Further, in establishing the academic standards and statewide assessment system, the state board of education shall adopt the work that has been done by consortia of other states and, subject to appropriations, may contract with such consortia to implement the provisions of sections 160.514 and 160.518.

2. The state board of education shall, by contract enlist the assistance of such national experts, as approved by the commission established pursuant to section 160.510, to receive reports, advice and counsel on a regular basis pertaining to the validity and reliability of the statewide assessment system. The reports from such experts shall be received by the commission, which shall make a final determination concerning the reliability and validity of the statewide assessment system. Within six months prior to implementation of the statewide assessment system, the commissioner of education shall inform the president pro tempore of the senate and the speaker of the house about the procedures to implement the assessment system, including a report related to the reliability and validity of the assessment instruments, and the general assembly may, within the next [thirty legislative days] two years, veto such implementation by concurrent resolution adopted by majority vote of both the senate and the house of representatives.

3. The commissioner of education shall establish a procedure for the state board of education to regularly receive advice and counsel from professional educators at all levels in the state, district boards of education, parents, representatives from business and industry, and labor and community leaders pertaining to the implementation of sections 160.514 and 160.518. The procedure shall include, at a minimum, the appointment of ad hoc committees and shall be in addition to the advice and counsel obtained from the commission pursuant to section 160.510.

161.220. Beginning December 15, 1999, and annually by that date in each following year, the state board of education shall report to the general assembly on the retention and recruitment of teachers in state's schools. The report shall include, but not be limited to, information on the numbers of teachers entering and leaving employment in the public schools of the state, analysis of the issues affecting teacher recruitment, and suggestions for meeting predicted needs of numbers of teachers and in areas of certification.

161.527. 1. If a school district, which has an assessed valuation per eligible pupil equal to or less than the state average assessed valuation per eligible pupil, has transmitted by July fifteenth to the department of elementary and secondary education the report required by section 162.821, RSMo, and such school district has received a notice pursuant to section 161.525, such school district is not required to reduce its operating levy pursuant to section 164.013, RSMo, when the district next determines its tax rate in accordance with the provisions of section 164.011, RSMo. The state average assessed valuation per eligible pupil used in this section shall be the state average used to calculate the guaranteed tax base for the state aid formula for the year the district's tax is not lowered. The district assessed valuation shall be the assessed valuation used in the calculation of the state aid formula for the year the district's tax is not lowered. However, if a school district does not reduce its operating levy as permitted in this subsection, the school district shall not in the current and next school year increase:

(1) Its administrative costs; or

(2) The aggregate amount of funds paid for salaries of employees of the district.

2. The restrictions on increasing administrative costs and funds paid for salaries as provided for in subsection 1 of this section shall continue in the district for each subsequent school year until combined balances in the teachers' and incidental funds at the end of a fiscal year are equal to or exceed three percent of the amount expended from the funds during the previous fiscal year as determined by the department of elementary and secondary education. Such restrictions provided for in subsection 1 of this section shall not apply to increased expenditures of the district necessary to maintain health insurance coverage for district employees at the same level that may have been provided by the district prior to implementation of the restrictions. Further, the restrictions shall not apply to increased expenditures of the district necessary to meet the district's share of contributions for employees who are members of the public school retirement system of Missouri, the public school retirement system of the school district of Kansas City, or the public school retirement system of the city of St. Louis.

3. The exemption from reduction authorized by subsection 1 of this section shall be limited to two tax years, at which time the district may submit to the voters of the district the question of whether to continue such exemption.

162.261. The government and control of a [six-director] seven-director school district, other than an urban district, is vested in a board of education of [six] seven members, who hold their office for three years, except as provided in section 162.241, and until their successors are duly elected and qualified. Any vacancy occurring in the board shall be filled by the remaining members of the board; except that if there are more than [two] three vacancies at any one time, the county commission upon receiving written notice of the vacancies shall fill the vacancies by appointment. The person appointed shall hold office until the next municipal election, when a director shall be elected for the unexpired term.

162.321. 1. The board of education of any [six-director] seven-director district may change the name of the district by unanimous consent of the members of the board, the name to comply with any applicable regulations of the state board of education, after first giving notice of the change by publication in some newspaper published in the county in which the district is located. [The notice shall be published once a week for at least three consecutive weeks. The first publication shall be made not less than three weeks prior to the date upon which the board proposes to make the change of name, and the last publication shall be made not more than seven days prior to that date. However, if a petition signed by twenty voters residing within the district is filed with the board on or before the date specified in the notice protesting against the change of name then the proposed change of name shall be presented as a question at the next municipal election. If the question is assented to by a majority of the voters of the district voting on the question, the board of education shall declare the change of name to be in effect.]

2. The changing of the name of the school district under this section shall in no way change its classification or have any effect upon its contracts, indebtedness, existence, or other rights and liabilities.

162.371. The secretary of the board of education, who shall record the certification of the results of the election and[, by order of the board, shall issue certificates of election to the person entitled thereto; and] the results of all other propositions submitted must be reported to the secretary of the board, and by him duly entered upon the district records.

162.391. [No member of any board of education of a six-director district, any portion of which is located in a first class county, shall hold any office or employment of profit from the board while a member thereof.] No member of any board of education of a [six-director] seven-director district[, any portion of which is located in a county of the second, third or fourth class,] shall, except as provided in sections 105.450 to 105.458, RSMo, hold any office or employment of profit from the board while a member thereof. The secretary and treasurer, if not members of the board, may receive reasonable compensation for their services.

162.411. The board of any district may retain counsel when necessary to the exercise of its powers. [In all school districts in this state which contain one or more cities or towns having a total population of thirty thousand inhabitants or over] The school board may employ an attorney on a retainer basis whenever the board finds it necessary to do so and may prescribe his duties, compensation and term of office, which shall not exceed one year.

162.955. 1. Except as otherwise provided in this section, during the pendency of any administrative or judicial proceeding pursuant to sections 162.950, 162.961 and 162.963 no change in the assignment or status of a handicapped or severely handicapped child shall be made except that such change may be made with the written consent of the parent or guardian. If written consent cannot be obtained and the child is endangering himself or others, the assignment or status can be changed pursuant to court order, but without prejudice to any rights that the child and the parent or guardian may have pursuant to sections 162.670 to 162.999 or otherwise pursuant to law.

2. During the pendency of any administrative or judicial proceeding pursuant to sections 162.950, 162.961 and 162.963, to challenge a placement changed because of a disciplinary action to an interim alternative educational setting or to challenge the manifestation determination, when the child is disciplined for weapons, drugs, or because the child is a danger to himself or others, the child shall remain in the interim alternative educational setting pending the due process hearing or until expiration of the time period of the interim alternative educational setting, whichever first occurs.

3. If during an interim alternative educational setting arranged because of a disciplinary action involving weapons, drugs, or because the child is a danger to himself or others, the responsible educational agency proposes to change the child's placement after expiration of the interim placement, and the parents challenge the proposed change by requesting a due process hearing, the child shall remain in his current placement, which is the placement before the interim alternative educational setting, during pending proceedings to challenge the change. The responsible educational agency may request an expedited hearing pursuant to section 162.961, if it is believed it is dangerous for the child to remain in the current placement.

162.961. 1. The resolution conference provided for in section 162.950 shall be conducted by the chief administrative officer of the responsible school district or a designee. The conference shall be informal, witnesses need not be sworn and a record of the proceedings need not be made. The school district or the state department of elementary and secondary education shall see that the parent or guardian or his representative is advised of and permitted to review all diagnoses, evaluations and reevaluations obtained by the board of education or the state department of elementary and secondary education which pertain to the child. The school district or state department of elementary and secondary education shall fully advise the parents or guardian or their representative of each reason relied upon by it in taking the proposed action. The parents or guardian or their representative may present any information whether written or oral to the officer which pertains to the recommended action. Questioning of all witnesses shall be permitted.

2. The resolution conference may be waived by the parents or guardian. If the parent or guardian waives the resolution conference and requests a three-member panel hearing, the state board of education shall empower such a panel pursuant to subsection 3 of this section. That empowerment shall take place within fifteen days of the request for the three-member panel hearing.

3. A parent, guardian or the responsible educational agency may request a due process hearing by the state board of education with respect to any matter relating to identification, evaluation, educational placement, or the provision of a free appropriate public education of the child. Such request shall include the child's name, address, school, issue, and suggested resolution of dispute if known. Except as provided in subsection 6 of this section, the board or its delegated representative shall within fifteen days after receiving notice empower a hearing panel of three persons who are not directly connected with the original decision and who are not employees of the board to which the appeal has been made. All of the panel members shall have some knowledge or training involving children with disabilities, none shall have a personal or professional interest which would conflict with his or her objectivity in the hearing, and all shall meet the department of elementary and secondary education's training and assessment requirements pursuant to state regulations. One person shall be chosen by the local school district board or its delegated representative or the responsible educational agency, and one person shall be chosen at the recommendation of the parent or guardian. If either party has not chosen a panel member ten days after the receipt by the department of elementary and secondary education of the request for a due process hearing, such panel member shall be chosen instead by the department of elementary and secondary education. Each of these two panel members shall be compensated pursuant to a rate set by the department of elementary and secondary education. The third person shall be appointed by the state board of education and shall serve as the chairperson of the panel. The chairperson shall be an attorney licensed to practice law in this state. During the pendency of any three-member panel hearing, or prior to the empowerment of the panel, the parties may, by mutual agreement, submit their dispute to a mediator pursuant to section 162.959.

4. The parent or guardian, school official, and other persons affected by the action in question shall present to the hearing panel all pertinent evidence relative to the matter under appeal. All rights and privileges as described in section 162.963 shall be permitted.

5. After review of all evidence presented and a proper deliberation, the hearing panel, within forty-five days of receipt of the request for a due process hearing, except as provided in subsection 6 of this section relating to expedited hearings, shall by majority vote determine its findings, conclusions, and decision in the matter in question and forward the written decision to the parents or guardian of the child and to the president of the appropriate local board of education or responsible educational agency and to the department of elementary and secondary education. A specific extension of the timeline may be made by the chairman at the request of either party, except in the case of an expedited hearing as provided in subsection 6 of this section.

6. An expedited due process hearing by the state board of education may be requested by a parent to challenge a discipline placement to an interim alternative educational setting, or to challenge a manifestation determination in connection with a disciplinary action involving a forty-five day placement for weapons, drugs, or because the child is a danger to himself or others, or by a responsible educational agency to seek a forty-five day alternative educational placement for a dangerous or violent student. The board or its delegated representative shall appoint a hearing officer to hear the case and render a decision within the timeline required by federal law and state regulations implementing federal law. The hearing officer shall be an attorney licensed to practice law in this state. The hearing officer shall have some knowledge or training involving children with disabilities, shall not have a personal or professional interest which would conflict with his or her objectivity in the hearing, and shall meet the department of elementary and secondary education's training and assessment requirements pursuant to state regulations. A specific extension of the timeline is only permissible to the extent consistent with federal law and pursuant to state regulations.

7. If the responsible public agency requests a due process hearing to seek a forty-five day alternative educational placement for a dangerous or violent student, the agency shall show by substantial evidence that there is a substantial likelihood the student will injure himself or others and that the agency made reasonable efforts to minimize that risk, and shall show that the forty-five day alternative educational placement will provide a free appropriate public education and continue to allow access to the general education curriculum.

162.963. 1. At any hearing held pursuant to the provisions of section 162.961, except as otherwise provided in this section, either party or a representative shall be entitled to:

(1) Be accompanied and advised by counsel and by individuals with special knowledge or training with respect to the problems of children with disabilities;

(2) Present evidence and confront, cross-examine, and compel the attendance of witnesses;

(3) Prohibit the introduction of any evidence, including all evaluations and recommendations based on the offering party's evaluation, at the hearing that has not been disclosed to that party at least five business days before the hearing, except this shall not be applicable in the case of an expedited hearing where no discovery shall take place;

(4) Obtain a written or, at the option of the parents, electronic verbatim record of the hearing; and

(5) Obtain written or, at the option of the parents, electronic findings of fact and decision.

2. Parents involved in hearings have the right to have the child who is the subject of the hearing present and the right to open the hearing to the public.

3. Prior to the resolution conference or hearing, the parent or guardian or a representative of the parent or guardian shall have access to any reports, records, clinical evaluations or other materials upon which the action to be reviewed was wholly or partially based which could reasonably have a bearing on the correctness of the determination.

4. A complete record shall be made of all proceedings unless otherwise specified by statute, which records shall include verbatim transcription of all testimony and shall include all documents, writings, or other evidence presented by any party. Costs incurred during these proceedings, except those of the parties for purchasing diagnostic services or legal counsel or other services of a personal nature, shall be the responsibility of the state board of education.

163.011. As used in this chapter unless the context requires otherwise:

(1) "Adjusted gross income":

(a) "District adjusted gross income per return" shall be the total Missouri individual adjusted gross income in a school district divided by the total number of Missouri income tax returns filed from the school district as reported by the state department of revenue for the second preceding year;

(b) "State adjusted gross income per return" shall be the total Missouri individual adjusted gross income divided by the total number of Missouri individual income tax returns, of those returns designating school districts, as reported by the state department of revenue for the second preceding year;

(c) "District income factor" shall be one plus thirty percent of the difference of the district income ratio minus one, except that the district income factor applied to the portion of the assessed valuation corresponding to any increase in assessed valuation above the assessed valuation of a district as of December 31, 1994, shall not exceed a value of one;

(d) "District income ratio" shall be the ratio of the district adjusted gross income per return divided by the state adjusted gross income per return;

(2) "Average daily attendance" means the quotient or the sum of the quotients obtained by dividing the total number of hours attended in a term by resident pupils between the ages of five and twenty-one by the actual number of hours school was in session in that term. To the average daily attendance of the school term shall be added the full-time equivalent average daily attendance of summer school students. "Full-time equivalent average daily attendance of summer school students" shall be computed by dividing the total number of hours attended by all summer school pupils by the number of hours required in section 160.011, RSMo, in the school term. For purposes of determining average daily attendance under this subdivision, the term "resident pupil" shall include all children between the ages of five and twenty-one who are residents of the school district and who are attending kindergarten through grade twelve in such district. If a child is attending school in a district other than the district of residence and the child's parent is teaching in the school district or is a regular employee of the school district which the child is attending, then such child shall be considered a resident pupil of the school district which the child is attending for such period of time when the district of residence is not otherwise liable for tuition. Average daily attendance for students below the age of five years for which a school district may receive state aid based on such attendance shall be computed as regular school term attendance unless otherwise provided by law;

(3) "District's tax rate ceiling", the highest tax rate ceiling in effect subsequent to the 1980 tax year or any subsequent year. Such tax rate ceiling shall not contain any tax levy for debt service;

(4) "Eligible pupils" shall be the sum of the average daily attendance of the school term plus the product of two times the average daily attendance for summer school;

(5) "Equalized assessed valuation of the property of a school district" shall be determined by multiplying the assessed valuation of the real property subclasses specified in section 137.115, RSMo, times the percent of true value as adjusted by the department of elementary and secondary education to an equivalent sales ratio of thirty-three and one-third percent and dividing by either the percent of true value as determined by the state tax commission on or before March fifteenth preceding the fiscal year in which the valuation will be effective as adjusted by the department of elementary and secondary education to an equivalent sales ratio of thirty-three and one-third percent or the average percent of true value for the highest three of the last four years as determined and certified by the state tax commission, whichever is greater. To the equalized locally assessed valuation of each district shall be added the assessed valuation of tangible personal property. The assessed valuation of property which has previously been excluded from the tax rolls, which is being contested as not being taxable and which increases the total assessed valuation of the school district by fifty percent or more, shall not be included in the calculation of equalized assessed valuation under this subdivision;

(6) "Free and reduced lunch eligible pupil count", the number of pupils eligible for free and reduced lunch on the last Wednesday in January for the preceding school year who were enrolled as students of the district, as approved by the department in accordance with applicable federal regulations;

(7) "Guaranteed tax base" means the amount of equalized assessed valuation per eligible pupil guaranteed each school district by the state in the computation of state aid. To compute the guaranteed tax base, school districts shall be ranked annually from lowest to highest according to the amount of equalized assessed valuation per pupil. The guaranteed tax base shall be based upon the amount of equalized assessed valuation per pupil of the school district in which the ninety-fifth percentile of the state aggregate number of pupils falls during the third preceding year and shall be equal to the state average equalized assessed valuation per eligible pupil for the third preceding year times two and one hundred and sixty-seven thousandths. The average equalized assessed valuation per pupil shall be the quotient of the total equalized assessed valuation of the state divided by the number of eligible pupils;

(8) "Membership" shall be the average of (1) the number of resident full-time students and the full-time equivalent number of part-time students who were enrolled in the public schools of the district on the last Wednesday in September of the previous year and who were in attendance one day or more during the preceding ten school days and (2) the number of resident full-time students and the full-time equivalent number of part-time students who were enrolled in the public schools of the district on the last Wednesday in January of the previous year and who were in attendance one day or more during the preceding ten school days, plus the full-time equivalent number of summer school pupils. "Full-time equivalent number of part-time students" is determined by dividing the total number of hours for which all part-time students are enrolled by the number of hours in the school term. "Full-time equivalent number of summer school pupils" is determined by dividing the total number of hours for which all summer school pupils were enrolled by the number of hours required pursuant to section 160.011, RSMo, in the school term. Only students eligible to be counted for average daily attendance shall be counted for membership;

(9) "Operating levy for school purposes", for districts making transfers pursuant to subsection 4 of section 165.011, RSMo, based upon amounts multiplied by the guaranteed tax base, or making payments or expenditures related to obligations made pursuant to section 177.088, RSMo, or any combination of such transfers, payments or expenditures, means the sum of tax rates levied for teachers and incidental funds in the payment year and shall be, after all adjustments and equalization of the operating levy, no less than the minimum value required in section 163.021 for eligibility for increases in state aid as calculated pursuant to section 163.031 [and no greater than a maximum value of four dollars and sixty cents per one hundred dollars assessed valuation.], and, for other districts, including those making transfers pursuant to subsection 7 of section 165.011, RSMo, means the sum of tax rates levied for incidental, teachers, debt service and capital projects funds with no more than eighteen cents of the sum levied in the debt service and capital projects funds. Any portion of the operating levy for school purposes levied in the debt service and capital projects funds in excess of a sum of ten cents must be authorized by a vote of the people, after August 28, 1998, approving an increase in the operating levy, or a full waiver of the rollback pursuant to section 164.013, RSMo, with a tax rate ceiling in excess of the minimum tax rate or an issuance of general obligation bond. In no case shall the operating levy for school purposes for use in section 163.031 be greater than a maximum value of four dollars and sixty cents per one hundred dollars assessed valuation. To equalize the operating levy, multiply the aggregate tax rates for teachers[,] and incidental[, and building] funds by either the percent of true value, as determined by the state tax commission on or before March fifteenth preceding the fiscal year in which the evaluation will be effective as adjusted by the department of elementary and secondary education to an equivalent sales ratio of thirty-three and one-third percent, or the average percent of true value for the highest three of the last four years as determined and certified by the state tax commission, whichever is greater, and divide by the percent of true value as adjusted by the department of elementary and secondary education to an equivalent sales ratio of thirty-three and one-third percent, provided that for any district for which the equivalent sales ratio is equal to or greater than thirty-three and one-third percent, the equalized operating levy shall be the adjusted operating levy. For any county in which the equivalent sales ratio is less than thirty-one and two-thirds percent, the state tax commission shall conduct a second study in that county and shall use a sample at least twice as large as the one originally used. If the new ratio is higher than the original ratio provided by this subdivision, the new ratio shall be used for the purposes of this subdivision and for determining equalized assessed valuation pursuant to subdivision (5) of this section. For the purposes of calculating state aid pursuant to section 163.031, for any district [which has not enacted a voluntary tax rate rollback nor increased the amount of a voluntary tax rate rollback from the previous year's amount], the tax rate before equalization used to determine a district's entitlement shall be [adjusted so that any decrease in the entitlement due to a decrease in the tax rate resulting from the reassessment shall equal the decrease in the deduction for the assessed valuation of the district as a result of the change in the tax rate due to reassessment.] the sum of the adjusted operating levy and the lesser of the tax rate reduction from the previous year to the current year due to reassessment in odd-numbered years, or a year ordered by the state tax commission, or the reduction in the combined adjusted operating levy and capital projects fund levy caused by the reassessment multiplied by the product of one minus the ratio of the district's preceding year assessed valuation per eligible pupil and the guaranteed tax base used in the current year pursuant to section 163.031 multiplied by the district income factor which for the purposes of this section shall not exceed a value of one. The tax rate reduction due to reassessment shall exclude any voted increase in the year of reassessment. The tax rate adjustments required under this subdivision due to reassessment shall be cumulative beginning with the 1995 tax year and shall be applied each year to [determine] the adjusted operating levy of the current year before determining the equalized tax rate used to calculate the entitlement; [except that whenever the actual current operating levy exceeds the tax rate calculated pursuant to this subdivision for the purpose of determining the district's entitlement, then the prior tax rate adjustments required under this subdivision due to reassessment shall be eliminated and shall not be applied in determining the tax rate used to calculate the district entitlement;]

(10) "School purposes" pertains to teachers and incidental funds;

(11) "Teacher" means any teacher, teacher-secretary, substitute teacher, supervisor, principal, supervising principal, superintendent or assistant superintendent, school nurse, social worker, counselor or librarian who shall, regularly, teach or be employed for no higher than grade twelve more than one-half time in the public schools and who is certified under the laws governing the certification of teachers in Missouri;

(12) "Adjusted operating levy", the sum of tax rates for the current year for teachers and incidental funds for a school district as reported to the proper officer of each county pursuant to section 164.011, RSMo;

(13) "Current operating costs", all expenditures for instruction and support services excluding capital outlay and debt service expenditures less the revenue from federal categorical sources, food service, student activities and payments from other districts.

163.021. 1. A school district shall receive state aid for its education program only if it:

(1) Provides for a minimum of one hundred seventy-four days and one thousand forty-four hours of actual pupil attendance in a term scheduled by the board pursuant to section 160.041, RSMo, for each pupil or group of pupils, except that the board shall provide a minimum of one hundred seventy-four days and five hundred twenty-two hours of actual pupil attendance in a term for kindergarten pupils. If any school is dismissed because of inclement weather after school has been in session for three hours, that day shall count as a school day including afternoon session kindergarten students. When the aggregate hours lost in a term due to inclement weather decreases the total hours of the school term below the required minimum number of hours by more than twelve hours for all day students or six hours for one-half day kindergarten students, all such hours below the minimum must be made up in one-half day or full day additions to the term, except as provided in section 171.033, RSMo;

(2) Maintains adequate and accurate records of attendance, personnel and finances, as required by the state board of education, which shall include the preparation of a financial statement which shall be submitted to the state board of education the same as required by the provisions of section 165.111, RSMo, for districts;

(3) Levies an operating levy for school purposes of not less than one dollar and twenty-five cents after all adjustments and reductions on each one hundred dollars assessed valuation of the district;

(4) Computes average daily attendance as defined in subdivision (2) of section 163.011 as modified by section 171.031, RSMo. Whenever there has existed within the district an infectious disease, contagion, epidemic, plague or similar condition whereby the school attendance is substantially reduced for an extended period in any school year, the apportionment of school funds and all other distribution of school moneys shall be made on the basis of the school year next preceding the year in which such condition existed.

2. [No school district shall receive more state aid, as calculated in section 163.031, for its education program than it received per eligible pupil for the school year 1990-91, unless it levies an operating levy for school purposes of not less than two dollars after all adjustments and reductions beginning with the tax year which commences January 1, 1993. For the 1994-95] Beginning with the tax year which commences January 1, 1998, and for the 1998-99 school year and subsequent tax and school years, no school district shall receive more state aid, as calculated under section 163.031 for its education program, exclusive of categorical add-ons, than it received per eligible pupil for the school year 1993-94, unless it has an operating levy for [current] school purposes, as determined pursuant to section 163.011, of not less than two dollars and seventy-five cents after all adjustments and reductions [beginning with the tax year which commences January 1, 1994], with no more than ten cents of this tax rate levied in the debt service and capital projects funds and eligible for entry on line 1 of the state school aid formula contained in subsection 6 of section 163.031; except that, beginning in the 1997-98 school year, any district which is required, pursuant to article X, section 22 of the Missouri Constitution, to reduce its operating levy below the minimum tax rate otherwise required under this subsection shall not be construed to be in violation of this subsection for making such tax rate reduction. Pursuant to section 10(c) of article X of the state constitution, a school district may levy the operating levy for school purposes required by this subsection less all adjustments required pursuant to article X, section 22 of the Missouri Constitution if such rate does not exceed the highest tax rate in effect subsequent to the 1980 tax year. Nothing in this section shall be construed to mean that a school district is guaranteed to receive an amount not less than the amount the school district received per eligible pupil for the school year 1990-91. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any school district located in a county of the second classification which has a nuclear power plant located in such district or to any school district located in a county of the third classification which has an electric power generation unit with a rated generating capacity of more than one hundred fifty megawatts which is owned or operated or both by a rural electric cooperative except that such school districts may levy for current school purposes and capital projects an operating levy not to exceed two dollars and seventy-five cents less all adjustments required pursuant to article X, section 22 of the Missouri Constitution.

3. No school district shall receive more state aid, as calculated in section 163.031, for its education program, exclusive of categorical add-ons, than it received per eligible pupil for the school year 1993-1994, if the state board of education determines that the district was not in compliance in the preceding school year with the requirements of section 163.172, until such time as the board determines that the district is again in compliance with the requirements of section 163.172.

4. The department of elementary and secondary education shall evaluate the correlation between district tax rates and district assessed valuation per pupil following each biennial property tax reassessment and shall report its findings to the governor and the general assembly by December first of the year following each reassessment. The findings shall include a calculation of the minimum required property tax rate necessary to maintain a correlation of zero or less between district property tax rate and district assessed valuation per pupil and a report of assessed valuation per pupil and district property tax rate for all districts.

5. No school district shall receive state aid, pursuant to section 163.031, if such district was not in compliance, during the preceding school year, with the requirement, established pursuant to section 160.530, RSMo, to allocate revenue to the professional development committee of the district.

6. No school district shall receive more state aid, as calculated in section 163.031, for its education program, exclusive of categorical add-ons, than it received per eligible pupil for the school year 1993-1994, if the district did not comply in the preceding school year with the requirements of subsection 7 of section 163.031.

7. No school district shall receive state aid, pursuant to section 163.031, if the district failed to make a required payment in the preceding year to the school building revolving fund pursuant to section 166.300, RSMo.

163.036. 1. In computing the amount of state aid a school district is entitled to receive under section 163.031, a school district may use an estimate of the number of eligible pupils for the ensuing year or the number of eligible pupils for the immediately preceding year or, if membership for the ensuing year is six percent or more less than membership of the second preceding year, the number of eligible pupils for the second preceding year, whichever is greater. Any error made in the apportionment of state aid because of a difference between the actual number of eligible pupils and the estimated number of eligible pupils shall be corrected as provided in section 163.091, except that if the amount paid to a district estimating eligible pupils exceeds the amount to which the district was actually entitled by more than five percent, interest at the rate of six percent shall be charged on the excess and shall be added to the amount to be deducted from the district's apportionment the next succeeding year.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 1 of this section or any other provision of law, the state board of education shall make an adjustment for the immediately preceding year for any increase in the actual number of eligible pupils above the number on which the state aid in section 163.031 was calculated. Said adjustment shall be made in the manner providing for correction of errors under subsection 1 of this section.

3. For the purposes of distribution of state school aid pursuant to section 163.031, a school district may elect to use the district's equalized assessed valuation for the preceding year, or an estimate of the current year's assessed valuation if the current year's equalized assessed valuation is estimated to be more than ten percent less than the district's equalized assessed valuation for the preceding year. A district shall give prior notice to the department of its intention to use the current year's assessed valuation pursuant to this subsection. Any error made in the apportionment of state aid because of a difference between the actual equalized assessed valuation for the current year and the estimated equalized assessed valuation for the current year shall be corrected as provided in section 163.091, except that if the amount paid to a district estimating current equalized assessed valuation exceeds the amount to which the district was actually entitled, interest at the rate of six percent shall be charged on the excess and shall be added to the amount to be deducted from the district's apportionment the next succeeding year.

163.172. 1. In school year [1994-95 and thereafter] 1997-1998, the minimum teacher's salary shall be eighteen thousand dollars. [Beginning in the school year 1996-97, for] In school year 1999-2000, the minimum teacher's salary shall be nineteen thousand dollars. In school year 2000-2001 and thereafter, the minimum teacher's salary shall be twenty thousand dollars. Any full-time teacher with at least a master's degree and at least ten years teaching experience in a public school or combination of public schools, the minimum salary shall be twenty-four thousand dollars. For full-time teachers with at least a master's degree and at least ten years teaching experience their minimum salary in school year 1999-2000 shall be twenty-five thousand dollars and in school year 2000-2001 and thereafter their minimum salary shall be twenty-six thousand dollars.

2. Beginning with the budget requests for fiscal year 1991, the commissioner of education shall present to the appropriate committees of the general assembly information on the average Missouri teacher's salary, regional average salary data, and national average salary data.

3. All school salary information shall be public information.

4. As used in this section, the term "salary" shall be defined as the salary figure which appears on the teacher's contract and as determined by the local school district's basic salary schedule and does not include supplements for extra duties or career ladder payments.

5. The minimum salary for any fully certificated teacher employed on a less than full-time basis by a school district, state school for the severely handicapped, the Missouri School for the Deaf, or the Missouri School for the Blind shall be prorated to reflect the amounts provided in subsections 1 and 2 of this section.

6. Beginning with the 1996-97 school year, the general assembly shall make an annual appropriation to the excellence in education fund established in section 160.268, RSMo, for the purpose of fulfilling the minimum salary requirements for public school teachers in those districts meeting the qualifications established in subsection 7 of this section. The appropriation shall be sufficient to ensure that all qualifying districts are able to comply with the minimum salary requirements of this section. The department of elementary and secondary education shall determine, prior to each school year, those districts which shall be eligible to receive funds in this subsection during the school year. [A qualifying district shall be eligible to receive funds appropriated in this subsection only during the first three years following the district's qualifying for such funds.

7. To qualify to begin receiving funds in subsection 6 of this section, a school district shall meet all of the following criteria:

(1) A portion of the real property of the district shall have been removed from the tax rolls due to the impact of state or federal government action;

(2) The district shall have received no more state aid on a per pupil basis for each of the last three school years, exclusive of categorical funding, than the district received for the 1992-93 school year;

(3) The salaries paid to all teachers in the district for the school year prior to qualification shall be totally compacted at the eighteen thousand dollar per year minimum established in this section;

(4) The district shall have in its employ for the school year prior to qualification one or more teachers with a master's degree and at least ten years' teaching experience in a public school or a combination of public schools;

(5) The district shall be financially distressed or have a history of deficit spending which, if continued, will cause the district to become financially distressed within three years;

(6) The district had an enrollment of no greater than four hundred pupils for the preceding school year; and

(7) The district shall have levied an operating levy for school purposes of not less than two dollars seventy-five cents per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation for the previous year and shall continue to levy at no less than that rate.

8. For any school year in which a school district receives funds pursuant to subsections 6 and 7 of this section, such school district shall continue to expend on teacher salaries no less than the amount it expended on teacher salaries in the school year immediately prior to the school year in which it first receives such funds.

9. No school district receiving funds pursuant to subsections 6 and 7 of this section shall receive additional funds pursuant to subsection 6 of this section by virtue of the annexation of another school district to such school district during or after the school year immediately prior to the school year in which the annexing district first receives such funds; nor shall any school district annexed to a school district receiving funds pursuant to subsections 6 and 7 of this section also receive funds pursuant to subsection 6 of this section by virtue of such annexation if such annexation occurred during or after the school year immediately prior to the school year in which the annexing school district first receives such funds.]

7. For any school year in which a school district receives funds pursuant to this section, such school district:

(1) Shall not increase any voluntary property tax rollback;

(2) Shall be in compliance with the compensation compliance ratio provisions for certificated staff as described in subsection 5 of section 165.011, RSMo, before the minimum salary payment as provided in this section is added to the numerator and denominator of the compensation compliance ratio;

(3) Shall have completed transfers from the incidental fund to the capital projects fund or the debt service fund in conformity with the requirements of section 165.011, RSMo, or section 163.021.

8. Districts in financial stress as defined in sections 161.520 and 161.525, RSMo, are exempted from the requirements of subsection 7 of this section and must comply with all requirements of sections 161.520 and 161.527, RSMo, and operate under an approved budget and education plan to qualify for funds pursuant to this section.

164.221. Whenever any bonds of any school district are redeemed or paid off, the bonds shall be burned or shredded in the presence of two members of the school board and two other credible persons as witnesses of the fact or by the financial institution acting as the paying agent. The secretary or clerk of the board shall record in the books of the district a description of the bonds so destroyed by noting the date when issued and when due, and the number and amount of each of the bonds, and the names of the members of the board and of the witnesses who [are] were present at the burning or shredding of the bonds by the school district or enter the destruction certificate issued by the financial institution, which acted as the paying agent, which shall show the date of issue, when due, and the number and amount of each bond destroyed into the books of the district.

165.011. 1. The following funds are created for the accounting of all school moneys: teachers' fund, incidental fund, free textbook fund, capital projects fund and debt service fund. The treasurer of the school district shall open an account for each fund specified in this section, and all moneys received from the county school fund and all moneys derived from taxation for teachers' wages shall be placed to the credit of the teachers' fund. All tuition fees, state moneys received under sections 162.975, RSMo, and 163.031, RSMo, and all other moneys received from the state except as herein provided shall be placed to the credit of the teachers' and incidental funds at the discretion of the district board of education. The portion of state aid received by the district pursuant to section 163.031, RSMo, based upon the portion of the tax rate in the debt service or capital projects funds, respectively, which is included in the operating levy for school purposes pursuant to section 163.011, RSMo, shall be placed proportionately to the credit of the debt service fund or capital projects fund, respectively. Money received from other districts for transportation, and money derived from taxation for incidental expenses shall be credited to the incidental fund. Money apportioned for free textbooks shall be credited to the free textbook fund. All money derived from taxation or received from any other source for the erection of buildings or additions thereto and the remodeling or reconstruction of buildings and the furnishing thereof, for the payment of lease purchase obligations, for the purchase of real estate, or from sale of real estate, schoolhouses or other buildings of any kind, or school furniture, from insurance, from sale of bonds other than refunding bonds shall be placed to the credit of the capital projects fund. All moneys derived from the sale or lease of sites, buildings, facilities, furnishings and equipment by a school district as authorized under section 177.088, RSMo, shall be credited to the capital projects fund. Money derived from taxation for the retirement of bonds and the payment of interest thereon shall be credited to the debt service fund which shall be maintained as a separate bank account. Receipts from delinquent taxes shall be allocated to the several funds on the same basis as receipts from current taxes, except that where the previous years' obligations of the district would be affected by such distribution, the delinquent taxes shall be distributed according to the tax levies made for the years in which the obligations were incurred. All refunds received shall be placed to the credit of the fund from which the original expenditures were made. Money donated to the school districts shall be placed to the credit of the fund where it can be expended to meet the purpose for which it was donated and accepted. Money received from any other source whatsoever shall be placed to the credit of the fund or funds designated by the board.

2. The school board may expend from the incidental fund the sum that is necessary for the ordinary repairs of school property and an amount not to exceed the sum of expenditures for classroom instructional capital outlay, as defined by the department of elementary and secondary education by rule, in state-approved area vocational-technical schools and .06 dollars per one hundred dollars equalized assessed valuation multiplied by the guaranteed tax base for the second preceding year multiplied by the number of resident and nonresident eligible pupils educated in the district for the second preceding year for classroom instructional capital outlay, including but not limited to payments authorized pursuant to section 177.088, RSMo. Any and all payments authorized under section 177.088, RSMo, except as otherwise provided in this subsection, for the purchase or lease of sites, buildings, facilities, furnishings and equipment and all other expenditures for capital outlay shall be made from the capital projects fund. If a balance remains in the free textbook fund after books are furnished to pupils as provided in section 170.051, RSMo, it shall be transferred to the teachers' fund. The board may transfer the portion of the balance remaining in the incidental fund to the teachers' fund that is necessary for the total payment of all contracted obligations to teachers. If a balance remains in the debt service fund, after the total outstanding indebtedness for which the fund was levied is paid, the board may transfer the unexpended balance to the capital projects fund. If a balance remains in the bond proceeds after completion of the project for which the bonds were issued, the balance shall be transferred from the incidental or capital projects fund to the debt service fund. After making all placements of interest otherwise provided by law, a school district may transfer from the capital projects fund to the incidental fund the interest earned from undesignated balances in the capital projects fund.

3. Tuition shall be paid from either the teachers' or incidental funds.

4. Other provisions of law to the contrary notwithstanding, the school board of a school district that satisfies the criteria specified in subsection 5 of this section may transfer from the incidental fund to the capital projects fund an amount not to exceed the greater of zero or the sum of .18 dollars per one hundred dollars equalized assessed valuation multiplied by the guaranteed tax base for the second preceding year multiplied by the number of resident and nonresident eligible pupils educated in the district for the second preceding year and the amount to be expended for transportation equipment that is considered an allowable cost under state board of education rules for transportation reimbursements during the current year and any amount necessary to satisfy obligations of the capital projects fund for state-approved area vocational-technical schools and an amount not to exceed .06 dollars per one hundred dollars equalized assessed valuation multiplied by the guaranteed tax base for the second preceding year multiplied by the number of resident and nonresident eligible pupils educated in the district and eligible pupils for whom the district paid tuition for the second preceding year less any amount transferred pursuant to subsection 7 of this section, [provided that any amount transferred pursuant to this subsection shall only be transferred as necessary to satisfy obligations of the capital projects fund] and less any amount expended from the incidental fund for classroom instructional capital outlay pursuant to subsection 2 of this section. For the purposes of this subsection, the guaranteed tax base and a district's count of resident and nonresident eligible pupils educated in the district shall not be less than their respective values calculated from data for the 1992-93 school year.

5. In order to transfer funds pursuant to subsection 4 of this section, a school district shall:

(1) Meet the minimum criteria for state aid and for increases in state aid for the current year established pursuant to section 163.021, RSMo;

(2) Not incur a total debt, including short-term debt and bonded indebtedness in excess of ten percent of the guaranteed tax base for the preceding payment year multiplied by the number of resident and nonresident eligible pupils educated in the district in the preceding year;

(3) Set tax rates pursuant to section 164.011, RSMo;

(4) First apply any voluntary rollbacks or reductions to the total tax rate levied to the teachers' and incidental funds;

(5) In order to be eligible to transfer funds for paying lease purchase obligations:

(a) Incur such obligations, except for obligations for lease purchase for school buses, prior to January 1, 1997;

(b) Limit the term of such obligations to no more than twenty years;

(c) Limit annual installment payments on such obligations to an amount no greater than the amount of the payment for the first full year of the obligation, including all payments of principal and interest, except that the amount of the final payment shall be limited to an amount no greater than two times the amount of such first-year payment;

(d) Limit such payments to leasing nonathletic, classroom, instructional facilities as defined by the state board of education through rule; and

(e) Not offer instruction at a higher grade level than was offered by the district on July 12, 1994.

6. A school district shall be eligible to transfer funds pursuant to subsection 7 of this section if:

(1) Prior to August 28, 1993:

(a) The school district incurred an obligation for the purpose of funding payments under a lease purchase contract authorized under section 177.088, RSMo;

(b) The school district notified the appropriate local election official to place an issue before the voters of the district for the purpose of funding payments under a lease purchase contract authorized under section 177.088, RSMo; or

(c) An issue for funding payments under a lease purchase contract authorized under section 177.088, RSMo, was approved by the voters of the district; or

(2) Prior to November 1, 1993, a school board adopted a resolution authorizing an action necessary to comply with subsection 9 of section 177.088, RSMo. Any increase in the operating levy of a district above the 1993 tax rate resulting from passage of an issue described in paragraph (b) of subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be considered as part of the 1993 tax rate for the purposes of subsection 1 of section 164.011, RSMo.

7. Prior to transferring funds pursuant to subsection 4 of this section, a school district may transfer, pursuant to this subsection, from the incidental fund to the capital projects [funds] fund an amount as necessary to satisfy an obligation of the capital projects fund that satisfies at least one of the conditions specified in subsection 6 of this section, but not to exceed its payments authorized under section 177.088, RSMo, for the purchase or lease of sites, buildings, facilities, furnishings, equipment, and all other expenditures for capital outlay, plus the amount to be expended for transportation equipment that is considered an allowable cost under state board of education rules for transportation reimbursements during the current year plus any amount necessary to satisfy obligations of the capital projects fund for state-approved area vocational-technical schools. A school district with a levy for school purposes no greater than the minimum levy specified in section 163.021, RSMo, and an obligation in the capital projects fund that satisfies at least one of the conditions specified in subsection 6 of this section, may transfer from the incidental fund to the capital projects fund the amount necessary to meet the obligation plus the transfers pursuant to subsection 4 of this section.

8. Beginning in the 1995-96 school year, the department of elementary and secondary education shall deduct from a school district's state aid calculated pursuant to section 163.031, RSMo, an amount equal to the amount of any transfer of funds from the incidental fund to the capital projects fund performed during the previous year in violation of this section.

9. On or before June 30, [1995] 1999, a school district may transfer to the capital projects fund from the balances of the teachers' and incidental funds any amount, but only to the extent that the amount transferred pursuant to this subsection after June 30, 1995, is equal to or less than the amount that the teachers' and incidental fund unrestricted balances on [June 30] July 1, 1995, [are equal to or greater than] exceeded eight percent of expenditures from the teachers' and incidental funds for the year ending June 30, 1995; provided that the repeal and re-enactment of this section shall not be construed to increase the total amount of transfers allowed by a district above that amount the district was authorized to make on or before June 30, 1995, pursuant to this subsection.

10. In addition to other transfers authorized under subsections 1 to 9 of this section, a district may transfer from the teachers' and incidental funds to the capital projects fund the amount necessary to repay costs of one or more guaranteed energy savings performance contracts to renovate buildings in the school district; provided that the contract is only for energy conservation measures, as defined in section 640.651, RSMo, and provided that the contract specifies that no payment or total of payments shall be required from the school district until at least an equal total amount of energy and energy-related operating savings and payments from the vendor pursuant to the contract have been realized by the school district.

165.031. If a check issued by any school district in this state is lost or destroyed and satisfactory proof of the loss or destruction is made to the board of the school district which has issued the check, [and the depositary upon which the check was drawn certifies that the check has not been presented for payment,] the board of the district may cause to be issued a duplicate check [of like number, date and amount,] in favor of the payee named in the original check. [The words, "this duplicate, the original unpaid", shall be inserted in the check after the name of the payee and the board immediately shall cause the depositary to be notified of the issue of the duplicate and the depositary shall pay the duplicate, but not the original, when presented for payment under the conditions which would have entitled the original to payment. The applicant for the duplicate check also shall execute and deliver to the treasurer a bond payable to the school district in the amount of the check with good and sufficient security to be approved by the treasurer and conditioned that the applicant will indemnify the school district, or any legal holder of the original check, for any loss which occurs in case the original check is produced or presented for payment. The bond may be enforced by suit in the name of obligee to its own use or to the use of the party entitled to the benefit thereof. Any municipal corporation or other political subdivision of the state to which, or to whose fiscal officer, any original lost or destroyed school check was payable, pursuant to resolution of its governing body, may execute the bond, and in such cases the bond may be accepted without surety or other security.]

165.221. [For the purpose of letting the funds the board shall divide the funds into not less than two nor more than ten equal parts. Each bidder may bid for any number of the parts, but the bid for each part shall be separate.] Any banking institution in the county or in an adjoining county desiring to bid shall deliver to the secretary of the board, on or before the date selected for the acceptance of bids, a sealed bid, stating the rate of interest that the banking institution offers to pay on [one part of the funds and] moneys of the school district for the term of one year or two years, as the case may be, next ensuing the date of the bid; or if the selection is made for a less term as provided in sections 165.201 to 165.291, then for the time between the date of the bid and the next regular time for the selection of depositaries, as fixed by section 165.211. Each bid shall be accompanied by a check in favor of the school district, on some solvent banking institution in the county or an adjoining county, duly certified, for not less than two thousand five hundred dollars, as a guaranty of good faith on the part of the bidder that if any of its bids are accepted by the board it will deposit the security required by law. It is a misdemeanor for the secretary of the board to directly or indirectly disclose the amount of any bid before the selection of depositaries.

166.131. The county commission in each county shall administer the county school fund of the county. In each county wherein the annual distribution of the liquidated capital of the county school fund has not been ordered by the voters pursuant to sections 166.151 to 166.161, the proceeds of the fund shall be invested by the county commission in registered bonds of the United States, or in bonds of the state or in approved bonds of any city or school district thereof, or in bonds or other securities the payment of which is fully guaranteed by the United States government and shall be preserved as a county school fund. Annually, on or before September thirtieth, in each county of the state all interest accruing from the investment of the capital of the county school fund, if any, the clear proceeds of all penalties[, forfeitures] and fines collected for any breach of the penal laws of the state, the net proceeds from the sale of estrays, and all other money lawfully coming into the fund, shall be collected and distributed to the school districts of the county by the county clerk in the same proportion that the September membership of a school district, determined as provided in (1) of subdivision (8) of section 163.011, RSMo, bears to the sum of the September membership of all the districts in the county. He shall immediately after making the apportionments enter them in a book to be kept for that purpose, and shall furnish each district clerk a copy of the apportionment. The county treasurer shall pay over to the treasurer of the school board of every district in the county the amount due each respective district. The clear proceeds of all forfeitures collected for any breach of the penal laws of the state distributed for education shall be transferred to the school building revolving fund.

166.300. 1. As used in this section, the following words and phrase shall mean:

(1) "Capital improvement projects", expenditures for lands or existing buildings, improvements of grounds, construction of buildings, additions to buildings, remodeling of buildings and initial equipment purchases;

(2) "School facility", a structure dedicated primarily to housing teachers and students in the instructional process, but shall not include buildings dedicated primarily to administrative and support functions within the school.

2. There is hereby created a revolving fund to be known as the "School Building Revolving Fund". All forfeitures of assets transferred pursuant to section 166.131, all gifts and bequests to such fund, and such moneys as may be appropriated to the fund shall be deposited into the school building revolving fund; except that no more than four hundred forty million dollars, in the aggregate, shall be transferred to the fund. After a fund balance has been established by prior years' deposits and interest, school districts may submit [requests] applications for [loans and grants] lease purchases from the revolving fund for specific projects consistent with rules and regulations of the state board of education and subsection 3 of this section, except that no school district may be permitted to [receive a loan] enter into a lease purchase from the school building revolving fund without first submitting a long-range capital improvements plan.

3. To be eligible for [loans or grants] a lease purchase authorized by this section:

(1) A school district shall meet the minimum criteria for state aid and for increases in state aid established pursuant to section 163.021, RSMo;

(2) A school district shall provide a program which is accredited by the state board of education for grades kindergarten through twelve or for grades kindergarten through eight; and

(3) [A school district shall not incur a total debt, including short-term debt and bonded indebtedness in excess of ten percent of the guaranteed tax base for the current payment year multiplied by the number of eligible pupils in the district in the preceding year.] A school district shall have an equalized, assessed valuation per eligible pupil for the preceding year which is less than the statewide average equalized, assessed valuation per eligible pupil for the preceding year; and

(4) A school district shall have a bonded indebtedness which is no less than ninety percent of the constitutional limitation on indebtedness pursuant to section 26(b) of article VI of the Constitution of Missouri.

4. [If the balance in the school building revolving fund is insufficient to fund project plans for capital improvements, applications shall be funded based upon a priority ranking.] Lease purchase applications shall be funded, as funds allow, first for all applications pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection and then for applications pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection and then for applications pursuant to subdivision (3) of this subsection, and for funding of applications pursuant to a particular subdivision, applications shall be funded in the order that the applications are received by the department. If two or more applications are received on the same day, the district with the lowest appraised valuation per pupil shall be given priority. Ranking of the [projects] applications for offering of lease purchases shall be [based upon the following variables] done in the following order:

(1) [A rating of provisionally accredited or unaccredited as determined by the state board of education pursuant to section 161.092, RSMo, based upon the condition and adequacy of facilities pursuant to section 163.023, RSMo, and section 160.538, RSMo;] Districts with capital replacement costs in excess of insurance proceeds due to facility destruction caused by fire or natural disaster shall be ranked on the basis of percentage of bonding capacity;

(2) [Equalized assessed valuation per eligible pupil;] Districts with a cumulative percentage growth in fall membership for the third through the fifth preceding years in excess of twelve percent and which have a bonded indebtedness which is no less than ninety percent of the constitutional limitation on indebtedness pursuant to section 26(b) of article VI of the Constitution of Missouri; and

(3) [Increasing enrollment;

(4) Age or condition of facility; and

(5) Building destruction due to fire or natural disaster.

5. The state board of education shall promulgate, by rule, the methodology for prioritizing projects based upon these variables.] Districts with an equalized assessed valuation per pupil which is less than the statewide average equalized assessed valuation per pupil and which have a bonded indebtedness which is no less than ninety percent of the constitutional limitation on indebtedness pursuant to section 26(b) of article VI of the Constitution of Missouri.

5. When building replacement is caused by fire or natural disaster, the requirement for a school district to have a long-range capital improvements plan may be waived by the state board of education.

6. Each school district participating in a lease purchase from the school building revolving fund shall repay such lease purchase in no more than ten annual payments made on or before June thirtieth of each year. The first such payment shall be due and payable on June thirtieth of the first full fiscal year following receipt of lease purchase proceeds. Lease purchase repayments shall be immediately deposited to the school building revolving fund by the department. Interest charged to the school district shall not exceed three percent.

7. Any school district which fails to obligate the full amount of a loan from the school building revolving fund for the allowable lease purchase must return the unobligated amount plus interest earned to the department no later than June thirtieth of the second full fiscal year after receipt of loan proceeds.

8. If a school district fails to make an annual payment to the school building revolving fund after notice of nonpayment by the department, members of the board of education and the school district's superintendent shall have violated section 162.091, RSMo, and the attorney general of the state of Missouri shall be notified by the state board of education to begin prosecution procedures.

9. All property purchased pursuant to a lease purchase from the school building revolving fund shall remain the property of the state until such time as the lease purchase has been fully repaid pursuant to this section. If a school district does not make an annual payment to the school building revolving fund after notice of nonpayment by the department, the state board of education may, if the delinquency exceeds one hundred eighty days, take possession of the property. As a part of the lease purchase agreement, the school district shall agree to assume all costs, obligations and liabilities for or arising out of establishment, operation and maintenance of the lease purchase property. Other provisions of law to the contrary notwithstanding, neither the state nor any state agency shall have any obligation for such costs, obligations or liabilities unless and until the state board of education takes possession of the property pursuant to this subsection upon a school district's failure to make annual payments as required in the lease purchase agreement.

10. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 33.080, RSMo, to the contrary, moneys in the school building revolving fund shall not be transferred to the credit of the general revenue fund at the end of the biennium. All yield, interest, income, increment or gain received from time deposit of moneys in the state treasury to the credit of the fund shall be credited by the state treasurer to the fund.

167.161. 1. The school board of any district, after notice to parents or others having custodial care and a hearing upon charges preferred, may suspend or expel a pupil for conduct which is prejudicial to good order and discipline in the schools or which tends to impair the morale or good conduct of the pupils. In addition to the authority granted in section 167.171, a school board may authorize, by general rule, the immediate removal of a pupil upon a finding by the principal, superintendent, or school board that the pupil poses a threat of harm to such pupil or others, as evidenced by the prior conduct of such pupil. Prior disciplinary actions shall not be used as the sole basis for removal, suspension or expulsion of a pupil. Removal of any pupil who is a student with a disability is subject to state and federal procedural rights. At the hearing upon any such removal, suspension or expulsion, the board shall consider the evidence and statements that the parties present and may consider records of past disciplinary actions, criminal court records or juvenile court records consistent with other provisions of the law, or the actions of the pupil which would constitute a criminal offense. The board may provide by general rule not inconsistent with this section for the procedure and conduct of such hearings. After meeting with the superintendent or his designee to discuss the expulsion, the parent, custodian or the student, if at least eighteen years of age, may, in writing, waive any right to a hearing before the board of education.

2. The school board [of any district, after notice to parents or others having custodial care and a hearing upon the matter, may suspend] may authorize by general rule the suspension of a pupil upon a finding that the pupil has been charged, convicted or pled guilty in a court of general jurisdiction for the commission of a felony criminal violation of state or federal law. [At a hearing required by this subsection, the board shall consider statements that the parties present. The board may provide for the procedure and conduct of such hearings.]

3. The school board shall make a good-faith effort to have the parents or others having custodial care present at any such hearing. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, student discipline hearings or proceedings related to the rights of students to attend school or to receive academic credit shall not be required to comply with the requirements applicable to contested case hearings as provided in chapter 536, RSMo, provided that appropriate due process procedures shall be observed which shall include the right for a trial de novo by the circuit court.

167.191. It is unlawful for any child to attend any of the public schools of this state while afflicted with any contagious or infectious disease, or while liable to transmit such disease after having been exposed to it. For the purpose of determining the diseased condition, or the liability of transmitting the disease, the teacher or [board of directors] principal may require any child to be examined by a physician, and exclude the child from school so long as there is any liability of such disease being transmitted by the pupil. If the parent or guardian refuses to have an examination made by a physician at the request of the teacher or [board of directors] principal, the teacher or [board of directors] principal may exclude the child from school. Any parent or guardian who persists in sending a child to school, after having been examined as provided by this section, and found to be afflicted with any contagious or infectious disease, or liable to transmit the disease, or refuses to have the child examined as herein provided, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than five nor more than one hundred dollars.

167.211. Any school board may install in the school buildings under its care the necessary apparatus and appliances, and purchase the necessary food to enable it to provide and sell lunches to children attending the schools. [Lunches shall not be sold for a less price than the cost of the food, exclusive of the cost of the necessary apparatus and appliances and exclusive of costs necessary and incidental to the purchase of the food and the preparing and serving of the lunches; except that in cities which have five hundred thousand inhabitants or more, any surplus fund derived from the sale of lunches may, in the discretion of the board of education of the city, be used to furnish lunches at less than cost to the public school pupils of compulsory school age who would otherwise be unable, by reason of insufficient nutrition, to attend school and to pursue the courses of study prescribed.]

167.251. When transportation is provided by a district pursuant to law, the school board shall [make] adopt all necessary policies and approve all needful rules and regulations for the transportation of pupils [and shall require from every person employed for that purpose, a reasonable bond conditioned upon the faithful discharge of his duties as prescribed by the board]. Expenses of transportation, except capital expenditures, shall be paid out of the incidental fund of the district.

167.260. 1. Any local school district offering to all pupils who are eligible by age pursuant to section 163.017, RSMo a full day of kindergarten within the school calendar as prepared pursuant to section 171.031, RSMo, shall be eligible for state aid for a program for developmentally delayed children ages three and four as defined in section 178.691, RSMo, and for children from at-risk families as defined in section 167.273. State aid shall be provided for no more than a half-day program within the district's school calendar. At a minimum such eligible child shall reach the age of three before the first day of [October] August prior to the start of the school year. Such program shall emphasize social skills, physical development and preparation for kindergarten.

2. The state board of education shall approve such programs and distribute state aid.

167.268. 1. Each local school district shall have on file a policy for reading intervention plans for any pupils of the district in grades kindergarten through three pursuant to the provisions of this section. Such plans shall identify strategies to be followed by the district teachers to raise a pupil identified as reading below grade level by recognized methods to reading at grade level by the end of the third grade. Recognized methods of identification may include but need not be limited to the scores of the pupil obtained through any established standardized testing program currently administered by the district, observations of classroom teachers, and documented classroom performance.

2. The state board of education shall develop guidelines to assist districts in formulating policies for reading intervention plans. Such guidelines may include, but are not limited to, timelines for measuring pupil improvement in reading[, information on screening for and treatment of auditory dyslexia, and information on the Lindamood Auditory Conceptualization Test and the Auditory Discrimination in Depth Program. Such guidelines may also identify performance levels for pupils identified as handicapped or severely handicapped and conditions under which such pupils are exempt from the provisions of this section].

3. Each local school district enrolling a pupil identified as reading below grade level shall develop an individual plan of reading intervention for such pupil. The individual pupil's plan may include individual or group reading development activities. The plan may be developed after consultation with the pupil's parent or legal guardian. No student shall be promoted until and unless the student has shown the ability to read within one grade level of the grade he or she is leaving, unless the student has a disability and is receiving special education services pursuant to sections 162.670 to 162.999, RSMo.

167.275. 1. Effective January 1, 1991, all public and nonpublic secondary schools shall report to the state literacy hot line office in Jefferson City the name, mailing address and telephone number of all students sixteen years of age or older who drop out of school for any reason other than to attend another school, college or university, or enlist in the armed services. Such reports shall be made either by using the telephone hot line number or on forms developed by the department of elementary and secondary education. Upon such notification, the state literacy hot line office shall contact the student who has been reported and refer that student to the nearest location that provides adult basic education instruction leading to the completion of a general educational development certificate.

2. The department shall annually report the four-year public high school graduation rate for the previous year for the state and for each school district to the governor and general assembly on or before December fifteenth of the school year. School districts shall annually report all attendance and dropout information required by the department by rule to calculate the graduation rates. For the purposes of this section, the "four-year public high school graduation rate" shall be the quotient of the number of graduates in the current year as of June thirtieth divided by the sum of the number of graduates in the current year as of June thirtieth plus the number of twelfth-graders who dropped out in the current year plus the number of eleventh-graders who dropped out in the preceding year plus the number of tenth-graders who dropped out in the second preceding year plus the number of ninth-graders who dropped out in the third preceding year. Such school shall provide the number of years such drop out students have attended the reporting school district.

168.181. The school board [in every school district containing a city which has a population of not less than ten thousand inhabitants] may[:

(1) Employ the clerical help and telephone service which the board, in its judgment, deems necessary to administer the affairs of the public school system in the school district.

(2)] employ a business manager for the school district, at a salary to be fixed by the board for a term of not to exceed four years unless sooner removed for cause by the board, who shall, under the direction of the board, perform the duties delegated to him by the board relating to the business management of the school district. Under the direction of the board he shall have charge of the purchasing of all supplies and materials for the repair and maintenance of the school buildings and other buildings owned by the school district and the upkeep of all buildings and grounds of the school district. He shall, as far as possible, relieve the superintendent of schools of the business management of the school district, now delegated to superintendents of the school districts by school boards, so as to enable the superintendent to devote his full time to educational matters within the school district. The business manager shall at all times be subject to the direction and supervision of the school board in all duties he performs.

168.201. The board of education in all districts except metropolitan districts may employ and contract with a superintendent for a term not to exceed three years [from the time of making the contract,] and may employ such other servants and agents as it deems necessary, and prescribe their powers, duties, compensation and term of office or employment which shall not exceed three years. It shall provide and keep a corporate seal.

168.211. 1. In metropolitan districts the superintendent of schools shall be appointed by the board of education for a term of one to four years, during which term his compensation shall not be reduced. In the event the board shall dismiss the superintendent during said term, he shall be paid compensation only for the balance of the current year. The superintendent of schools shall appoint, with the approval of the board, a treasurer, a commissioner of school buildings and he shall serve at the pleasure of the superintendent of schools and as many associate and assistant superintendents as he deems necessary, whose compensation shall be fixed by the board. [The superintendent of schools shall give bond in the sum that the board requires but not less than fifty thousand dollars.] No employee or agent of the board shall be a member of the board.

2. The superintendent of schools shall have general supervision, subject to the control of the board, of the school system, including its various departments and physical properties, courses of instruction, discipline and conduct of the schools, textbooks and studies. All appointments, promotions and transfers of teachers, and introduction and changes of textbooks and apparatus, shall be made by the superintendent with the approval of the board. All appointments and promotions of teachers shall be made upon the basis of merit, to be ascertained, as far as practicable, in cases of appointment, by examination, and in cases of promotion, by length and character of service. Examinations for appointment shall be conducted by the superintendent under regulations to be made by the board. He shall make such reports to the board that it directs or the rules provide.

3. The superintendent of schools shall have general supervision, subject to the approval of the board, of all school buildings, apparatus, equipment and school grounds and of their construction, installation, operation, repair, care and maintenance; the purchasing of all supplies and equipment; the operation of the school lunchrooms; the administration of examinations for the appointment and promotion of all employees of the school system; and the preparation and administration of the annual budget for the school system. Subject to the approval of the board of education as to number and salaries, the superintendent may appoint as many employees as are necessary for the proper performance of his duties.

4. The board may grant a leave of absence to the superintendent of schools, and may remove him from office by vote of a majority of its members.

5. The commissioner of school buildings shall be a person qualified by reason of education, experience and general familiarity with buildings and personnel to assume the following responsibilities and duties. Subject to the control of the superintendent of schools, he shall exercise supervision over all school buildings, machinery, heating systems, equipment, school grounds and other buildings and premises of the board of education and the construction, installation, operation, repair, care and maintenance related thereto and the personnel connected therewith; the purchasing of building supplies and equipment and such other duties as may be assigned to him by board rules or regulations, provided that this provision shall not apply to any commissioner of school buildings serving on October 13, 1967.

168.221. 1. The first [three] five years of employment of all teachers [and principals] entering the employment of the metropolitan school district shall be deemed a period of probation during which period all appointments of teachers [and principals] shall expire at the end of each school year. During the probationary period any probationary teacher [or principal] whose work is unsatisfactory shall be furnished by the superintendent of schools with a written statement setting forth the nature of his incompetency. If improvement satisfactory to the superintendent is not made within one semester after the receipt of the statement, the probationary teacher [or principal] shall be dismissed. The semester granted the probationary teacher [or principal] in which to improve shall not in any case be a means of prolonging the probationary period beyond [three] five years and six months from the date on which the teacher [or principal] entered the employ of the board of education. The superintendent of schools on or before the fifteenth day of April in each year shall notify probationary teachers [or principals] who will not be retained by the school district of the termination of their services. Any probationary teacher [or principal] who is not so notified shall be deemed to have been appointed for the next school year.

2. After completion of satisfactory probationary services, appointments of teachers [and principals] shall become permanent, subject to removal for any one or more causes herein described and to the right of the board to terminate the services of all who attain the age of compulsory retirement fixed by the retirement system. In determining the duration of the probationary period of employment in this section specified, the time of service rendered as a substitute teacher or substitute principal shall not be included.

3. No teacher [or principal] whose appointment has become permanent may be removed except for one or more of the following causes: Immorality, inefficiency in line of duty, violation of the published regulations of the school district, violation of the laws of Missouri governing the public schools of the state, or physical or mental condition which incapacitates him for instructing or associating with children, and then only by a vote of not less than a majority of all the members of the board, upon written charges presented by the superintendent of schools, to be heard by the board after thirty days' notice, with copy of the charges served upon the person against whom they are preferred, who shall have the privilege of being present, together with counsel, offering evidence and making defense thereto. Notifications received by an employee during a vacation period shall be considered as received on the first day of the school term following. At the request of any person so charged the hearing shall be public. The action and decision of the board upon the charges shall be final. Pending the hearing of the charges, the person charged may be suspended if the rules of the board so prescribe, but in the event the board does not by a majority vote of all the members remove the teacher [or principal] upon charges presented by the superintendent, the person shall not suffer any loss of salary by reason of the suspension. Inefficiency in line of duty is cause for dismissal only after the teacher or principal has been notified in writing at least one semester prior to the presentment of charges against him by the superintendent. The notification shall specify the nature of the inefficiency with such particularity as to enable the teacher or principal to be informed of the nature of his inefficiency.

4. No teacher [or principal] whose appointment has become permanent shall be demoted nor shall his salary be reduced unless the same procedure is followed as herein stated for the removal of the teacher [or principal] because of inefficiency in line of duty, and any teacher [or principal] whose salary is reduced or who is demoted may waive the presentment of charges against him by the superintendent and a hearing thereon by the board. The foregoing provision shall apply only to permanent teachers [and principals] prior to the compulsory retirement age under the retirement system. Nothing herein contained shall in any way restrict or limit the power of the board of education to make reductions in the number of teachers or principals, or both, because of insufficient funds, decrease in pupil enrollment, or abolition of particular subjects or courses of instruction, except that the abolition of particular subjects or courses of instruction shall not cause those teachers who have been teaching the subjects or giving the courses of instruction to be placed on leave of absence as herein provided who are qualified to teach other subjects or courses of instruction, if positions are available for the teachers in the other subjects or courses of instruction.

5. Whenever it is necessary to decrease the number of teachers [or principals, or both,] because of insufficient funds or a substantial decrease of pupil population within the school district, the board of education upon recommendation of the superintendent of schools may cause the necessary number of teachers [or principals, or both,] beginning with those serving probationary periods, to be placed on leave of absence without pay, but only in the inverse order of their appointment. Nothing herein stated shall prevent a readjustment by the board of education of existing salary schedules. No teacher [or principal] placed on a leave of absence shall be precluded from securing other employment during the period of the leave of absence. Each teacher [or principal] placed on leave of absence shall be reinstated in inverse order of his placement on leave of absence. Such reemployment shall not result in a loss of status or credit for previous years of service. No new appointments shall be made while there are available teachers [or principals] on leave of absence who are seventy years of age or less and who are adequately qualified to fill the vacancy unless the teachers [or principals] fail to advise the superintendent of schools within thirty days from the date of notification by the superintendent of schools that positions are available to them that they will return to employment and will assume the duties of the position to which appointed not later than the beginning of the school year next following the date of the notice by the superintendent of schools.

6. If any regulation which deals with the promotion of [either] teachers [or principals, or both,] is amended by increasing the qualifications necessary to be met before a teacher [or principal] is eligible for promotion, the amendment shall fix an effective date which shall allow a reasonable length of time within which teachers [or principals] may become qualified for promotion under the regulations.

7. If a principal is removed from that position, such principal shall retain the tenure rights of a teacher as provided by this section.

168.231. 1. If the responsibility for teaching all or any group of students in a special school district located in a county of the first classification with a charter form of government and population of at least nine hundred thousand inhabitants is transferred or removed to one or more separate school districts by vote of the citizens, dissolution, annexation, court action, or any other authority under Missouri or federal laws, the latter school district or districts shall become the receiving or successor school district or districts.

2. The successor school district or districts shall honor all teachers' contracts of the sending or prior school district, including the tenure status or years of credit toward tenure or both of said teachers and their salary position on the salary schedule, and shall pay substantially equivalent fringe benefits.

3. The successor school district or districts shall honor all employment contracts between nonteaching personnel and the sending or prior school district, and, to the extent not required by contract, shall employ as many of such personnel as practicable and pay them substantially equivalent salaries and fringe benefits.

4. This section shall apply to the transfer of any academic, special education, vocational education, or athletic program from one school district to one or more separate school districts.

168.400. 1. Sections 168.400 to 168.415 shall be known and may be cited as the "Missouri Professional Teacher and Administrator Act". This section shall become effective September 1, 1988, and shall establish programs for the following public school personnel:

(1) The preservice teacher or student in training;

(2) The beginning teacher;

(3) The practicing teacher; and

(4) The administrator.

2. Preservice teacher programs established under this section shall include, but need not be limited to, the following provisions:

(1) A program of entry-level testing of all prospective teacher education students shall be established at all colleges and universities offering approved teacher education programs and, with the advice of the advisory council as provided in section 168.015, shall be administered by the commissioner of education, who shall cause the department of elementary and secondary education to develop or select such tests to establish abilities necessary to receive a satisfactory rating, and to establish procedures for the administering of the test;

(2) The entry-level tests developed under this subsection shall include, but need not be limited to, an examination of basic oral and written communication skills and of basic mathematics skills, and may include both oral and written examinations;

(3) Each prospective teacher education student shall be required to obtain a satisfactory rating prior to admission into the approved teacher education program;

(4) The department of elementary and secondary education, with the advice of the advisory council as provided in section 168.015, shall establish and monitor exit requirements from approved teacher education programs which shall be met by all preservice teacher education students seeking certification in Missouri, and specific criteria for a preservice teacher assessment that all candidates for certification shall meet. The preservice teacher assessment established under this subdivision shall include, but need not be limited to, classroom achievement, practice teaching evaluation and observation, successful participation in assessment centers, interviews, tests and other evaluation measures. The preservice teacher assessment shall be reviewed by the certifying authority prior to issuance of a certificate. An unsatisfactory assessment shall result in the nonissuance of a certificate. Persons who are aggrieved by the nonissuance of a certificate may appeal such nonissuance in the manner provided in section 168.071. Any costs associated with the entry-level tests or the exit requirements established under this subsection shall be borne by each institution and costs defrayal included in the incidental fees charged to the student.

3. Each approved teacher education program shall require the faculty teaching preservice teacher education courses to further their professional development through direct personal involvement in the public schools in grades kindergarten through twelve [on a periodic basis] by causing its faculty to participate in programs including, but not limited to, direct instruction in such schools, mentoring, substitute teaching, job shadowing or action research of no less than forty hours' duration at least once every five years. As used in this subsection, the term "faculty" shall include, but need not be limited to, full- and part-time classroom instructors, and supervisors of practice teaching at institutions offering an approved teacher education program. Participation in such programs shall be recognized when promotion and tenure status at the institution is considered.

4. Beginning teacher assistance programs established under this section shall include, but need not be limited to, the following provisions:

(1) Such programs shall require each school district to provide a plan of professional development for the first two years of teaching for any teacher who does not have prior teaching experience. The professional development plan shall include assistance from a professional development committee, which is hereby established in each school district, which committee shall work with beginning teachers and experienced teachers in identifying instructional concerns and remedies; serve as a confidential consultant upon a teacher's request; assess faculty needs and develop in-service opportunities for school staff; and present to the proper authority faculty suggestions, ideas and recommendations pertaining to classroom instruction within the school district. The members of each professional development committee shall be selected by the teachers employed by the school district in question. The professional development plan may include guidance from a district-designated faculty member employed at a grade level comparable to the instructional grade level of the beginning teacher, and such other forms of assistance which the school district may choose to offer. The professional development committee may apply to the state board of education for a grant, which shall be in addition to any state aid provided to the committee for activities identified in this subdivision. The grant thus awarded shall be used by the committee to provide in-service training to the teachers of the district on teaching children identified as at risk of failing in school as defined in section 167.273. The department of elementary and secondary education shall provide resource materials and assist the committee if such assistance is requested;

(2) Such programs shall include assistance from the teacher education program which provided the teacher's training if such training was provided in a Missouri college or university. Such assistance from the college or university may include retraining, internships, counseling, and in-service training.

5. The practicing teacher assistance programs established under this section shall include, but need not be limited to, programs of professional development and improvement as provided for experienced teachers by the professional development committee established under subsection 4 of this section, and in-service opportunities as provided by the local school district for all practicing teachers.

6. (1) The administrator assistance programs established under this section shall include, but shall not be limited to, programs of professional development and improvement for superintendents, principals, assistant principals, and other school district personnel charged with administrative duties.

(2) Establishment of programs by local districts and organizations for the training of school board members are encouraged and recommended.

170.250. 1. The "Video Instructional Development and Educational Opportunity Program" is established to encourage all educational institutions in Missouri to supplement educational opportunities through telecommunications technology and satellite broadcast instruction. The program established by this section is to be administered by the state board of education. The program shall consist of:

(1) Grants to local school districts, state-supported institutions of higher education and public television stations as defined in section 37.205, RSMo, for equipment and instruction;

(2) Instructional programs developed pursuant to this section and transmitted through the airwaves, over telephones lines, or by cable television which are available for all residents of this state without charge as defined in this section; and

(3) Instructional programs developed pursuant to this section which are available to any subscriber according to this section.

2. The "Video Instructional Development and Educational Opportunity Fund" is established in the state treasury and shall be administered by the department of elementary and secondary education at the direction of the state board of education. Moneys deposited in the fund shall consist of revenues generated from state sales and use tax revenues as provided in chapter 144, RSMo, on the rental of films, records or any type of sound or picture transcriptions as provided in subsection 3 of this section. Moneys in the fund shall be used solely for purposes established by this section, except that the department of revenue shall retain no more than one percent of sales tax revenues collected for its administrative costs and all administrative costs of this program incurred by the department of elementary and secondary education shall be paid from this fund, which costs shall not exceed two percent. The administrative fees of the department of revenue and the department of elementary and secondary education shall be determined annually in the appropriation process. Any unexpended balance in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall be exempt from the provisions of section 33.080, RSMo, relating to the transfer of unexpended balances to the general revenue fund.

3. Until December 31, 1994, the commissioner of administration shall annually estimate and furnish to the director of the department of revenue the appropriate amount of state tax revenues collected pursuant to chapter 144, RSMo, which are directly attributable to the rental of films, records or any type of sound or picture transcriptions. However, the estimate shall only include state sales and use tax revenues collected pursuant to chapter 144, RSMo, which are normally deposited in the state general revenue fund. The director of revenue shall transfer from state sales tax revenues an amount equal to the estimate to the fund provided in subsection 2 of this section. After December 31, 1994, the seller shall separately report on the return to the department of revenue, the aggregate amount of the gross receipts and the amount of tax collected on the rental of films, records or any type of sound or picture transcriptions. The director of revenue shall annually transfer state sales tax revenues collected on the rental of films, records or other type of sound or picture transcriptions, except revenues allocated to the school district trust fund pursuant to section 144.701, RSMo, to the video instructional development and educational opportunity fund. [Beginning January 1, 1999, such revenues shall be deposited to the credit of the general revenue fund.]

4. Within the department of elementary and secondary education, there is established an advisory committee which shall make recommendations to the state board of education on the grant program. The committee shall be composed of twenty-nine members. The members of the committee shall consist of one representative of public television stations as defined in section 37.205, RSMo, and one representative of the cable television industry appointed by the state board of education, one representative of public television stations as defined in section 37.205, RSMo, and one representative of the cable television industry appointed by the coordinating board for higher education, three classroom teachers from the elementary and secondary level appointed by the state board of education, three school administrators of elementary or secondary schools appointed by the state board of education, three members of school boards of local public school districts appointed by the state board of education, four representatives from public community college districts appointed by the coordinating board for higher education, four representatives of state-supported institutions of higher education other than community colleges appointed by the coordinating board for higher education, one representative of the regional consortium for education and technology appointed by the state board of education, one representative of the cooperating school districts of the St. Louis suburban area appointed by the state board of education, two representatives of the public appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate, two members of the senate appointed by the senate president pro tem and two members of the house of representatives appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives. Of all members appointed by the state board of education, no more than four shall be from any one congressional district and of all the members appointed by the coordinating board for higher education, no more than four shall be from any one congressional district. The members of the committee shall serve three-year terms and shall not serve more than two terms consecutively. However, committee members having served two consecutive terms may be reappointed after leaving the committee for at least one three-year term. On August 28, 1992, the committee shall designate nine of its members to serve a term of one year, ten of its members to serve a term of two years, and ten of its members to serve a term of three years. All subsequent appointments shall be for three years. All members shall receive no compensation for their services, but shall be reimbursed for the actual and necessary expenses incurred while serving on the committee out of funds appropriated for that purpose. The committee shall meet at least quarterly and shall annually issue a report together with its recommendations to the state board of education and the general assembly.

5. The state board of education may cooperate with existing programs including the University of Missouri, other institutions of higher education, the cooperating school districts of the St. Louis suburban area, or its successor organization, the regional consortium for education and technology or its successor organization, and any statewide organization of public school governing boards and may delegate or contract for the performance or operation of the respective grant programs. The state board of education shall establish appropriate guidelines for participation by the aforementioned entities and by school districts, community college districts, and public television stations as defined in section 37.205, RSMo, in the grant program. Such guidelines shall include application procedures and shall establish policies for awarding grants in the event that more grant applications are received than are funds available to honor the applications in any fiscal year. In allocating funds to applicants, the state board of education may give due consideration to revenues available from all other sources. The state board of education shall accredit courses offered through this program at the elementary and secondary education level. The coordinating board for higher education shall approve courses taught at the postsecondary level.

6. In any fiscal year, moneys in the fund shall be used first to ensure that any and all school districts, community college districts and state institutions of higher education seeking aid under this program shall receive telecommunications equipment including computers and modems necessary to participate in the satellite learning process or instructional television video; second to provide the school districts, community college districts and state institutions of higher education with access to subjects at the advanced level or the remedial level or which are not taught in the schools of the district or the service area or campus, which subjects shall include courses in continuing education necessary for maintenance or renewal of licenses for all such licensed health care providers; and third to provide enrichment classes for all pupils of the district. However, the state board of education may set aside a portion of the funds to be used to contract with state-supported institutions of higher education and public television stations as defined in section 37.205, RSMo, to develop instructional programs for grades kindergarten through twelve and for undergraduate and graduate coursework suitable for broadcast to the school districts, community college districts and state institutions of higher education as appropriate and to develop the capability to transmit programs cited in this section.

7. Participation by a local school district, a community college district or a state institution of higher education in the program established by this section shall be voluntary. No school district, community college district or state institution of higher education receiving funds under this program shall use those funds for any purpose other than that for which they were intended. Any school district, community college district or state institution of higher education shall be eligible to receive funds under this program regardless of its curriculum, local wealth or previous contractual arrangements to receive satellite broadcast instruction.

8. The office of administration on behalf of the state of Missouri may contract with institutions of higher education for the development or operation or both of state employee training programs transmitted by telecommunications technology.

9. Instructional programs developed pursuant to this section which are transmitted one way through the airwaves or by cable television shall be available to all residents of this state without charge or fee to the extent permitted by the Missouri Constitution. "Without charge or fee" shall not require the providing of equipment to transmit or receive telecommunications instruction or the providing of commercial cable television service. If the instructional program involves two-way, interactive communication between the instructor and the participant, the district or institution operating the program may prescribe academic prerequisites and limit the number of persons who may enroll in the specific program and give preference to residents of the district or institutional attendance area who are age twenty-one or younger but shall not discriminate against any resident on any other basis. A fee may be charged which shall be paid directly by the individual participant, but the fee shall be equal for all participants. If a subscription fee is charged by the originator of the program, the district or institution may pay the subscription fee for all participants from the grant pursuant to this section or from any other public or private fund legally authorized to be used for this purpose. Printed materials designed to facilitate or complement telecommunications programs or electronic reproductions thereof may be made available for loan by the school district, community college or institution of higher education through the public library system subject to the normal rules and regulations of the lending system and in such quantities as may be approved by the governing body of the district or institution. Instructional programs which involve two-way, interactive communication between the instructor and the participant shall also be available to any not for profit organization in this state which is exempt from taxation pursuant to subdivision (19) of subsection 2 of section 144.030, RSMo, upon payment of a reasonable subscription fee as determined by the state board of education. Such fees shall be set on a per-participant, per-course basis. The district or institution or the state board of education may make telecommunication equipment available for purchase at cost by or rental to any not for profit organization in this state which is exempt from taxation pursuant to subdivision (19) of subsection 2 of section 144.030, RSMo.

10. (1) In order to facilitate or complement telecommunications, local exchange telecommunications companies shall file with the public service commission tariffs for provision of local service to public school districts, and may file tariffs for provision of local service to accredited primary or secondary schools owned or operated by private entities and community college districts located within the local exchange telecommunications companies certified area. Such local exchange telecommunications companies shall seek commission authorization to provide local service at rates lower than those charged for business and residential service in effect when the tariff is filed, provided that the proposed rates may not be below the actual cost of providing the service. Upon approval of the public service commission, the rates shall not be classified as discriminatory for the purposes of chapter 392, RSMo.

(2) The public service commission may approve the tariff as submitted, or may, after hearing, modify the tariff in the public interest. The commission may promulgate rules to aid in the implementation of this section.

171.031. 1. Each school board shall prepare annually a calendar for the school term, specifying the opening date and providing a minimum term of at least one hundred seventy-four days and one thousand forty-four hours of actual pupil attendance. [The opening date shall not be earlier than the first day of September, except:

(1) If the first day of September falls on Labor Day or a Saturday or Sunday, the school board in any school district may move the starting day for that term to a subsequent school day;

(2) In school districts in which schools are in session for twelve months of each calendar year; and

(3) In school districts in which the school board determines students are needed for agricultural production purposes.]

2. No school day shall be longer than seven hours except for vocational schools which may adopt an eight-hour day in a metropolitan school district and a school district in a first class county adjacent to a city not within a county.

171.181. In making purchases, the school board, officer, or employee of any school district shall give preference to all commodities, manufactured, mined, produced or grown within the state and to all firms, corporations or individuals doing business as Missouri firms, corporations, or individuals, when quality and price are approximately the same; provided, however, that any board member, officer or employee of a [six-director] seven-director school district[, any portion of which is located in a first class county, selling or providing such commodities to the school district shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor and shall forfeit his position with the school district and provided further that any board member, officer or employee of a six-director school district, any portion of which is located in a county of the second, third or fourth class,] selling or providing such commodities to the school district except as provided in sections 105.450 to 105.458, RSMo, shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor and shall forfeit his position with the school district.

177.011. The title of all schoolhouse sites and other school property is vested in the district in which the property is located, or if the directors of both school districts involved agree, a school district may own property outside of the boundaries of the district and operate upon such property for school purposes; provided that, such property may only be used for school purposes for students residing in the school district owning such property or students who are enrolled in such school district as part of a court-ordered desegregation plan. All property leased or rented for school purposes shall be wholly under the control of the school board during such time. [No board shall lease or rent any building for school purposes while the district schoolhouse is unoccupied, and no schoolhouse or school site shall be abandoned or sold until another site and house are provided for the school district.]

177.031. 1. The school board [has] shall authorize the care and keeping of all property belonging to the district and shall [provide the necessary globes, maps, charts, apparatus, supplementary books, and other material] authorize the provision of necessary equipment for the use of the school. [The board shall keep the schoolhouses and other buildings in good repair, the grounds belonging thereto in good condition, and shall provide fuel, heating apparatus, and other material and appliances necessary for the proper heating, lighting, ventilation and sanitation of the schoolhouses; shall have the floors swept and fires made at the expense of the district, and cause an accurate account of the expense thereof to be kept and a report and settlement to be made at the next annual meeting or as required by law.]

2. The school board having charge of the schoolhouses, buildings and grounds appurtenant thereto may allow the free use of the houses, buildings and grounds for the free discussion of public questions or subjects of general public interest, for the meeting of organizations of citizens, and for any other civic, social and educational purpose that will not interfere with the prime purpose to which the houses, buildings and grounds are devoted. If an application is granted and the use of the houses, buildings, or grounds is permitted for the purposes aforesaid, the school board may provide, free of charge, heat, light and janitor service therein when necessary, and may make any other provisions, free of charge, needed for the convenient and comfortable use of the houses, buildings and grounds for such purposes, or the school boards may require the expenses to be paid by the organizations or persons who are allowed the use of the houses, buildings and grounds. All persons upon whose application or at whose request the use of any schoolhouse, building, or part thereof, or any grounds appurtenant thereto, is permitted as herein provided shall be jointly and severally liable for any injury or damage thereto which directly results from the use, ordinary wear and tear excepted.

177.073. 1. The board of directors [or school board in urban school districts, metropolitan school districts, and school districts located totally or partially within a first class charter county adjoining a city not within a county], by an affirmative vote of [not less than two-thirds of all the members] a majority of the whole board, may:

(1) Select, direct and authorize the purchase of sites for and authorize the construction of libraries, schools, school offices, art galleries and museums, public parks and playgrounds; and the necessary [janitors' houses,] repair buildings, supply houses and parking facilities to be used in the operation and maintenance of the schools;

(2) Authorize and direct the purchase of additional ground and other facilities needed for school purposes which may be located outside of the boundaries of the district, if the directors of the other district agree and if the property is operated for school purposes;

(3) Authorize and direct the sale and transfer or lease of any real or personal property belonging to the district which is not required for operation of the school program except that, property outside the boundaries of the school district may not be leased. Real property may be sold or leased by listing the property with one or more real estate brokers licensed by the state of Missouri and paying a commission upon such sale or lease. Real property not sold or leased through a real estate broker and all personal property shall be sold or leased to the highest bidder, except that any real or personal school property may be sold or leased to a community group or a city, state agency, municipal corporation, or any other governmental subdivision of the state [located wholly or partially within the boundaries of the district,] for public uses and purposes, at such sum as may be agreed upon between the school district and the community group or the city, state agency, municipal corporation, or other governmental subdivision of the state. If property is to be leased by bid, written proposals for lease terms shall be submitted by potential lessees. The lease proposal offering the most economically advantageous terms shall be considered the highest lease bid. A purchase proposal may include contingencies; the proposal offering the most economically advantageous terms shall be the highest bid. All bids for purchase or lease of real property shall be submitted formally as closed bids. Bids shall be opened at a meeting, which shall be an open meeting. The board may reject all bids, or negotiate an acceptable sale or lease with the highest bidder, if all bids are unsatisfactory. The records of the bid-opening meeting shall be an open record. If real property is not sold or leased through a real estate broker, notice that the board is holding real property for sale or offering it for lease, including a planned sale or lease to a community group or a city, state agency, municipal corporation, or other governmental subdivision of the state, shall be given by publication in a newspaper within the county in which all or a part of the district is located which has general circulation within the district, once a week for two consecutive weeks, the last publication to be at least seven days and not more than fourteen days prior to the date of the bid opening. The term of a lease may be for any period which the board finds is advantageous and meets the needs of the district. The lease or deed of conveyance shall be executed by the president and attested by the secretary of the board. If the district has a seal, it shall be affixed to the deed or lease. The proceeds derived from sale or lease of [real] property by districts identified as financially stressed pursuant to section 161.250, RSMo, except as provided for in section 177.088, shall until July 1, 1998, be placed to the credit of the incidental fund or the capital projects fund of the district, with notice of any such sale to be included in the budget and educational plan submitted to the department of elementary and secondary education and on or after July 1, 1998, any such proceeds shall be placed to the credit of the capital projects fund. The proceeds from sale or lease of [nonrealty and from leases] property by another district, shall be placed to the credit of the [incidental] capital projects fund.

2. The board may receive, in behalf of the school district, any grants, gifts, or devises made for the benefit of the district or its schools, or any public library, art gallery [or], museum or other facility under the control of the board.

3. A school district may establish and maintain public parks and playgrounds for the use of the public school district. The board of education shall have full custody and control of the parks and playgrounds including the policing and the preservation of order thereon and may permit the use of the grounds that it deems best in the interest of the district. The board shall adopt and enforce, subject to the laws of the state and the ordinances of the city, suitable rules and regulations for the control of the grounds and the conduct of persons using them.

4. Other provisions of this section to the contrary notwithstanding, bids for the purchase of any building constructed by students as part of an approved vocational education class may be accepted prior to the completion of such construction.

5. If there is within any school district any school property that is not required for the use of the school district and the property could be used for the purposes of offering education beyond grade twelve by a public institution of higher education, the school board may lease or convey the property to the public institution, and the proceeds derived from a conveyance shall be placed to the credit of the capital projects fund of the district.

177.086. 1. Any school district authorizing the construction of facilities which may exceed an expenditure of twelve thousand five hundred dollars shall publicly advertise, for two successive weeks, in a newspaper of general publication, located within the county in which said school district is located, or if there be no such newspaper, in a newspaper of general publication in an adjoining county for bids on said construction.

2. No bids shall be entertained by the school district which are not made in accordance with the specifications furnished by them and all contracts shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder complying with the terms of the letting, provided that the said school district shall have the right to reject any and all bids.

3. All bids must be submitted sealed and in writing, to be opened publicly at time and place of the district's choosing.

4. The board of education may declare the repair of a structure an emergency and the requirements in subsections 1, 2 and 3 of this section shall be waived by an affirmative vote of the majority of the whole board. The necessity of the repair must be the result of an unanticipated occurrence.

177.161. In metropolitan school districts, all contracts for the erection of school buildings and all contracts for repairs and alterations or additions to school property or materials, equipment or apparatus to be furnished exceeding the sum of [five] twelve thousand five hundred dollars shall be made by the board of education, after public letting, to the lowest responsible bidder complying with the terms of the letting. The necessary specifications and drawings shall be prepared for all such work, and bids therefor shall be solicited by advertisement as the board of education provides. No bid shall be entertained by the board of education which is not made in accordance with the specifications and drawings furnished and all contracts shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder complying with the terms of the letting. The board of education shall have the right to reject any and all bids. Contracts involving the expenditure of less than [five] twelve thousand five hundred dollars for work to be done and materials or equipment to be furnished may be made directly by the superintendent of schools, or by the other officer or employee of the board of education that he designates with the approval of the board, without public letting and without advertising for or inviting bids. The board of education may, however, use its own employees to alter, maintain and repair school buildings, to maintain and repair apparatus or equipment, or to make improvements of school grounds [without the letting of contracts whenever the total cost of labor on the job does not exceed the amount of twenty thousand dollars]. The board of education may declare the repair of a structure an emergency and the bidding requirements in this section shall be waived by an affirmative vote of the majority of the whole board. The necessity of the repair must be the result of an unanticipated occurrence.

178.290. The school board in any urban district at its discretion, and the school board of any other six-director district or of any metropolitan district[, upon the receipt of a petition signed by fifty or more registered voters of the school district requesting the action,] may establish and maintain night schools, make all necessary rules and regulations therefor, fix the rates for tuition of pupils above the age of twenty years and of others who are not entitled to receive free public school privileges in the district, and have general charge and control over the school. The school board may grant the use of, or lease, any of the public school buildings in the district to any responsible party for the purpose of conducting a night school therein. If the use of a school building is granted or leased for such purpose, the party using it shall keep it clean and in good repair and leave it in as good condition as it was when he or she took charge of it. If the party using the school building fails to comply with this section, the school board shall refuse [him] the party further use of it until he or she complies with this section.

Section 1. No teacher shall be certified in elementary or early childhood education after August 28, 2000, if such teacher has not had training in the teaching of phonics, constituting a substantial part of at least one of the courses in the eight-hour total required for reading. Nothing in this section will preclude the teaching of other methods. No teacher currently certified in elementary or early childhood education shall be recertified after August 28, 2004, without a passing grade in a three-hour course in methods of teaching reading, a substantial part of which is devoted to the teaching of phonics or completion of an administrator-approved mentoring program in phonics training or professional development program equivalent to a three-hour course.

[161.102. 1. The state board of education shall:

(1) Adopt and promulgate rules and regulations deemed necessary to secure courses in physical education to all pupils and students in all public schools and in all educational institutions supported in whole or in part by the state; and

(2) With the advice and cooperation of the director of the state department of health, compile and print a manual of physical education and health supervision and school nurse service to be distributed for use by the teachers, supervisors of physical education, school health supervisors and school nurses of the state.

2. No rule or portion of a rule promulgated under the authority of this chapter shall become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to the provisions of section 536.024, RSMo.]

[161.205. The department of elementary and secondary education shall furnish a legislative summary of all changes in juvenile law enacted during the 1995 regular session of the general assembly and distribute it to all schools within the state of Missouri. All schools receiving state aid shall announce the contents of the summary to each student on the first day of class in the 1995-96 school year.]

[162.152. The state board of education shall establish within the department of elementary and secondary education a section of district reorganization. The state board, through the section of district reorganization, shall advise and, upon request by any county commission, cooperate with the various county commissions in making plans for the enlargement and reorganization of school districts throughout the state and shall provide the technical and advisory assistance in connection therewith that, in the discretion of the board, will promote efficiency in school administration and the improvement of educational opportunities for the school children of the state.]

[162.171. The county commission may, from time to time, pursuant to the provisions of section 161.152, RSMo, submit to the state board of education specific plans for the reorganization of school districts of the state. Each plan shall be in writing and shall include charts, maps and statistical information necessary to document properly the plan for the proposed reorganized districts and to provide a comparison of existing districts with proposed reorganized districts. In recommending prepared reorganization plans, the county commission may divide all existing unreorganized districts and any reorganized district not offering an approved program of work through the twelfth grade if division is in the best interests of the children, and place any portion in any proposed district, but each proposed district shall be composed of contiguous territory.]

[162.181. Upon receipt of a plan for the reorganization of districts in any county, the state board of education shall examine the plan. The state board shall approve or disapprove the plan either in whole or in part. If the plan includes any proposed district with territory in more than one county, the state board shall designate the county containing that portion of the proposed district which has the highest assessed valuation as the county to which the district belongs. The county clerk shall be notified of the state board's action within sixty days following receipt of the plan by the state board. If the state board finds that the reorganization plan is inadequate in whole or in part, it shall return the plan to the county clerk with a full statement indicating the parts thereof it has approved and its reasons for finding the plan or any part inadequate. The county commission has sixty days to review the rejected plan or parts thereof, make alterations, amendments and revisions as deemed advisable and return the revised plan or part to the state board for its action.]

[162.191. 1. Within sixty days after receipt of approval by the state board of education of the reorganization plan or part thereof, the county clerk shall submit the question in each proposed school district wholly within the county or which has been designated by the state board of education as belonging to the county. The notices of the election shall be signed by the presiding commissioner of the county commission and the county clerk. The cost shall be paid from the incidental fund.

2. The question shall be submitted in substantially the following form:

Shall the . . . . . . school district (and the . . . . . . school district) be reorganized as a district?

3. A majority affirmative vote in each district to be affected is required for adoption of the proposed seven-director district. If the plan is not adopted, no subsequent plan involving any part of the same area may be submitted sooner than one year following the date of the submission of the question at which the plan was defeated.]

[162.201. Not later than three days after the election as provided for in section 162.191, the county clerk shall certify to the state board of education the results of the election in each proposed six-director school district.]

[162.501. The secretary of the board of directors shall lay the results before the board and record the same, and under the direction of the board shall issue certificates of election to the parties entitled thereto.]

[162.631. 1. The circuit court of the city has jurisdiction over the members of the board of education and its officers to require them to account for their official conduct in the management and disposition of the funds, property and business committed to their charge; to order, decree and compel payment by them to the public school fund of all sums of money, and of the value of all property which may have been improperly retained by them, or transferred to others, or which may have been lost or wasted by any violation of their duties or abuse of their powers as such members or officers of the board; to suspend any member or officer from exercising his office, whensoever it appears that he has abused his trust or become disqualified; to remove any member or officer upon proof or conviction of gross misconduct or disqualification for his office; to restrain and prevent any alienation of property of the public schools by members or officers, in cases where it is threatened, or there is good reason to apprehend that it is intended to be made in fraud of the rights and interests of the public schools.

2. The jurisdiction conferred by this section shall be exercised as in ordinary cases upon petition, filed by or at the instance of any member or officer of the board, or at the instance of any ten citizens and householders of the city who join in the petition, verified by the affidavit of at least one of them. The petition shall be heard in a summary manner after ten days' notice in writing to the member or officer complained of; and an appeal shall lie from the judgment of the circuit court as in other causes, and shall be speedily determined; but an appeal does not operate under any condition as a supersedeas of a judgment of suspension or removal from office.]

[165.091. No money belonging to the school district shall be paid by any depositary or from any investment account maintained pursuant to section 165.051 except upon the check of the treasurer and president of the board of the school district or order for payment duly issued by the treasurer. The board, by resolution, may direct that the signatures be affixed to the checks in facsimile in the manner and with the effect provided in sections 105.273 to 105.278, RSMo.]

[165.111. 1. The school board of each district, for any year for which it does not cause an audit to be performed by October thirty-first after the close of the school year, shall make and publish, not later than September first, in some newspaper as described in section 493.050, RSMo, published in the school district, and if there is none then in some newspaper of general circulation within the district, a statement of all receipts of school moneys, when and from what source derived, and all expenditures, and on what account; also, the present indebtedness of the district and its nature, and the rate of taxation for all purposes for the year. The statement shall be duly attested by the president and secretary of the board, and the secretary shall forward a copy to the state board of education on forms prescribed by the board.

2. The state board of education shall not release the state aid apportioned to the district for the next ensuing school year until a copy of the required statement has been received at its office in Jefferson City and has been approved by it. Any school board which fails, refuses or neglects to order the statement to be made, and any officer of the board who fails, refuses, or neglects to prepare, publish and forward the statement, as required by this section, when ordered by the board, is guilty of a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine not to exceed one hundred dollars. Annual or biennial audit summaries shall be published according to section 165.121.]

[166.151. Whenever there is presented to the body having in its charge the capital of the county school fund of any county or the city of St. Louis a petition, signed by qualified electors of the county or the city of St. Louis equal in number to five percent of the voters casting a ballot in the county or the city of St. Louis for the office of governor at the last preceding general election at which the office was voted upon, praying that the proposal be submitted to the qualified electors for making annual distribution of the capital of the liquidated school fund, the body shall cause an election to be held upon the proposal.]



[167.091. 1. The school board of any district which has ten thousand inhabitants or more, may establish and maintain from the public school funds one or more special truant or parental day schools in the city or district for children who are either habitual truants from any school in which they are enrolled as pupils, or who, while in attendance at any school are incorrigible, vicious or immoral, or who habitually wander or loiter about the streets or roads or other public places without lawful employment, or who, in the opinion of the board or of its superintendent of instruction, require special attention and instruction. The school board, through its officers, may assign, require and compel all such children to attend the special truant or parental school or any department of the graded schools that the board directs.

2. The board may also establish and maintain from the public school funds, either within or without its district, a parental school for the care and education of any child resident of the school district and committed to it by a juvenile court under the provisions of section 211.181, RSMo. For every child committed to the school there shall be paid to the board of education out of the treasury of the city or county the sum of ten dollars per month for the support, maintenance, clothing and other expenses of the child from the time of its entrance into the school until its discharge therefrom.]

[167.101. Superintendents, principals and persons in charge of schools and attendance officers may administer oaths and take the affidavits of parents, guardians or other persons having charge, control or custody of children, concerning the ages of children, and furnish children with certificates of the affidavits. The certificates must have attached the signature of the child for whom it is issued, the signature of the persons who made and took the affidavit, and the seal of the school board of the district and shall contain the description of the color of eye and hair of the child to whom it is issued.]

[167.141. The amount deductible from the per pupil cost of maintaining the high school attended in determining the tuition payable by a district on account of a pupil resident therein who attends an approved high school in another district, in accordance with the provisions of section 167.131, shall be added to the apportionment of the district of the pupil's residence to be applied on the tuition of the pupil, if the school attended is in an adjoining county outside the state of Missouri, and if the district of the pupil's residence has filed with the state board of education a receipt showing that such tuition has been paid by the district.]

[167.221. 1. The board of directors of any urban school district which has established facilities for supplying lunches to children attending any of the schools in the district in accordance with the provisions of section 167.211, may designate the secretary of the district or some other person as manager for any or all of the facilities in the schools and, by rule, prescribe his duties. The board may also designate and appoint submanagers, cashiers and other employees to staff the facilities and, by rule, prescribe their duties or the board may delegate to the manager the authority to employ the labor and assistance required to conduct the facilities; except that all persons who handle or are responsible for any moneys in connection with the operation of the facilities, or who have authority to sign or countersign any checks upon any of the funds or accounts shall be appointed by the board and shall be required to give bond to the district in the amount, and with such sureties as the board designates, conditioned to faithfully account for all funds coming into their possession, and for the faithful performance of their duties. The manager of the facilities shall keep full and accurate accounts of all receipts, expenditures and disbursements by the facilities under his direction and control, and shall on or before October first of each year deliver to the board a complete report in writing showing the operations of the facilities under his direction and control, and the receipts and disbursements on account thereof for the preceding fiscal year.

2. The board may authorize the deposit of funds received from the operations of the facilities in the banks or depositaries and in the amounts that the board determines, and may designate the persons by whom and the purposes for which checks may be drawn thereon. All deposits shall be secured in the manner provided in section 165.241, RSMo. If the board designates depositaries for the receipts from the operation of the facilities, the treasurer of the school district shall not be required to take into his custody or control any funds so received and so deposited, and neither he nor his sureties shall be responsible for the funds not coming into his custody and control.]

[167.278. The superintendent of schools or other chief school officer of each local public school district and the chief school officer of any nonpublic school shall make available to pupils and their parents information about the various types of financial assistance available to pursue a postsecondary education at a degree-granting institution. The commissioner of higher education shall assist such efforts by making available to schools and pupils information relating to such programs and assistance. In addition, the commissioner in cooperation with the state board of education shall provide such other information as is appropriate to encourage pupils to complete high school and to assist pupils in preparing to enter a postsecondary degree program.]

[167.308. No district applying for funds under sections 167.290 to 167.310 shall require as a condition of employment that any full-time certificated personnel of the district must participate in any way in the operation of an extended day child care program in the district. No full-time certificated personnel employed in a district operating an extended day child care program shall be prohibited from seeking employment in such a program. Such requirement or prohibition shall be grounds for disapproving an application.]

[167.330. An alternative education program class shall be composed as nearly as practicable of twenty students during regular school hours and twenty students during evening or extended hours. Classes shall be offered during the regular school hours and classes for evening or extended hours may be for three hours.]

[168.171. Each school board employing thirty or more teachers may employ a supervisor of physical education for the schools under its jurisdiction whose qualifications for service shall be established by the state board of education. The supervisor of physical education, under the direction of the superintendent of schools of the district, shall supervise the teaching of all subjects related to physical education and the physical well-being of the children under his charge, direct the supervised play and gymnastics in the schools and control school athletics. School boards employing thirty or more teachers may employ, or otherwise provide or secure the service of, a supervisor of health and of one or more school nurses, who shall serve under the administration of the superintendent of schools of the district. If the supervisor of physical education is qualified to perform the duties of supervisor of health, he may perform the duties of both offices. All duties performed by the supervisor of health or the school nurses shall be performed with the advice and cooperation of the director of the state department of health.]

[168.191. In all counties of the first class except counties of the first class not having a charter form of government, any board of education, other than boards in urban districts, in charge of a public school system maintaining a classified high school, previously approved by the state board of education, and employing a superintendent devoting his full time to supervisory and administrative work, may employ and enter into contract with a superintendent of schools for the school district for a period of not to exceed three years. This law shall not invalidate or repeal any other law of this state relating to the employment of teachers, principals or superintendents of public schools.]

[170.031. One or more chapters on dental hygiene is required in all textbooks on physiology used in the public schools of the state of Missouri. The chapters shall convey the proper knowledge to the pupil on the care, function and relation of the teeth to the general health. Such chapters in the textbooks shall be edited or approved by a competent committee composed of five members, three of whom are selected by the state dental society, one by the director of the department of social services, and one by the state board of education, and they shall serve without compensation. The sale or offer for sale of any textbook which does not contain the chapter on dental hygiene required by this section is a misdemeanor.]

[170.041. The board of each six-director school district which employs thirty or more teachers and also employs a supervisor of physical education or supervisor of health under section 168.171, RSMo, may raise and expend funds to carry out the purpose of that section and for the purchase of books, printed matter, apparatus, including weighing scales, instruments and other necessary appliances and supplies as are designated by the commissioner of education.]

[170.057. The school board of any school district may expend either textbook fund moneys or incidental fund moneys to provide supplementary texts, library reference books, instructional supplies and contractual educational television services for the pupils of the district's elementary and secondary schools.]

[171.051. School holidays include Thanksgiving Day, December twenty-fifth, the third Monday in February, and July fourth.]

[171.141. 1. As used in this section, a school fraternity or sorority is any organization composed wholly or in part of public school pupils, which seeks to perpetuate itself by taking in additional members from the pupils enrolled in public high schools, junior high schools or elementary schools on the basis of the decision of its membership rather than upon the free choice of any pupil in the school who is qualified by the rules of the board to fill the aims of the organization.

2. The school board of any school district, by rule, may prohibit membership of pupils in school fraternities or sororities composed of pupils in any high school, junior high school or elementary school in the district, when it deems that membership in the fraternities or sororities detrimentally affects the conduct and discipline of the schools in the district. Any rule adopted under this subsection shall prescribe the aim of school organizations which may be formed and the qualifications of pupils eligible for membership therein. The board may adopt other rules that are necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.

3. Upon the adoption of the rule authorized by subsection 2, the school board may suspend, discipline and expel from the schools under its control, any pupil who remains a member of, who joins or promises to join, or who becomes pledged to become a member, or who solicits any other person to join, promise to join or be pledged or to become a member of a school fraternity or sorority. Upon direction of the board, by rule or otherwise, the superintendent of schools may suspend and discipline any person who violates the rule authorized by subsection 2 until the time that the matter is considered by the board.]

[177.051. If there is within any school district any school property that is not required for the use of the school district and the property could be used for purposes of offering education beyond grade twelve by a public institution of higher education, the school board may lease or convey the property to the public institution, and the proceeds derived from a conveyance shall be placed to the credit of the incidental fund of the district.]

[177.091. 1. The school board in each seven-director district, as soon as sufficient funds are provided, shall establish an adequate number of elementary schools, and if the demands of the district require more than one elementary school building, the board shall divide the district into elementary school wards and fix the boundaries thereof. The board shall select and procure a site in each ward and erect and furnish a suitable school building thereon.

2. The board may also establish high schools and may select and procure sites and erect and furnish buildings therefor.

3. The board may acquire additional grounds when needed for school purposes. If the directors of both school districts involved agree, such grounds may be located outside of the boundaries of the district and operated for school purposes.

4. If there is any school property, the ownership of which is vested in the district, that is no longer required for the use of the district, the board, by an affirmative vote of a majority of the whole board, may authorize and direct the sale or lease of the property, except that, property outside the boundaries of the school district may not be leased. Real property may be sold or leased by listing the property with one or more real estate brokers licensed by the state of Missouri and paying a commission upon such sale or lease. Real property not sold or leased through a real estate broker and all personal property, unless sold or leased to a public institution of higher education, shall be sold or leased to the highest bidder. If real property is not sold or leased through a real estate broker, notice that the board is holding the property for sale or offering it for lease shall be given by publication in a newspaper within the county in which all or a part of the district is located which has general circulation within the district, once a week for two consecutive weeks, the last publication to be at least seven days prior to the sale or lease of the property; except that, any real or personal school property may be sold or leased to a city, state agency, municipal corporation, or other governmental subdivision of the state located within the boundaries of the district, for public uses and purposes, by the giving of public notice as herein provided and at such sum as may be agreed upon between the school district and the city, state agency, municipal corporation, or other governmental subdivision of the state. The lease or deed of conveyance shall be executed by the president and attested by the secretary of the board. If the district has a seal, it shall be affixed to the deed or lease. The proceeds derived from the sale of real property or nonrealty by districts identified as financially stressed pursuant to section 161.520, RSMo, shall, until July 1, 1998, be placed to the credit of the incidental fund or the capital projects fund of the district, with notice of any such sale to be included in the budget and education plan submitted to the department of elementary and secondary education, and, on and after July 1, 1998, any such proceeds shall be placed to the credit of the capital projects fund. The proceeds from the sale of real property or nonrealty and from leases, by any other district, shall be placed to the credit of the capital projects fund.

5. The school board of a seven-director district may also list real property for sale on which a building has been constructed by an approved vocational education class with a real estate broker licensed by the state of Missouri and pay a commission thereon.

6. Other provisions of this section to the contrary notwithstanding, bids for the purchase of any building constructed by students as part of an approved vocational education class may be accepted prior to completion of such construction.]

[177.101. 1. In six-director districts as specified in this section, the school board may establish and maintain public parks and playgrounds for the use of the public school district, and may appropriate the sums they deem proper for the support thereof.

2. The school board may lease or purchase grounds additional to the schoolhouse site, either adjacent thereto or elsewhere in the school district, for libraries, public parks and playgrounds and pay for the grounds so leased or purchased out of the funds of the school district available for the purpose.

3. The board of education shall have full custody and control of the parks and playgrounds including the policing and the preservation of order thereon and may permit the use of the grounds that it deems best in the interest of the district. The board shall adopt and enforce, subject to the laws of the state and the ordinances of the city, suitable rules and regulations for the control of the grounds and the conduct of persons using them.]

[177.131. The school board in each urban district, as soon as sufficient funds have been provided, shall establish an adequate number of elementary and high schools, select and procure sites, and erect and furnish suitable school buildings therefor.]

[177.171. The board of education shall cause advertisements to be made under regulations that it provides for proposals for furnishing the supplies required in the schools and by the board. Every contract shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder complying with the terms of the letting; but the board shall have and reserve the right to reject any and all bids. The board may authorize the purchase of supplies not exceeding five thousand dollars in amount without letting of contract. The board shall make distribution of supplies through the agencies and in the manner that it deems proper. The board may contract for textbooks or school apparatus for such term of years as it deems proper.]

[178.300. Whenever in any school district in this state not less than twenty-five employment certificates for children under sixteen years of age have been issued and are in full force and effect, the school district shall establish and maintain part-time schools, departments or classes for the employed children for not less than four hours per week and for a term not less than that in which schools are regularly in session in the district.]

[178.310. The state board of education shall establish standards for the establishment and maintenance of the schools.]

[178.320. Whenever the part-time schools meet the standards of the federal act and the standards established by the state board of education, they shall be entitled to share in the distribution of the federal funds available under the provisions of the federal act, and the state funds appropriated for the promotion of vocational education under the provisions of the Missouri vocational education law.]

[178.330. The attendance of the part-time school, department or class shall be counted as a part of the time the minor can be employed.]

[178.340. The state board of education is responsible for the execution of sections 178.300 to 178.360. The local school boards or school authorities maintaining the instruction given are responsible for the local administration of the sections.]

[178.350. The state board of education may, upon special hearing in each case, excuse a school district from either establishing or maintaining part-time schooling.]

[178.360. The state board of education shall make an annual report to the legislature of its administration of sections 178.300 to 178.360, with its policies and regulations, and the statistics and finances involved.]

Section B. Section 164.161, RSMo 1994, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 164.161, to read as follows:

164.161. [1.] The loans authorized by sections 164.121 to 164.141 shall not be contracted for a longer period than twenty years, and the entire amount of the loans shall at no time exceed, including the present indebtedness of the district, [in] the maximum aggregate [ten percent] percentage, as set forth in article VI, section 26(b) of the Missouri Constitution, of the value of taxable tangible property therein as shown by the last [completed] assessment certified by the county clerk for local, state [and] or county purposes. The rate of interest upon the bonds shall, in no case, exceed the highest legal rate allowed by contract. Before or at the time of issuing the bonds, the board of directors shall provide for the collection of an annual tax sufficient to pay the interest and principal of the bonds as they fall due, and to retire them within twenty years from date contracted.

[2. Bonds of an urban district shall be disposed of at the best price obtainable, not less than ninety-five percent of the par value thereof.]

Section C. Because immediate action is necessary to use the additional bonding capacity permitted by the recent voter approval of the higher constitutional debt limit pursuant to house joint resolution no. 2 of the 1997 legislative session, section B of this act is deemed necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health, welfare, peace and safety, and is hereby declared to be an emergency act within the meaning of the constitution, and section B of this act shall be in full force and effect upon its passage and approval.


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