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SB1090 • 2026

Requires charter schools to obtain a certificate of need issued by the State Board of Education in order to be eligible to operate

Requires charter schools to obtain a certificate of need issued by the State Board of Education in order to be eligible to operate

Education
Passed Legislature

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

Sponsor
Nurrenbern, Maggie; House handler: N/A
Last action
2026-01-15
Official status
Second Read and Referred S Education Committee
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 charter schools to obtain a certificate of need issued by the State Board of Education in order to be eligible to operate

The following summaries of this bill are available: Print All Summaries Introduced Print SB 1090 - Under this act, no charter school established on or after August 28, 2026, shall be eligible to operate in Missouri without the State Board of Education's issuance of a certificate of need for such charter school as provided in the act.

What This Bill Does

  • The following summaries of this bill are available: Print All Summaries Introduced Print SB 1090 - Under this act, no charter school established on or after August 28, 2026, shall be eligible to operate in Missouri without the State Board of Education's issuance of a certificate of need for such charter school as provided in the act.
  • A certificate of need shall be required only for proposed charter schools that are not established as of August 28, 2026, and shall not be required for charter renewals or transfers of sponsorship.
  • The act shall not be construed to exempt charter schools from state laws governing charter contracts or any other applicable state or federal law or regulation.
  • The certificate of need application shall be a written certification, including supporting documentation, submitted by the governing board of the school district or the governing body of the city or county in which the proposed charter school would be operated, affirming that certain conditions apply to the school district in which the charter school would be operated.

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. 2026-01-15 S187

    Second Read and Referred S Education Committee

  2. 2026-01-07 S59

    S First Read

  3. 2025-12-01 Missouri House of Representatives and Missouri Senate

    Prefiled

Official Summary Text

The following summaries of this bill are available:

Print All Summaries

Introduced

Print

SB 1090 - Under this act, no charter school established on or after August 28, 2026, shall be eligible to operate in Missouri without the State Board of Education's issuance of a certificate of need for such charter school as provided in the act. A certificate of need shall be required only for proposed charter schools that are not established as of August 28, 2026, and shall not be required for charter renewals or transfers of sponsorship. The act shall not be construed to exempt charter schools from state laws governing charter contracts or any other applicable state or federal law or regulation.

The certificate of need application shall be a written certification, including supporting documentation, submitted by the governing board of the school district or the governing body of the city or county in which the proposed charter school would be operated, affirming that certain conditions apply to the school district in which the charter school would be operated. The certificate of need application shall affirm that consumer demand for alternative educational options exceeds supply, and that the school district has sufficient economies of scale, as such term is defined in the act, to enable the charter school to succeed without detrimentally impacting the school district's ability to provide a free public education. The certificate of need application shall also affirm that the charter school is likely to alleviate economic and racial inequities; improve students' academic achievement; reduce student-teacher ratios; improve efficiencies in education service delivery; reduce the number of schooling disruptions faced by children and families; and address other family priorities specified in the act.

The State Board of Education shall review each charter school certificate of need application and either approve or disapprove each application within 120 calendar days of receipt. If the Board determines that the information provided in the application is factual and based on sound data and reasoning, the Board shall approve the application. If the Board determines that the information provided in the application is not factual and based on sound data and reasoning, the Board shall disapprove the application and provide to the applicant written documentation of the reasons why the application was not approved.

This act is substantially similar to SB 177 (2025) and HB 1056 (2025), and is similar to HB 3122 (2026).
OLIVIA SHANNON

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 1090
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR NURRENBERN.
3848S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To amend chapter 160, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to charter schools.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 160, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto 1
one new section, to be known as section 160.401, to read as 2
follows:3
160.401. 1. Beginning August 28, 2026, no charter 1
school shall be eligible to operate in this state without 2
the state board of education's issuance of a certificate of 3
need for such charter school as provided in this section. 4
2. A certificate of need shall be required only for 5
proposed charter schools that are not established as of 6
August 28, 2026, and shall not be required for: 7
(1) The renewal of a charter contract pursuant to the 8
provisions of section 160.405; 9
(2) The transfer of sponsorship of a charter school in 10
accordance with rules promulgated by the state board of 11
education; or 12
(3) An addition to the grade levels offered by an 13
established charter school, to be implemented in the same 14
location where the charter school is currently operated. 15
3. This section shall not be construed to exempt a 16
charter school from the requirements of section 160.405 or 17
any other applicable state or federal law or regulation. 18
SB 1090 2
4. The charter school certificate of need application 19
shall consist of a written certification, including 20
supporting documentation, submitted by the governing board 21
of the school district or the governing body of the city or 22
county in which the proposed charter school would be 23
located, affirming that the following conditions apply to 24
the school district in which the proposed charter school 25
would be operated: 26
(1) Consumer demand for alternative educational 27
options exceeds supply; 28
(2) The school district's attendance area contains 29
sufficient economies of scale to ensure both an adequate 30
supply of high quality teachers and a sufficient number of 31
potential students in order for the proposed charter school 32
to succeed without detrimentally impacting the school 33
district's ability to provide a free public education for 34
students who enroll in the school district. For purposes of 35
this subdivision, "economies of scale" shall mean the 36
capacity to reduce costs and increase efficiency as student 37
enrollment numbers change; and 38
(3) The proposed charter school is likely to: 39
(a) Alleviate economic and racial inequities across 40
the school district's attendance centers; 41
(b) Improve students' academic achievement and test 42
scores; 43
(c) Reduce student-teacher ratios across the school 44
district; 45
(d) Result in a more efficient education service 46
delivery system without superfluous duplication of services; 47
(e) Limit the number of schooling disruptions faced by 48
children and families; and 49
SB 1090 3
(f) Address family priorities that are not strictly 50
educational in nature, including, but not limited to, 51
safety, convenience, transportation time, neighborhood 52
walkability, and school culture. 53
5. The state board of education shall review each 54
charter school certificate of need application and either 55
approve or disapprove each application within one hundred 56
twenty calendar days of receipt. If the board determines 57
that the information provided in the application is factual 58
and based on sound data and reasoning, the board shall 59
consider the conditions of this subsection to be satisfied, 60
and the board shall approve such application. If the board 61
determines that the information provided in the application 62
is not factual and based on sound data and reasoning, the 63
board shall disapprove the application and provide to the 64
applicant written documentation of the reasons why the 65
application was not approved. 66
6. If the state board of education disapproves an 67
application pursuant to subsection 5 of this section, the 68
governing board of the school district or the governing body 69
of the city or county in which the proposed charter school 70
would be located may reapply for a certificate of need 71
pursuant to the provisions of this section not less than one 72
year after the date of such disapproval. 73
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