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EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 1046
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR MOSLEY .
3810S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal sections 162.081 and 162.083, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections
relating to special administrative boards.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 162.081 and 162.083, RSMo, are 1
repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be 2
known as sections 162.081 and 162.083, to read as follows:3
162.081. 1. Whenever any school district in this 1
state fails or refuses in any school year to provide for the 2
minimum school term required by section 163.021 or is 3
classified unaccredited, the state board of education shall, 4
upon a district's initial classification or reclassification 5
as unaccredited: 6
(1) Review the governance of the district to establish 7
the conditions under which the existing school board shall 8
continue to govern; or 9
(2) Determine the date the district shall [lapse] have 10
its governing or managing authority suspended and determine, 11
as provided in this section, an alternative governing 12
structure for the district. 13
2. If at the time any school district in this state 14
shall be classified as unaccredited, the department of 15
elementary and secondary education shall conduct at least 16
two public hearings at a location in the unaccredited school 17
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district regarding the accreditation status of the school 18
district. The hearings shall provide an opportunity to 19
convene community resources that may be useful or necessary 20
in supporting the school district as it attempts to return 21
to accredited status, continues under revised governance, or 22
plans for continuity of educational services and resources 23
upon its attachment to a neighboring district. The 24
department may request the attendance of stakeholders and 25
district officials to review the district's plan to return 26
to accredited status, if any; offer technical assistance; 27
and facilitate and coordinate community resources. Such 28
hearings shall be conducted at least twice annually for 29
every year in which the district remains unaccredited or 30
provisionally accredited. 31
3. Upon classification of a district as unaccredited, 32
the state board of education may: 33
(1) Allow continued governance by the existing school 34
district board of education under terms and conditions 35
established by the state board of education; or 36
(2) [Lapse the corporate organization of all or part] 37
Suspend the governing or managing authority of the elected 38
school board members of the unaccredited district and: 39
(a) Appoint a special administrative board for the 40
operation of [all or part of] the district. [If a special 41
administrative board is appointed for the operation of a 42
part of a school district, the state board of education 43
shall determine an equitable apportionment of state and 44
federal aid for the part of the district and the school 45
district shall provide local revenue in proportion to the 46
weighted average daily attendance of the part.] The number 47
of members of the special administrative board shall [not] 48
be [less than five] seven, [the majority] four of whom, 49
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provided that persons possessing the qualifications set 50
forth herein are residents of the district and ready, 51
willing, and able to serve, shall be residents of the 52
district. The members of the special administrative board 53
shall reflect the population characteristics of the district 54
and shall collectively possess strong experience in school 55
governance, management and finance, and leadership. One 56
member shall be a certified public school teacher from 57
outside the district or retired, one shall be a certified 58
public school principal from outside of the district or 59
retired, one shall be a certified public school 60
superintendent or deputy or associate superintendent from 61
outside of the district or retired, two shall be parents who 62
have been active with the parents-teachers association or 63
organization of the district, one shall be a college or 64
university professor of educational administration, and one 65
shall hold a degree and be experienced in accounting or 66
finance. The special administrative board shall meet not 67
less than once per month. Each appointed member of the 68
special administrative board shall receive a salary of five 69
hundred dollars per month, and shall be reimbursed for their 70
reasonable expenses in attending to their duties as a member 71
of the special administrative board, payable from the 72
district's revenue. Each member of the special 73
administrative board shall be appointed to a term of three 74
years and shall serve until his or her successor is 75
appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed for good 76
cause shown by the state board of education. Notice of the 77
appointment of a person to the special administrative board 78
shall be immediately given to each member of the general 79
assembly whose district includes any part of the school 80
district. Within fifteen days after the vote to appoint a 81
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member to the special administrative board, if a member of 82
the Missouri house of representatives whose district 83
includes any part of the school district, in whole or in 84
part, submits a request to the president pro tempore of the 85
senate, the appointment shall be subject to the advice and 86
consent of the senate. If such request is made, the member 87
whose appointment is subject to the advice and consent 88
process shall abstain from all special administrative board 89
duties until his or her appointment is confirmed. The 90
[state board of education may appoint] members of the 91
district's elected school board [to] shall be ex-officio non- 92
voting members of the special administrative board, [but 93
members of the elected school board shall not comprise more 94
than forty-nine percent of the special administrative 95
board's membership] and thus may attend and participate in 96
the meetings and committees of the special administrative 97
board, but shall have no vote nor be counted to determine a 98
quorum, and to that extent the district shall continue to 99
elect members to its school board. Within fourteen days 100
after the appointment by the state board of education, the 101
appointed members of the special administrative board shall 102
organize by the election of a president, vice president, 103
secretary and a treasurer, with their qualifications, 104
duties, and organization as enumerated in section 162.301. 105
The special administrative board shall appoint a 106
superintendent of schools to serve at the will of the board 107
or for a term of not more than three years, to serve as the 108
chief executive officer of the school district[, or a subset 109
of schools,] and to have all powers and duties of any other 110
general superintendent of schools in a seven-director school 111
district. If the district has been classified as 112
provisionally or fully accredited after two successive 113
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academic years, the superintendent's term may be renewed for 114
an additional term of up to three years at the will of the 115
special administrative board. Any special administrative 116
board appointed under this section shall be responsible for 117
the operation of the district [or part of the district] 118
until such time that the district is classified by the state 119
board of education as provisionally accredited for at least 120
two successive academic years, after which time the state 121
board of education [may] shall provide for a transition 122
pursuant to section 162.083; or 123
(b) Upon failure of the district to be classified as 124
provisionally or fully accredited for at least two 125
successive academic years, the state board of education 126
shall require the special administrative board to establish 127
a specific plan and timeline for achieving accreditation, 128
and determine an alternative [governing] educational or 129
academic structure for the district including, at a minimum: 130
a. [A rationale for the decision to use an alternative 131
form of governance and] In the absence of the district's 132
achievement of provisional or full accreditation, the state 133
board of education shall review and [recertify the 134
alternative form of governance every three years] require 135
the special administrative board to appoint a new 136
superintendent of the school district for a term of not more 137
than three years unless sooner removed at the will of the 138
board; 139
b. A method for the residents of the district to 140
provide public comment after a stated period of time or upon 141
achievement of specified academic objectives; 142
c. Expectations for progress on academic achievement, 143
which shall include an anticipated time line for the 144
district to reach full accreditation; and 145
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d. Annual reports to the general assembly and the 146
governor on the progress towards accreditation of any 147
district that has been declared unaccredited and is placed 148
under [an alternative form of] governance of a special 149
administrative board, including a review of the 150
effectiveness of the [alternative governance] special 151
administrative board; or 152
(c) Attach the territory of the [lapsed] unaccredited 153
district to another district or districts for school 154
purposes[; or 155
(d) Establish one or more school districts within the 156
territory of the lapsed district, with a governance 157
structure specified by the state board of education, with 158
the option of permitting a district to remain intact for the 159
purposes of assessing, collecting, and distributing property 160
taxes, to be distributed equitably on a weighted average 161
daily attendance basis, but to be divided for operational 162
purposes, which shall take effect sixty days after the 163
adjournment of the regular session of the general assembly 164
next following the state board's decision unless a statute 165
or concurrent resolution is enacted to nullify the state 166
board's decision prior to such effective date]. 167
4. If a district remains under continued governance by 168
the elected school board under subdivision (1) of subsection 169
3 of this section and either has been unaccredited for three 170
consecutive school years and failed to attain accredited 171
status after the third school year or has been unaccredited 172
for two consecutive school years and the state board of 173
education determines its academic progress is not consistent 174
with attaining accredited status after the third school 175
year, then the state board of education shall proceed under 176
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subdivision (2) of subsection 3 of this section in the 177
following school year. 178
5. A special administrative board [or any other form 179
of governance] appointed under this section shall retain the 180
authority granted to a board of education for the operation 181
of the [lapsed] school district under the laws of the state 182
in effect at the time of the [lapse] suspension of the 183
governing or managing authority of the elected school board 184
members and may enter into contracts with accredited school 185
districts or other education service providers in order to 186
deliver high-quality educational programs to the residents 187
of the district. If a student graduates while attending a 188
school building in the district that is operated under a 189
contract with an accredited school district as specified 190
under this subsection, the student shall receive his or her 191
diploma from the accredited school district. The authority 192
of the special administrative board [or any other form of 193
governance] appointed under this section shall expire at the 194
end of the third full school year following its appointment, 195
unless extended for not more than three full school years by 196
the state board of education. No additional extensions 197
shall be granted. Governance of the school district shall 198
be returned to the elected board upon the expiration of the 199
authority of the special administrative board. If the 200
[lapsed] district is reassigned, the governing board prior 201
to [lapse] reassignment shall provide an accounting of all 202
funds, assets and liabilities of the [lapsed] reassigned 203
district and transfer such funds, assets, and liabilities of 204
the [lapsed] reassigned district as determined by the state 205
board of education. Neither the special administrative 206
board nor any other form of governance [appointed under this 207
section] nor its members or employees shall be deemed to be 208
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the state or a state agency for any purpose, including 209
section 105.711, et seq. The state of Missouri, its 210
agencies and employees shall be absolutely immune from 211
liability for any and all acts or omissions relating to or 212
in any way involving the [lapsed] unaccredited district, a 213
special administrative board, any other form of governance 214
[appointed under this section], or the members or employees 215
of the [lapsed] unaccredited district, a special 216
administrative board, or any other form of governance 217
[appointed under this section]. Such immunities, and 218
immunity doctrines as exist or may hereafter exist 219
benefitting boards of education, their members and their 220
employees shall be available to the special administrative 221
board or any other form of governance [appointed under this 222
section] and the members and employees of the special 223
administrative board or any other form of governance 224
[appointed under this section]. 225
6. Neither the special administrative board nor any 226
other form of governance [appointed under this section] nor 227
any district or other entity assigned territory, assets or 228
funds from [a lapsed] an unaccredited district shall be 229
considered a successor entity for the purpose of employment 230
contracts, unemployment compensation payment pursuant to 231
section 288.110, or any other purpose. 232
7. If additional teachers are needed by a district as 233
a result of increased enrollment due to the annexation of 234
territory of [a lapsed] an unaccredited or dissolved 235
district, such district shall grant an employment interview 236
to any permanent teacher of the [lapsed] unaccredited or 237
dissolved district upon the request of such permanent 238
teacher. 239
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8. In the event that a school district with an 240
enrollment in excess of five thousand pupils [lapses] 241
becomes unaccredited, no school district shall have all or 242
any part of such [lapsed] school district attached without 243
the approval of the board of the receiving school district. 244
9. If the state board of education reasonably believes 245
that a school district is unlikely to provide for the 246
minimum school term required by section 163.021 because of 247
financial difficulty, the state board of education may, 248
prior to the start of the school term: 249
(1) Allow continued governance by the existing 250
district school board under terms and conditions established 251
by the state board of education; or 252
(2) [Lapse the corporate organization] Suspend the 253
governing or managing authority of the elected school board 254
members of the district and implement one of the options 255
available under subdivision (2) of subsection 3 of this 256
section. 257
10. The provisions of subsection 9 of this section 258
shall not apply to any district solely on the basis of 259
financial difficulty resulting from paying tuition and 260
providing transportation for transfer students under 261
sections 167.895 and 167.898. 262
162.083. 1. [The state board of education may appoint 1
additional members to any special administrative board 2
appointed under section 162.081. 3
2. The state board of education may set a final term 4
of office for any member of a special administrative board, 5
after which a successor member shall be elected by the 6
voters of the district. 7
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(1) All final terms of office for members of the 8
special administrative board established under this section 9
shall expire on June thirtieth. 10
(2) The election of a successor member shall occur on 11
the general municipal election day immediately prior to the 12
expiration of the final term of office. 13
(3) The election shall be conducted in a manner 14
consistent with the election laws applicable to the school 15
district. 16
3.] Nothing in [this] section 162.081 shall be 17
construed as barring an otherwise qualified member of the 18
special administrative board from standing for an elected 19
term on the board, upon the dissolution of the special 20
administrative board or upon his or her resignation from the 21
special administrative board. 22
[4.] 2. Not later than six full school years following 23
appointment of the special administrative board, on a date 24
set by the state board of education, any district operating 25
under the governance of a special administrative board shall 26
return to local governance, and continue operation as a 27
school district as otherwise authorized by law. 28
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