Creates new provisions relating to discrimination in public entities

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. 1276
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR SCHROER.
5691S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal section 160.011 as enacted by senate bill no. 727, one hundred second general assembly,
second regular session, and to enact in lieu thereof six new sections relating to
discrimination in public entities, with a severability clause.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 160.011 as enacted by senate bill no. 1
727, one hundred second general assembly, second regular 2
session, is repealed and six new sections enacted in lieu 3
thereof, to be known as sections 105.1701, 105.1702, 160.011, 4
160.2800, 174.800, and 213.136, to read as follows:5
105.1701. 1. (1) The governing body of a public 1
school, including an elementary school, high school, or 2
charter school, shall ensure that the following information 3
is displayed on the school website in a publicly accessible 4
location: 5
(a) All training materials, including materials for 6
instructors, concerning or used for staff and faculty 7
training on all matters of nondiscrimination, diversity, 8
equity, inclusion, race, ethnicity, sex, or bias, or any 9
combination of these concepts with other concepts; 10
(b) All instructional or curricular materials 11
concerning nondiscrimination, diversity, equity, inclusion, 12
race, ethnicity, sex, or bias, or any combination of these 13
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concepts with other concepts. Such instructional materials 14
shall identify, at a minimum: 15
a. The title, author, organization, and any website 16
associated with each instructional material; 17
b. A brief description of the instructional material; 18
c. A link to the instructional material, if publicly 19
available on the internet, or information on how to request 20
review of a copy of the instructional material; and 21
d. The identity of the teacher, if the instructional 22
material was created by the teacher; and 23
(c) Any procedures for the documentation, review, or 24
approval of the training, instructional, or curricular 25
materials used for staff and faculty training or student 26
instruction at the school, including by the principal, 27
curriculum administrators, or other teachers. 28
(2) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 29
require the digital reproduction or posting of copies of the 30
instructional materials themselves if such reproduction 31
would infringe upon copyrighted material; but in such cases, 32
original materials should still be linked, if possible, or 33
provided upon request, as required under subparagraph c. of 34
paragraph (b) of subdivision (1) of this subsection. 35
2. (1) Each state agency and political subdivision 36
shall post on its website in a publicly accessible location 37
all training materials, including materials for instructors, 38
for training provided to employees of the agency or 39
political subdivision on all matters of nondiscrimination, 40
diversity, equity, inclusion, race, ethnicity, sex, or bias, 41
or any combination of these concepts with other concepts, 42
except any materials that the agency or political 43
subdivision is required to keep confidential. 44
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(2) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 45
require the digital reproduction or posting of copies of the 46
instructional materials themselves if such reproduction 47
would infringe upon copyrighted material; but in such cases, 48
original materials should still be linked, if possible, or 49
provided upon request. 50
105.1702. 1. A public school, including an elementary 1
school, high school, or charter school, state agency, or 2
political subdivision shall not: 3
(1) Require or otherwise compel a student, teacher, 4
administrator, or other employee to affirm, adopt, or adhere 5
to any belief or concept that: 6
(a) One race, sex, ethnicity, religion, or national 7
origin is inherently superior or inferior to another race, 8
sex, ethnicity, religion, or national origin; 9
(b) An individual, by virtue of his or her race, sex, 10
ethnicity, religion, or national origin should be blamed for 11
actions committed in the past by other members of the same 12
race, sex, ethnicity, religion, or national origin; or 13
(c) An individual's moral character is necessarily 14
determined, in whole or in part, by his or her race, sex, 15
ethnicity, religion, or national origin; 16
(2) Use public funds to contract with, hire, or 17
otherwise engage consultants, trainers, or other persons to: 18
(a) Direct or otherwise compel a student, teacher, 19
administrator, or other employee to affirm, adopt, or adhere 20
to any belief or concept described in subdivision (1) of 21
this subsection; or 22
(b) Advocate concepts described in subdivision (1) of 23
this subsection, unless: 24
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a. The school, agency, or political subdivision 25
expressly makes clear that it does not sponsor, approve, or 26
endorse such concepts or materials; and 27
b. The school, agency, or political subdivision 28
affords students, teachers, administrators, and other 29
employees the opportunity to opt out of any speeches by or 30
sessions with such outside contractors; or 31
(3) Require a student, teacher, administrator, or 32
other employee to attend or participate in a training, 33
seminar, continuing education, orientation, or therapy that 34
promotes any concept described in subdivision (1) of this 35
subsection. 36
2. Nothing in this section shall be construed as 37
prohibiting: 38
(1) Speech protected by the First Amendment of the 39
U.S. Constitution or Article I, Section 8 of the 40
Constitution of Missouri; 41
(2) Voluntary attendance at a training session, 42
seminar, continuing education, orientation, or therapy, 43
provided that no inducement or coercion for such attendance 44
exists; 45
(3) Access to sources on an individual basis that 46
advocate concepts described in subdivision (1) of subsection 47
1 of this section for the purpose of research or independent 48
study; or 49
(4) Discussion of concepts described in subdivision 50
(1) of subsection 1 of this section or the assignment of 51
materials that incorporate such concepts for educational 52
purposes, provided that the public school, including a 53
public primary school, public secondary school, or public 54
charter school, state agency, or political subdivision 55
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expressly makes clear that it does not sponsor, approve, or 56
endorse such concepts or materials. 57
160.011. As used in chapters 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 1
165, 167, 168, 170, 171, 177 and 178, the following terms 2
mean: 3
(1) "District" or "school district", when used alone, 4
may include seven-director, urban, and metropolitan school 5
districts; 6
(2) "Elementary school", a public school giving 7
instruction in a grade or grades not higher than the eighth 8
grade; 9
(3) "Family literacy programs", services of sufficient 10
intensity in terms of hours, and of sufficient duration, to 11
make sustainable changes in families that include: 12
(a) Interactive literacy activities between parents 13
and their children; 14
(b) Training of parents regarding how to be the 15
primary teacher of their children and full partners in the 16
education of their children; 17
(c) Parent literacy training that leads to high school 18
completion and economic self sufficiency; and 19
(d) An age-appropriate education to prepare children 20
of all ages for success in school; 21
(4) "Graduation rate", the quotient of the number of 22
graduates in the current year as of June thirtieth divided 23
by the sum of the number of graduates in the current year as 24
of June thirtieth plus the number of twelfth graders who 25
dropped out in the current year plus the number of eleventh 26
graders who dropped out in the preceding year plus the 27
number of tenth graders who dropped out in the second 28
preceding year plus the number of ninth graders who dropped 29
out in the third preceding year; 30
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(5) "High school", a public school giving instruction 31
in a grade or grades not lower than the ninth nor higher 32
than the twelfth grade; 33
(6) "Metropolitan school district", any school 34
district the boundaries of which are coterminous with the 35
limits of any city which is not within a county; 36
(7) "Proxy discrimination", the use of a facially 37
neutral factor in student admissions that correlates with 38
race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry, or national origin 39
for the purpose of discriminating against or granting a 40
preference to any individual or group on the basis of race, 41
sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry, or national origin. "Proxy 42
discrimination" includes the use of regional or feeder 43
school caps, quotas, or bonuses; zip codes; other geographic 44
or socioeconomic factors; and peer-group characteristics 45
within feeder or other zoned schools, if such factors are 46
used individually or in combination with other factors for 47
the purpose of discriminating against or granting a 48
preference to any individual or group on the basis of race, 49
sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry, or national origin; 50
(8) "Public school" includes all elementary and high 51
schools operated at public expense; 52
[(8)] (9) "School board", the board of education 53
having general control of the property and affairs of any 54
school district; 55
[(9)] (10) "School term", a minimum of one thousand 56
forty-four hours of actual pupil attendance as scheduled by 57
the board pursuant to section 171.031 during a twelve-month 58
period in which the academic instruction of pupils is 59
actually and regularly carried on for a group of students in 60
the public schools of any school district, and, for a school 61
district that is located wholly or partially in a county 62
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with a charter form of government or a school district that 63
is located wholly or partially in a city with more than 64
thirty thousand inhabitants, a minimum of one hundred sixty- 65
nine school days, as that term is defined in section 66
160.041, unless the district has adopted a four-day school 67
week as provided in section 171.028, in which case the 68
district school term shall have a minimum of one hundred 69
forty-two school days, as such term is defined in section 70
160.041. A school term may be within a school year or may 71
consist of parts of two consecutive school years, but does 72
not include summer school. A district may choose to operate 73
two or more terms for different groups of children. A 74
school term for students participating in a school flex 75
program as established in section 160.539 may consist of a 76
combination of actual pupil attendance and attendance at 77
college or technical career education or approved employment 78
aligned with the student's career academic plan for a total 79
of the required number of hours as provided in this 80
subdivision; 81
[(10)] (11) "Secretary", the secretary of the board of 82
a school district; 83
[(11)] (12) "Seven-director district", any school 84
district which has seven directors and includes urban 85
districts regardless of the number of directors an urban 86
district may have unless otherwise provided by law; 87
[(12)] (13) "Taxpayer", any individual who has paid 88
taxes to the state or any subdivision thereof within the 89
immediately preceding twelve-month period or the spouse of 90
such individual; 91
[(13)] (14) "Town", any town or village, whether or 92
not incorporated, the plat of which has been filed in the 93
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office of the recorder of deeds of the county in which it is 94
situated; 95
(15) "Traditional academic success factors", the 96
following student admissions factors: standardized test 97
results that are not normed for different student groupings, 98
academic grades and similar academic records, 99
extracurricular activities and achievements that are 100
relevant to academic success, and academic recommendations 101
by teachers and other school officials; 102
[(14)] (16) "Urban school district", any district 103
which includes more than half of the population or land area 104
of any city which has not less than seventy thousand 105
inhabitants, other than a city which is not within a county. 106
160.2800. 1. All public schools, including charter 1
schools, with a selective admissions process shall publish a 2
comprehensive list of all factors and criteria that the 3
school, the admissions committee, and any other employee or 4
representative of the school may consider or use in the 5
admission decision-making process. This list shall include, 6
but not be limited to, any of the following factors and 7
criteria that may be considered or used: 8
(1) Academic qualifications, including GPA, 9
standardized test scores, and class rank; 10
(2) Extracurricular activities, community service, and 11
leadership experiences; 12
(3) Personal essays, statements of purpose, or other 13
written submissions; 14
(4) Letters of recommendation from teachers, 15
counselors, or other relevant individuals; 16
(5) Special talents, achievements, or awards; 17
(6) Socioeconomic background or other diversity- 18
related considerations; 19
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(7) Legacy status; 20
(8) Financial or in-kind donations made by the 21
applicant, the applicant's family, or any person or business 22
associated with the applicant; and 23
(9) Any other factors that may be considered during 24
the evaluation process. 25
The list of factors and criteria shall be made publicly 26
available on the official website of each school and easily 27
accessible to prospective students, parents, and other 28
interested parties. 29
2. Each public school and charter school with a 30
selective admissions process shall submit an annual report 31
to the state board of education detailing all the admission 32
factors used during the previous academic year. The report 33
shall include the weight or significance assigned to each 34
factor, if applicable, and any changes made to the admission 35
criteria. 36
3. The state board of education shall compile the 37
reports received from public schools and charter schools and 38
publish a consolidated report that provides an overview of 39
the admission factors and their respective importance. This 40
consolidated report shall be made available to the public on 41
the website of the department of elementary and secondary 42
education. 43
4. No public school or charter school board member, 44
director, administrator, employee, or person making 45
admission decisions for a public school or charter school 46
shall: 47
(1) Discriminate against or grant preferential 48
treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, 49
sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry, or national origin; 50
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(2) Engage in proxy discrimination; or 51
(3) Seek information on students' race, sex, color, 52
ethnicity, ancestry, or national origin during the 53
application process for admission to such school unless 54
expressly required by federal law, and to the extent it is 55
required by federal law, and such information shall be 56
withheld to the maximum extent practicable from any 57
individual involved in admissions decisions to the end that 58
admissions decisions are blind as to the applicants' race, 59
sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry, and national origin. 60
5. In any civil action in a court of competent 61
jurisdiction challenging an instance of proxy discrimination 62
that violates this section, the plaintiff has the burden of 63
establishing a prima facie case of proxy discrimination 64
through statements, statistical evidence, projections, or 65
other evidence that a particular factor or combination of 66
factors other than traditional academic success factors was 67
selected at least in part for the purpose of discriminating 68
against or granting a preference to any individual or group 69
on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry, or 70
national origin. To rebut such a prima facie case of proxy 71
discrimination, the defendant has the burden of proving that 72
the selection of the challenged factor or combination of 73
factors was solely for a lawful purpose and not for the 74
purpose of discriminating against or granting a preference 75
to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, 76
ethnicity, ancestry, or national origin. 77
6. Any public school or charter school board member, 78
director, administrator, or employee may use traditional 79
academic success factors, and such use presumptively does 80
not constitute proxy discrimination. In any civil action in 81
a court of competent jurisdiction challenging the use of 82
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traditional academic success factors, the plaintiff has the 83
burden of proving that the factors were manipulated, 84
weighted, or otherwise used with the specific intent of 85
discriminating against or granting a preference to an 86
individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, 87
ethnicity, ancestry, or national origin and not simply with 88
knowledge that such use has or may have a disparate impact 89
on such individual or group. 90
7. Public schools and charter schools shall have a 91
grace period of nine months after August 28, 2026, to comply 92
with the disclosure requirements outlined in subsection 1 of 93
this section. 94
8. Noncompliance with this section may result in 95
penalties, including fines and potential loss of public 96
funding, as determined by the state board of education. 97
174.800. 1. As used in this section, the following 1
terms mean: 2
(1) "Proxy discrimination", the use of a facially 3
neutral factor in student admissions that correlates with 4
race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry, or national origin 5
for the purpose of discriminating against or granting a 6
preference to any individual or group on the basis of race, 7
sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry, or national origin. "Proxy 8
discrimination" includes the use of regional or feeder 9
school caps, quotas, or bonuses; zip codes; other geographic 10
or socioeconomic factors; and peer-group characteristics 11
within feeder or other zoned schools, if such factors are 12
used individually or in combination with other factors for 13
the purpose of discriminating against or granting a 14
preference to any individual or group on the basis of race, 15
sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry, or national origin; 16
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(2) "Traditional academic success factors", the 17
following student admissions factors: standardized test 18
results that are not normed for different student groupings, 19
academic grades and similar academic records, 20
extracurricular activities and achievements that are 21
relevant to academic success, and academic recommendations 22
by teachers and other school officials. 23
2. Each state college and university with a selective 24
admissions process shall publish a comprehensive list of all 25
factors and criteria that the school, the admissions 26
committee, and any other employee or representative of the 27
school may consider or use in the admission decision-making 28
process. This list shall include, but not be limited to, 29
any of the following factors and criteria that may be 30
considered or used: 31
(1) Academic qualifications, including GPA, 32
standardized test scores, and class rank; 33
(2) Extracurricular activities, community service, and 34
leadership experiences; 35
(3) Personal essays, statements of purpose, or other 36
written submissions; 37
(4) Letters of recommendation from teachers, 38
counselors, or other relevant individuals; 39
(5) Special talents, achievements, or awards; 40
(6) Socioeconomic background or other diversity- 41
related considerations; 42
(7) Legacy status; 43
(8) Financial or in-kind donations made by the 44
applicant, the applicant's family, or any person or business 45
associated with the applicant; and 46
(9) Any other factors that may be considered during 47
the evaluation process. 48
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The list of factors and criteria shall be made publicly 49
available on the official website of each state college and 50
university and easily accessible to prospective students, 51
parents, and other interested parties. 52
3. Each state college and university with a selective 53
admissions process shall submit an annual report to the 54
coordinating board for higher education detailing all the 55
admission factors used during the previous academic year. 56
The report shall include the weight or significance assigned 57
to each factor, if applicable, and any changes made to the 58
admission criteria. 59
4. The coordinating board for higher education shall 60
compile the reports received from each state college and 61
university and publish a consolidated report that provides 62
an overview of the admission factors and their respective 63
importance. This consolidated report shall be made 64
available to the public on the website of the department of 65
higher education and workforce development. 66
5. No state college or university board member, 67
director, administrator, employee, or any person making 68
admission decisions for the state college or university 69
shall: 70
(1) Discriminate against or grant preferential 71
treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, 72
sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry, or national origin; 73
(2) Engage in proxy discrimination; or 74
(3) Seek information on students' race, sex, color, 75
ethnicity, ancestry, or national origin during the 76
application process for admission to such school unless 77
expressly required by federal law, and to the extent it is 78
required by federal law, and such information shall be 79
withheld to the maximum extent practicable from any 80
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individual involved in admissions decisions to the end that 81
admissions decisions are blind as to the applicants' race, 82
sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry, and national origin. 83
6. In any civil action in a court of competent 84
jurisdiction challenging an instance of proxy discrimination 85
that violates this section, the plaintiff has the burden of 86
establishing a prima facie case of proxy discrimination 87
through statements, statistical evidence, projections, or 88
other evidence that a particular factor or combination of 89
factors other than traditional academic success factors was 90
selected at least in part for the purpose of discriminating 91
against or granting a preference to any individual or group 92
on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry, or 93
national origin. To rebut such a prima facie case of proxy 94
discrimination, the defendant has the burden of proving that 95
the selection of the challenged factor or combination of 96
factors was solely for a lawful purpose and not for the 97
purpose of discriminating against or granting a preference 98
to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, 99
ethnicity, ancestry, or national origin. 100
7. Any college or university board member, director, 101
administrator, or employee may use traditional academic 102
success factors and such use presumptively does not 103
constitute proxy discrimination. In any civil action in a 104
court of competent jurisdiction challenging the use of 105
traditional academic success factors, the plaintiff has the 106
burden of proving that the factors were manipulated, 107
weighted, or otherwise used with the specific intent of 108
discriminating against or granting a preference to an 109
individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, 110
ethnicity, or national origin and not simply with knowledge 111
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that such use has or may have a disparate impact on such 112
individual or group. 113
8. State colleges and universities shall have a grace 114
period of nine months after August 28, 2026, to comply with 115
the disclosure requirements outlined in subsection 1 of this 116
section. 117
9. Noncompliance with this section may result in 118
penalties, including fines and potential loss of public 119
funding, as determined by the coordinating board for higher 120
education. 121
213.136. 1. The state, including any political 1
subdivision thereof, or any public university system, 2
community college district, or public school district, shall 3
not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment 4
to, any individual or group on the basis of race, color, 5
national origin, ancestry, or sex in the operation of public 6
employment, public education, or public contracting. 7
2. This section shall apply only to action taken after 8
the section's effective date. 9
3. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as: 10
(1) Prohibiting bona fide qualifications based on sex 11
which are reasonably necessary to the normal operation of 12
public employment, public education, or public contracting; 13
(2) Invalidating any court order or consent decree 14
which is in force as of the effective date of this section; 15
or 16
(3) Prohibiting action that must be taken to establish 17
or maintain eligibility for any federal program, where 18
ineligibility would result in a loss of federal funds to the 19
state. 20
4. The remedies available for violations of this 21
section shall be the same, regardless of the injured party's 22
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race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin, as are 23
otherwise available for violations of then-existing state 24
antidiscrimination law. 25
5. This section shall be self-executing. If any part 26
or parts of this section are found to be in conflict with 27
federal law or the United States Constitution, the section 28
shall be implemented to the maximum extent that federal law 29
and the United States Constitution permit. 30
Section B. If any provision of section A of this act 1
or the application thereof to anyone or to any circumstance 2
is held invalid, the remainder of those sections and the 3
application of such provisions to others or other 4
circumstances shall not be affected thereby. 5
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