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HB2965 • 2026

Requires the department of elementary and secondary education to develop a curriculum on Black history and Black literature to be used by school districts

Requires the department of elementary and secondary education to develop a curriculum on Black history and Black literature to be used by school districts

Education
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Bosley, LaKeySha (079)
Last action
2026-04-08
Official status
04/08/2026 - Public Hearing Completed (H)
Effective date
2026-08-28

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Requires the department of elementary and secondary education to develop a curriculum on Black history and Black literature to be used by school districts

Requires the department of elementary and secondary education to develop a curriculum on Black history and Black literature to be used by school districts

What This Bill Does

  • Requires the department of elementary and secondary education to develop a curriculum on Black history and Black literature to be used by school districts

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-08 Missouri House of Representatives and Missouri Senate

    Public Hearing Completed (H)

  2. 2026-03-11 Missouri House of Representatives and Missouri Senate

    Referred: Elementary and Secondary Education(H)

  3. 2026-01-15 Missouri House of Representatives and Missouri Senate

    Read Second Time (H)

  4. 2026-01-14 Missouri House of Representatives and Missouri Senate

    Introduced and Read First Time (H)

Official Summary Text

Requires the department of elementary and secondary education to develop a curriculum on Black history and Black literature to be used by school districts

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 2965
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE BOSLEY .
4927H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o amend chapter 170, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to history and
literature education in public schools.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 170, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be
2 known as section 170.373, to read as follows:
170.373. 1. The state board of education shall convene a work group to develop
2 and recomm end academic performance standards rel ating to one unit of cr edit of Black
3 history education and one unit of cr edit of Black literatur e education requ ired by the
4 board. The work grou p shall include, but not be limited to, educators pr oviding
5 instruction in Black history and Black literature in grades nine to twelve,
6 r epresent atives fr om the department of elementary and secondary education, and
7 nonpr ofit organizations that focus on the study of Black history and Black literature.
8 The work grou p shall develop written curriculum frameworks relat ing to Black history
9 education and Black literature education that ar e designed to ensure that students attain
10 the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary to pro perly educate students.
11 2. The state board of education shall adopt and implement academic
12 performance standards relat ing to Black history and Black literatur e for the 2027-28
13 school year and all subsequent school years.
14 3. (1) For the 2027-28 school year and all subsequent school years, each school
15 district shall req uire that after the completion of grade nine each student satisfactorily
16 completes one unit of cr edit of Black history education and one unit of cr edit of Black
17 literatur e education befor e r eceiving a high school diploma or certificate of graduation.
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) A school district may elect to waive the requi rem ents of subdivision (1) of this
19 subsection for a student who transfers fr om outside the state to a Missouri high school if
20 the student can furnish documentation deemed acceptable by the school district of the
21 student's successful completion of a substantially similar course of instruction.
22 4. The r equir ements of section 160.514 shall not apply to this section.
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HB 2965 2