HOUSE BILL NO. 2097 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE MARTIN.
5237H.02I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT To repeal section 178.530, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to agricultural education.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 178.530, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu 2 thereof, to be known as section 178.530, to read as follows: 178.530. 1. The state board of education shall establish standards and annually 2 inspect, as a basis for approval, all public prevocational, vocational schools, State Technical 3 College of Missouri, departments and classes receiving state or federal moneys for giving 4 training in agriculture, industrial, home economics and commercial subjects and all schools, 5 departments and classes receiving state or federal moneys for the preparation of teachers and 6 supervisors of such subjects. The public prevocational and vocational schools, State 7 Technical College of Missouri, departments, and classes, and the training schools, 8 departments and classes are entitled to the state or federal moneys so long as they are 9 approved by the state board of education, as to site, plant, equipment, qualifications of 10 teachers, admission of pupils, courses of study and methods of instruction. All disbursements 11 of state or federal moneys for the benefit of the approved prevocational and vocational 12 schools, State Technical College of Missouri, departments and classes shall be made 13 semiannually. The school board of each approved school or the governing body of State 14 Technical College of Missouri shall file a report with the state board of education at the times 15 and in the form that the state board requires. Upon receipt of a satisfactory report, the state 16 board of education shall certify to the commissioner of administration for [his] the 17 commissioner's approval the amount of the state and federal moneys due the school district
EXPLANATION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is intended to be omitted from the law. Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language. HB 2097 2
18 or State Technical College of Missouri. The amount due the school district shall be certified 19 by the commissioner of administration and proper warrant therefor shall be issued to the 20 district treasurer or State Technical College of Missouri. 21 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 1 of this section, the state board of 22 education shall establish standards for agricultural education that may be adopted by a private 23 school accredited by an agency recognized by the United States Department of Education as 24 an accreditor of private schools that wishes to provide quality vocational programming 25 outside the requirements of, but consistent with, the federal Vocational Education Act. Such 26 standards shall be sufficient to qualify a private school to apply to the state chapter for 27 approval of a local chapter of a federally chartered national agricultural education association 28 on a form developed for that purpose by the department of elementary and secondary 29 education without eligibility to receive state or federal funding for agricultural vocational 30 education. The provisions of this subsection shall not be construed to create eligibility for a 31 private school to receive state or federal funding for agricultural vocational education, but 32 shall not prohibit a private school from receiving state or federal funds for which such private 33 school would otherwise be eligible for agricultural vocational education. Any such private 34 school shall reimburse the department annually for the cost of oversight and maintenance of 35 the program. 36 3. (1) The department of elementary and secondary education, through its 37 agricultural education section, shall be authorized to establish a [pilot] program, beginning in 38 the [2020-21] 2027-28 school year, to provide for agricultural education in elementary 39 schools in the state. [The purpose of the pilot program shall be to determine whether and how 40 to implement an elementary agricultural education program statewide.] 41 (2) (a) The department, through its employees who work in the agricultural 42 education section, [is authorized to select from among applications submitted by the public 43 elementary schools a minimum of sixteen public elementary schools for participation in the 44 pilot program. The department] shall develop [an application] a process for public 45 elementary schools to [apply to] participate in the [pilot] program. 46 (b) The local school board for each elementary school [selected] that elects to be in 47 the [pilot] program shall agree to implement and fully fund an elementary agricultural 48 education program in such school and [to continue to provide such elementary agricultural 49 education program for a period no shorter than three years. The local school district] may 50 employ an agricultural education teacher to provide such program for the elementary school. 51 (3) The department, through its employees who work in the agricultural education 52 section, [and local school districts] shall [collaborate to] establish [the] instructional [model] 53 models for [each] the elementary agricultural education program. Such instructional [model] 54 models shall be grade-appropriate and include instruction in an organized classroom, HB 2097 3
55 collaborative learning experiences through investigation and inquiry, including laboratory and 56 site-based learning activities, and personal, leadership, and career development opportunities. 57 (4) The department, through its agricultural education section, shall provide for a 58 program evaluation regarding the success and impact of the [pilot] program [upon completion 59 of the third year of the pilot program] and shall report the results of such evaluation [to the 60 relevant house and senate committees on agriculture and education] on the department's 61 website. 62 4. The department shall maintain an adequate number of full-time employees, 63 certified in agricultural education and distributed regionally throughout the state, to provide 64 accountability for program delivery of agricultural education, to continue to develop and 65 maintain pertinent agricultural education instructional models and standards, to assist local 66 school districts on matters related to agricultural education, and to coordinate regional and 67 statewide activities supporting K-12 agricultural education programming. 68 5. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require public elementary schools to 69 participate in the [pilot] program. 70 6. The requirements of section 160.514 shall not apply to this section. ✔
Statutes affected: