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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 2048
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE TERR Y .
4234H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o repeal sections 162.081 and 162.083, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections
relating to special administrative boards for unaccredited school districts.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 162.081 and 162.083, RSMo, are repealed and two new sections
2 enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 162.081 and 162.083, to read as follows:
162.081. 1. Whenever any school district in this state fails or refuses in any school
2 year to provide for the minimum school term required by section 163.021 or is classified
3 unaccredited, the state board of education shall, upon a district's initial classification or
4 reclassification as unaccredited:
5 (1) Review the governance of the district to establish the conditions under which the
6 existing school board shall continue to govern; or
7 (2) Determine the date the district shall lapse and determine an alternative governing
8 structure for the district as pro vided in this section .
9 2. If at the time any school district in this state shall be classified as unaccredited, the
10 department of elementary and secondary education shall conduct at least two public hearings
11 at a location in the unaccredited school district regarding the accreditation status of the school
12 district. The hearings shall provide an opportunity to convene community resources that may
13 be useful or necessary in supporting the school district as it attempts to return to accredited
14 status, continues under revised governance, or plans for continuity of educational services and
15 resources upon its attachment to a neighboring district. The department may request the
16 attendance of stakeholders and district of ficials to review the district's plan to return to
17 accredited status, if any; of fer technical assistance; and facilitate and coordinate community
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.
18 resources. Such hearings shall be conducted at least twice annually for every year in which
19 the district remains unaccredited or provisionally accredited.
20 3. Upon classification of a district as unaccredited, the state board of education may:
21 (1) Allow continued governance by the existing school district board of education
22 under terms and conditions established by the state board of education; or
23 (2) [ Lapse the corporate or ganization of all or part ] Suspend the governing or
24 managing authority of the elected school board members of the unaccredited district and:
25 (a) Appoint a special administrative board for the operation of [ all or part of ] the
26 district. [ If a special administrative board is appointed for the operation of a part of a school
27 district, the state board of education shall determine an equitable apportionment of state and
28 federal aid for the part of the district and the school district shall provide local revenue in
29 proportion to the weighted average daily attendance of the part. ] The number of members of
30 the special administrative board shall [ not ] be [ less than five, the majority ] seven, four of
31 whom shall be residents of the district , pro vided that individuals possessing the
32 qualifications set forth in this paragraph ar e r eady , willing, and able to serve . The
33 members of the special administrative board shall reflect the population characteristics of the
34 district and shall collectively possess strong experience in school governance, management
35 and finance, and leadership. One member shall be a certified public school teacher fr om
36 outside of the district or r etir ed, one shall be a certified public school principal fr om
37 outside of the district or r etir ed, one shall be a certified public school superintendent or
38 deputy or associate superintendent fr om outside of the district or ret ired, two shall be
39 par ents who have been active with the Par ent-T eacher Association or a similar
40 organization of the district, one shall be a college or university pro fessor of educational
41 administration, and one shall hold a degr ee and be experienced in accounting or finance.
42 The special administrative board shall meet at least once per month. Each member of
43 the special administrative board shall receiv e a salary of five hundred dollars per month
44 and shall be rei mbursed for reas onable expenses incurr ed in the performance of duties
45 as a member of the special administrative board, with such funds to be paid fro m the
46 district's rev enue. Each member of the special administrative board shall be appointed
47 to a term of thr ee years and shall serve until a successor is appointed and qualified
48 unless sooner rem oved for good cause shown by the state board of education. W ithin
49 thirty days after the state board of education votes to appoint a member to the special
50 administrative board, if a member of the house of r epresent atives whose district touches
51 the school district, in whole or in part, submits a req uest to the pr esident pr o tempor e of
52 the senate, the appointment shall be subject to the advice and consent of the senate. The
53 [ state board of education may appoint ] members of the district's elected school board [ to ]
54 shall be ex officio, nonvoting members of the special administrative board[ , but members of
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55 the elected school board shall not comprise more than forty-nine percent of the special
56 administrative board's membership ] and may attend and have a voice in the meetings and
57 committees of the special administrative board. The r esidents of the district shall
58 continue to elect such ex officio members to the school board . W ithin fourteen days after
59 the appointment by the state board of education, the special administrative board shall
60 or ganize by the election of a president, vice president, secretary and a treasurer , with their
61 duties and or ganization as enumerated in section 162.301. The special administrative board
62 shall appoint a superintendent of schools to serve as the chief executive of ficer of the school
63 district[ , or a subset of schools, ] and to have all powers and duties of any other general
64 superintendent of schools in a seven-director school district. Any special administrative
65 board appointed under this section shall be responsible for the operation of the district [ or part
66 of the district ] until such time that the district is classified by the state board of education as
67 provisionally accredited for at least two successive academic years, after which time the state
68 board of education [ may ] shall provide for a transition pursuant to section 162.083; [ or ]
69 (b) Upon the failure of the district to be classified as pr ovisionally or fully
70 accr edited for at least two successive academic years, the state board of education shall
71 r equir e the special administrative board to establish a specific plan and timeline for
72 achieving accred itation and determine an alternative governing structure for the district
73 including, at a minimum:
74 a. [ A rationale for the decision to use an alternative form of governance and ] In the
75 absence of the district's achievement of pr ovisional or full accreditation, [ the state board of
76 education shall ] a review [ and recertify the alternative form of governance ] of the special
77 administrative board and a r equir ement for the special administrative board to appoint
78 a new superintendent of the school district every three years;
79 b. A method for the residents of the district to provide public comment after a stated
80 period of time or upon achievement of specified academic objectives;
81 c. Expectations for progress on academic achievement, which shall include an
82 anticipated time line for the district to reach full accreditation; and
83 d. Annual reports to the general assembly and the governor on the progress towards
84 accreditation of any district that has been declared unaccredited and is placed under [ an
85 alternative form of ] governance of a special administrative board , including a review of the
86 ef fectiveness of the [ alternative governance ] special administrative board ; or
87 (c) Attach the territory of the lapsed district to another district or districts for school
88 purposes[ ; or
89 (d) Establish one or more school districts within the territory of the lapsed district,
90 with a governance structure specified by the state board of education, with the option of
91 permitting a district to remain intact for the purposes of assessing, collecting, and distributing
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92 property taxes, to be distributed equitably on a weighted average daily attendance basis, but to
93 be divided for operational purposes, which shall take ef fect sixty days after the adjournment
94 of the regular session of the general assembly next following the state board's decision unless
95 a statute or concurrent resolution is enacted to nullify the state board's decision prior to such
96 ef fective date ].
97 4. If a district remains under continued governance by the school board under
98 subdivision (1) of subsection 3 of this section and either has been unaccredited for three
99 consecutive school years and failed to attain accredited status after the third school year or has
100 been unaccredited for two consecutive school years and the state board of education
101 determines its academic progress is not consistent with attaining accredited status after the
102 third school year , [ then ] the state board of education shall proceed under subdivision (2) of
103 subsection 3 of this section in the following school year .
104 5. A special administrative board [ or any other form of governance ] appointed under
105 this section shall retain the authority granted to a board of education for the operation of the
106 lapsed school district under the laws of the state in effect at the time of the lapse and may
107 enter into contracts with accredited school districts or other education service providers in
108 order to deliver high-quality educational programs to the residents of the district. If a student
109 graduates while attending a school building in the district that is operated under a contract
110 with an accredited school district as specified under this subsection, the student shall receive
111 [ his or her ] such student's diploma from the accredited school district. The authority of the
112 special administrative board [ or any other form of governance ] appointed under this section
113 shall expire at the end of the third full school year following its appointment, unless extended
114 by the state board of education for no mor e than thr ee full school years. No additional
115 extensions shall be granted. Governance of the school district shall be ret urned to the
116 elected board upon the expiration of the authority of the special administrative board .
117 If the lapsed district is reassigned, the governing board prior to lapse shall provide an
118 accounting of all funds, assets and liabilities of the lapsed district and transfer such funds,
119 assets, and liabilities of the lapsed district as determined by the state board of education.
120 Neither the special administrative board [ nor any other form of governance ] appointed under
121 this section nor its members or employees shall be deemed to be the state or a state agency for
122 any purpose, including section 105.71 1[ , ] et seq. The state of Missouri, its agencies and
123 employees shall be absolutely immune from liability for any and all acts or omissions relating
124 to or in any way involving the lapsed district, a special administrative board[ , any other form
125 of governance ] appointed under this section, or the members or employees of the lapsed
126 district[ , a ] or special administrative board[ , or any other form of governance ] appointed
127 under this section. Such immunities, and immunity doctrines as exist or may hereafter exist
128 benefitting boards of education, their members and their employees shall be available to the
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129 special administrative board [ or any other form of governance ] appointed under this section
130 and the members and employees of the special administrative board [ or any other form of
131 governance ] appointed under this section.
132 6. Neither the special administrative board [ nor any other form of governance ]
133 appointed under this section nor any district or other entity assigned territory , assets or funds
134 from a lapsed district shall be considered a successor entity for the purpose of employment
135 contracts, unemployment compensation payment pursuant to section 288.1 10, or any other
136 purpose.
137 7. If additional teachers are needed by a district as a result of increased enrollment
138 due to the annexation of territory of a lapsed or dissolved district, such district shall grant an
139 employment interview to any permanent teacher of the lapsed or dissolved district upon the
140 request of such permanent teacher .
141 8. In the event that a school district with an enrollment in excess of five thousand
142 pupils lapses, no school district shall have all or any part of such lapsed school district
143 attached without the approval of the board of the receiving school district.
144 9. If the state board of education reasonably believes that a school district is unlikely
145 to provide for the minimum school term required by section 163.021 because of financial
146 dif ficulty , the state board of education may , prior to the start of the school term:
147 (1) Allow continued governance by the existing district school board under terms and
148 conditions established by the state board of education; or
149 (2) Lapse the corporate or ganization of the district and implement one of the options
150 available under subdivision (2) of subsection 3 of this section.
151 10. The provisions of subsection 9 of this section shall not apply to any district solely
152 on the basis of financial dif ficulty resulting from paying tuition and providing transportation
153 for transfer students under sections 167.895 and 167.898.
162.083. 1. [ The state board of education may appoint additional members to any
2 special administrative board appointed under section 162.081.
3 2. The state board of education may set a final term of office for any member of a
4 special administrative board, after which a successor member shall be elected by the voters of
5 the district.
6 (1) All final terms of office for members of the special administrative board
7 established under this section shall expire on June thirtieth.
8 (2) The election of a successor member shall occur on the general municipal election
9 day immediately prior to the expiration of the final term of of fice.
10 (3) The election shall be conducted in a manner consistent with the election laws
11 applicable to the school district.
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12 3. ] Nothing in this section shall be construed as barring an otherwise qualified
13 member of the special administrative board from standing for an elected term on the board.
14 [ 4. ] 2. No later than six full school years following appointment of the special
15 administrative board, on a date set by the state board of education, any district operating
16 under the governance of a special administrative board shall return to local governance, and
17 continue operation as a school district as otherwise authorized by law .
✔
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