HOUSE BILL NO. 2604 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE POLLITT.
5299H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT To repeal sections 167.020 and 167.151, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof fourteen new sections relating to admission of nonresident pupils, with penalty provisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 167.020 and 167.151, RSMo, are repealed and fourteen new 2 sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 167.020, 167.151, 167.1200, 3 167.1205, 167.1210, 167.1211, 167.1212, 167.1215, 167.1220, 167.1224, 167.1225, 4 167.1227, 167.1229, and 167.1230, to read as follows: 167.020. 1. As used in this section and in section 167.022, the following terms mean: 2 (1) "Behavioral threat assessment", records associated with an evaluation of a student 3 who has shown or demonstrated: 4 (a) Homicidal or suicidal ideation; 5 (b) Planning an attack on a school, other students, faculty, staff, or administration; or 6 (c) Behavior that puts students, faculty, staff, or administration at risk for harm; 7 (2) "Homeless child" or "homeless youth", a person less than twenty-one years of age 8 who lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence, including a child or youth who: 9 (a) Is sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, 10 or a similar reason; is living in motels, hotels, or camping grounds due to lack of alternative 11 adequate accommodations; is living in emergency or transitional shelters; is abandoned in 12 hospitals; or is awaiting foster care placement; 13 (b) Has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for 14 or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings;
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 2604 2
15 (c) Is living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, 16 bus or train stations, or similar settings; and 17 (d) Is a migratory child or youth who qualifies as homeless because the child or youth 18 is living in circumstances described in paragraphs (a) to (c) of this subdivision; 19 (3) "Personal safety plan", an agreement based upon the findings of the behavioral 20 threat assessment record between the school and the students' parents or guardians, or 21 between the school and the student if the student is emancipated or an unaccompanied youth 22 as defined in section 210.121, that: 23 (a) Stipulates rules for attendance at the school; 24 (b) Provides benchmarks that allow for the student to be released from the personal 25 safety plan over time; and 26 (c) Provides immediate access to a trusted adult for the student with the personal 27 safety plan. 28 2. (1) In order to register a pupil, the pupil or the parent or legal guardian of the 29 pupil [or the pupil himself or herself] shall provide, at the time of registration, one of the 30 following: 31 [(1)] (a) Proof of residency in the district. Except as otherwise provided in section 32 167.151, the term "residency" shall mean that a person both physically resides within a school 33 district and is domiciled within that district or, in the case of a private school student 34 suspected of having a disability under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 20 35 U.S.C. Section 1411 et seq., as amended, that the student attends private school within that 36 district. The domicile of a minor child shall be the domicile of a parent, military guardian 37 pursuant to a military-issued guardianship or court-appointed legal guardian. For instances in 38 which the family of a student living in Missouri co-locates to live with other family members 39 or live in a military family support community because one or both of the child's parents are 40 stationed or deployed out of state or deployed within Missouri under active duty orders under 41 Title 10 or Title 32 of the United States Code, the student may attend the school district in 42 which the family member's residence or family support community is located. If the active 43 duty orders expire during the school year, the student may finish the school year in that 44 district; 45 [(2)] (b) Proof that the person registering the student has requested a waiver under 46 subsection 3 of this section within the last forty-five days; or 47 [(3)] (c) Proof that one or both of the child's parents are being relocated to the state of 48 Missouri under military orders. 49 (2) In instances where there is reason to suspect that admission of the pupil will create 50 an immediate danger to the safety of other pupils and employees of the district, the HB 2604 3
51 superintendent or the superintendent's designee may convene a hearing within five working 52 days of the request to register and determine whether or not the pupil may register. 53 3. Any person subject to the requirements of subsection 2 of this section may request 54 a waiver from the district board of any of those requirements on the basis of hardship or good 55 cause. Under no circumstances shall athletic ability be a valid basis of hardship or good cause 56 for the issuance of a waiver of the requirements of subsection 2 of this section. The district 57 board or committee of the board appointed by the president and which shall have full 58 authority to act in lieu of the board shall convene a hearing as soon as possible, but no later 59 than forty-five days after receipt of the waiver request made under this subsection or the 60 waiver request shall be granted. The district board or committee of the board may grant the 61 request for a waiver of any requirement of subsection 2 of this section. The district board or 62 committee of the board may also reject the request for a waiver in which case the pupil shall 63 not be allowed to register. Any person aggrieved by a decision of a district board or 64 committee of the board on a request for a waiver under this subsection may appeal such 65 decision to the circuit court in the county where the school district is located. 66 4. Any person who knowingly submits false information to satisfy any requirement of 67 subsection 2 of this section is guilty of a class A misdemeanor. 68 5. In addition to any other penalties authorized by law, a district board may file a civil 69 action to recover, from the parent, military guardian or legal guardian of the pupil, the costs of 70 school attendance for any pupil who was enrolled at a school in the district and whose parent, 71 military guardian or legal guardian filed false information to satisfy any requirement of 72 subsection 2 of this section. 73 6. Subsection 2 of this section shall not apply to a pupil who is a homeless child or 74 youth, or a pupil attending a school not in the pupil's district of residence as a participant in an 75 interdistrict transfer program established under a court-ordered desegregation program, a 76 pupil who is a ward of the state and has been placed in a residential care facility by state 77 officials, a pupil who has been placed in a residential care facility due to a mental illness or 78 developmental disability, a pupil attending a school pursuant to sections 167.121 and 167.151 79 or sections 167.1200 to 167.1230, a pupil placed in a residential facility by a juvenile court, a 80 pupil with a disability identified under state eligibility criteria if the student is in the district 81 for reasons other than accessing the district's educational program, or a pupil attending a 82 regional or cooperative alternative education program or an alternative education program on 83 a contractual basis. 84 7. Within two business days of enrolling a pupil, the school official enrolling a pupil, 85 including any special education pupil, shall request those records required by district policy 86 for student transfer, discipline records required by subsection 9 of section 160.261 from all 87 schools previously attended by the pupil within the last twelve months, and records of any HB 2604 4
88 behavioral threat assessments and personal safety plans of the pupil created by the local 89 education agency if the student is currently subject to an active personal safety plan or has 90 been subject to a personal safety plan in the previous twelve months. Any school district that 91 receives a request for such records from another school district enrolling a pupil that had 92 previously attended a school in such district shall respond to such request within five business 93 days of receiving the request. School districts may report or disclose education records to law 94 enforcement and juvenile justice authorities if the disclosure concerns law enforcement's or 95 juvenile justice authorities' ability to effectively serve, prior to adjudication, the student 96 whose records are released. The officials and authorities to whom such information is 97 disclosed must comply with applicable restrictions set forth in 20 U.S.C. Section 1232g(b)(1) 98 (E), as amended. 99 8. If one or both of a child's parents are being relocated to the state of Missouri under 100 military orders, a school district shall allow remote registration of the student and shall not 101 require the student or the parent or legal guardian of the student [or the student himself or 102 herself] to physically appear at a location within the district to register the student. Proof of 103 residency, as described in this section, shall not be required at the time of the remote 104 registration but shall be required within ten days of the student's attendance in the school 105 district. 167.151. 1. The school board of any district: 2 (1) In its discretion, may admit to the school pupils not entitled to free instruction; 3 and 4 (2) Shall prescribe the tuition fee to be paid by them, except as provided in: 5 (a) Subdivision (2) of subsection 3 of this section; 6 (b) Subsection 6 of this section; and 7 (c) Sections 167.121, 167.131, 167.132, 167.895, and 168.151; and sections 8 167.1200 to 167.1230. 9 2. Orphan children, children with only one parent living, and children whose parents 10 do not contribute to their support - if the children are between the ages of six and twenty years 11 and are unable to pay tuition - may attend the schools of any district in the state in which they 12 have a permanent or temporary home without paying a tuition fee. 13 3. (1) For all school years ending on or before June 30, 2023, any individual who 14 pays a school tax in any other district than that in which such individual resides may send 15 such individual's children to any public school in the district in which the tax is paid and 16 receive as a credit on the amount charged for tuition the amount of the school tax paid to the 17 district; except that any individual who owns real estate of which eighty acres or more are 18 used for agricultural purposes and upon which such individual's residence is situated may 19 send such individual's children to public school in any school district in which a part of such HB 2604 5
20 real estate, contiguous to that upon which such individual's residence is situated, lies and shall 21 not be charged tuition therefor; so long as thirty-five percent of the real estate is located in the 22 school district of choice. The school district of choice shall count the children in its average 23 daily attendance for the purpose of distribution of state aid through the foundation formula. 24 (2) For all school years beginning on or after July 1, 2023, any current owner of 25 residential real property or agricultural real property or a named beneficiary of a trust that 26 currently owns residential real property or agricultural real property and that pays a school tax 27 in a district or districts other than the district in which such current owner or current 28 beneficiary resides may send up to four of such owner's or beneficiary's children to a public 29 school, excluding a charter school, in any district in which such owner or trust pays such 30 school tax. For purposes of this subdivision, "residential real property" shall not include any 31 multifamily residential property which exceeds four units. An owner or a named beneficiary 32 of a trust that currently owns residential real property shall not be permitted under this 33 subdivision to send their child to a district outside of the county in which they currently 34 reside. Such owner or beneficiary shall send thirty days' written notice to all school districts 35 involved specifying which school district each child will attend. Such owner or beneficiary 36 shall also present proof of the owner's or trust's annual payment of at least two thousand 37 dollars of school taxes levied on the real property specified in this subdivision within such 38 school district and ownership of the specified real property for not less than the immediately 39 preceding four consecutive years. Neither the resident nor nonresident districts shall be 40 responsible for providing transportation services under this subdivision. The school district 41 attended shall count a child attending under this subdivision in its average daily attendance 42 for the purpose of distribution of state aid under chapter 163, except that such nonresident 43 students shall not be counted in the district's average daily attendance for the purposes of 44 determining eligibility for aid payments under section 163.044. 45 4. For any school year ending on or before June 30, 2023, any owner of agricultural 46 land who, pursuant to subsection 3 of this section, has the option of sending such individual's 47 children to the public schools of more than one district shall exercise such option as provided 48 in this subsection. Such person shall send written notice to all school districts involved 49 specifying to which school district such children will attend by June thirtieth in which such a 50 school year begins. If notification is not received, such children shall attend the school in 51 which the majority of such individual's property lies. Such person shall not send any of such 52 individual's children to the public schools of any district other than the one to which such 53 individual has sent notice pursuant to this subsection in that school year or in which the 54 majority of such individual's property lies without paying tuition to such school district. 55 5. If a pupil is attending school in a district other than the district of residence and the 56 pupil's parent is teaching in the school district or is a regular employee of the school district HB 2604 6
57 which the pupil is attending, then the district in which the pupil attends school shall allow the 58 pupil to attend school upon payment of tuition in the same manner in which the district allows 59 other pupils not entitled to free instruction to attend school in the district. The provisions of 60 this subsection shall apply only to pupils attending school in a district which has an 61 enrollment in excess of thirteen thousand pupils and not in excess of fifteen thousand pupils 62 and which district is located in a county with a charter form of government which has a 63 population in excess of six hundred thousand persons and not in excess of nine hundred 64 thousand persons. 65 6. (1) As used in this subsection, the following terms mean: 66 (a) "Contractor", an individual who devotes at least twenty paid hours per week 67 fulfilling employment requirements or providing services to or for the benefit of a school 68 district or charter school, or public school employer in such district or charter school in any 69 job title or position that is covered for an employee with such job title or in such position by a 70 retirement system created under chapter 169 under a contract between such individual or such 71 individual's employer and such school district, charter school, or public school; 72 (b) "Regular employee", an individual who devotes at least twenty paid hours per 73 week fulfilling employment requirements or providing services to or for the benefit of a 74 school district, public school in such district, or charter school in any position that is covered 75 by a retirement system created under chapter 169. 76 (2) (a) For the 2025-26 school year and all subsequent school years, a school district 77 or charter school may, if approved by a majority vote of the members of the school board of 78 the school district or governing board of the charter school, adopt a policy to admit a child 79 whose parent is a contractor or regular employee of a school district other than the child's 80 school district of residence, a public school in such district, or a charter school, and, if such a 81 policy is adopted, such child may attend school in such nonresident school district or charter 82 school. 83 (b) Such nonresident school district or charter school shall allow the child to attend 84 school in the same manner in which the district or charter school allows other pupils who are 85 entitled to free instruction to attend school in the district and without paying a tuition fee. 86 (c) Such child shall be considered a resident pupil of such nonresident district or 87 charter school under the definition of average daily attendance in section 163.011, except that 88 for a student attending a nonresident charter school, the charter school shall receive a state aid 89 payment in an amount determined by multiplying the charter school's weighted average daily 90 attendance of such transferring student enrolled in the charter school by the state adequacy 91 target and multiplying this product by the dollar-value modifier for the district in which the 92 charter school is located, and the provisions of section 160.415 shall not apply to any 93 nonresident student attending a charter school. For purposes of this paragraph, the terms HB 2604 7
94 "dollar-value modifier", "state adequacy target", and "weighted average daily attendance" 95 shall have the same meaning as such terms are defined in section 163.011. 96 (d) If such child wishes to attend a school within the nonresident district or charter 97 school that is a magnet school, an academically selective school, or a school with a 98 competitive entrance process that has admissions requirements, the child's parent shall furnish 99 proof that the ch