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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 1787
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE GRAGG.
4748H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o repeal section 171.051, RSMo, and section 171.031 as enacted by senate bill no. 727, one
hundred second general assembly , second regular session, and to enact in lieu thereof
two new sections relating to school closures on election days.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 171.051, RSMo, and section 171.031 as enacted by senate bill no.
2 727, one hundred second general assembly , second regular session, are repealed and two new
3 sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 171.031 and 171.051, to read as
4 follows:
171.031. 1. Each school board shall prepare annually a calendar for the school term,
2 specifying the opening date, days of planned attendance, and providing a minimum term of at
3 least one thousand forty-four hours of actual pupil attendance, and, for a school district that is
4 located wholly or partially in a county with a charter form of government or a school district
5 that is located wholly or partially in a city with more than thirty thousand inhabitants, a
6 minimum of one hundred and sixty-nine school days, unless the district has adopted a four-
7 day school week as provided in section 171.028, in which case the district school term shall
8 have a minimum of one hundred forty-two school days. In addition, such calendar shall
9 include six make-up days for possible loss of attendance due to inclement weather as defined
10 in subsection 1 of section 171.033. In school year 2019-20 and subsequent years, such
11 calendar shall include thirty-six make-up hours for possible loss of attendance due to
12 inclement weather , as defined in subsection 1 of section 171.033, with no minimum number
13 of make-up days.
EXPLANA TION — 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.
14 2. Each local school district may set its opening date each year , which date shall be no
15 earlier than fourteen calendar days prior to the first Monday in September . No public school
16 district shall select an earlier start date unless, for calendars for school years before school
17 year 2020-21, the district follows the procedure set forth in subsection 3 of this section. The
18 procedure set forth in subsection 3 of this section shall be unavailable to school districts in
19 preparing their calendars for school year 2020-21 and for subsequent years.
20 3. For calendars for school years before school year 2020-21, a district may set an
21 opening date that is more than fourteen calendar days prior to the first Monday in September
22 only if the local school board first gives public notice of a public meeting to discuss the
23 proposal of opening school on a date more than fourteen days prior to the first Monday in
24 September , and the local school board holds said meeting and, at the same public meeting, a
25 majority of the board votes to allow an earlier opening date. If all of the previous conditions
26 are met, the district may set its opening date more than fourteen calendar days prior to the first
27 Monday in September . The condition provided in this subsection must be satisfied by the
28 local school board each year that the board proposes an opening date more than fourteen days
29 before the first Monday in September .
30 4. If any local district violates the provisions of this section, the department of
31 elementary and secondary education shall withhold an amount equal to one quarter of the
32 state funding the district generated under section 163.031 for each date the district was in
33 violation of this section.
34 5. The provisions of subsections 2 to 4 of this section shall not apply to school
35 districts in which school is in session for twelve months of each calendar year .
36 6. The state board of education may grant an exemption from this section to a school
37 district that demonstrates highly unusual and extenuating circumstances justifying exemption
38 from the provisions of subsections 2 to 4 of this section. Any exemption granted by the state
39 board of education shall be valid for one academic year only .
40 7. For the 2026-27 school year and each subsequent school year , when pr eparing
41 a calendar for the school term under this section, each school district and charter school
42 shall set the general municipal election day and the general election day , as such days
43 ar e established under section 1 15.121, as a school holiday on which school is not in
44 session.
171.051. School holidays include Thanksgiving Day , December twenty-fifth, the
2 third Monday in February , July fourth, the general municipal election day and the general
3 election day as such days ar e established under section 1 15.121, and may include
4 November eleventh at the discretion of the school district.
✔
HB 1787 2