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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 2157
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE HURLBER T .
5107H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o amend chapter 162, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to released-time
courses.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 162, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be
2 known as section 162.059, to read as follows:
162.059. 1. This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Missouri
2 Released-T ime Education Act".
3 2. As used in this section, the following terms mean:
4 (1) "Pare nt", a par ent, legal guardian, or other person having control , custody ,
5 or charge of a child;
6 (2) "Released-time course", a course in rel igious instruction taught by an
7 independent sponsoring entity that a student is excused fr om school to attend;
8 (3) "School district", the same definition as in section 160.01 1.
9 3. A school district shall adopt a policy as provi ded in this section to excuse a
10 student from school to attend a released- time course. Such policy shall not interfer e
11 with the ability of a student's paren t to requ est or access a rele ased-time course for the
12 student.
13 4. A school district shall, upon the req uest of a student's paren t, excuse a student
14 under its jurisdiction fr om school to attend a rel eased-time course for at least one hour
15 per week but not mor e than five hours per week if the following requ irem ents are met:
16 (1) The student's par ent gives written consent for the student to attend the
17 r eleased-time course;
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 (2) The entity sponsoring the r eleased-time course maintains attendance r ecords
19 and makes them available to the school district the student attends;
20 (3) T ransportation to and fr om the place of instruction including, but not limited
21 to, transportation for students with disabilities, is the complete res ponsibility of the
22 sponsoring entity , par ent, or student;
23 (4) The sponsoring entity makes provi sions for and assumes liability for the
24 student while under the control of the sponsoring entity;
25 (5) No school district moneys other than de minimis administrative costs are
26 expended in pr oviding the rel eased-time course;
27 (6) Released-time courses shall not be held on school district prop erty unless
28 permitted under a neutral policy of equal access opening school district pro perty for use
29 by community grou ps; and
30 (7) The student assumes res ponsibility for any missed schoolwork.
31 5. Notwithstanding any other pr ovision of law to the contrary , any period for
32 which a student is excused to attend a rel eased-time course shall be consider ed as the
33 student attending the public school fr om which the student is excused for the purposes
34 of calculating state aid for such school and satisfying attendance requi rem ents.
35 6. No prov ision of this section shall be construed to deny a rel eased-time course
36 or the sponsoring entity equal access to moneys, benefits, or services that the school
37 district pr ovides or makes available to community gr oups or other independent entities.
38 7. (1) A school district shall adopt a policy that awards academic credit for the
39 completion of a re leased-time course and reco gnizes the credi ts of an independently
40 accr edited pro vider of rel eased-time courses.
41 (2) In determining how much cr edit to award for completion of such a course,
42 the school district shall evaluate the course based on pur ely secular criteria that are
43 substantially the same criteria used to evaluate similar courses for purposes of
44 determining how much credit to award for such course. The decision to award credit
45 for a r eleased-time course shall be neutral to, and shall not involve any test for , reli gious
46 content or denominational affiliation.
47 (3) For purposes of this section, secular criteria include, but are not limited to,
48 the following:
49 (a) The number of hours of classr oom instruction time;
50 (b) A r eview of the course syllabus that ref lects course r equir ements and
51 materials used;
52 (c) The methods of assessment used in the course; and
53 (d) The qualifications of the course instructor .
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54 8. Any person or organization aggrieved by a violation of this section may bring
55 an action against the school district res ponsible for the violation and seek appr opriate
56 r elief including, but not limited to, injunctive relief, monetary damages, reas onable
57 attorney's fees, and court costs.
✔
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