• The board received a report on the Normandy Schools collaborative and discussed community concerns relating to Superintendent Marcus Robinson who lacks required state leadership credentials. State Board Member Pamela Westbrooks-Hodge, who leads information systems audit for Edward Jones, was quoted in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as saying, "This is not just disagreement with some decisions, this is a belief that the district leadership is not acting in the best interest of the community." The board will meet in coming weeks in a special session to discuss potential actions.

• The board received a presentation on the state of broadband in Missouri. While the state has made progress, 23% of students still lack access, and the state ranks in the bottom five for access to low-cost internet. See the full report here . 

• Pam Thomas, the chief of early learning, provided an update on the timeline for the new Office of Childhood. 

• The board reviewed the FY 2022 budget report.

HB 1071 (Shields) - a bill that extends the sunset on the Quality Assurance Report was voted "do pass" from the committee on Rules-Legislative Oversight on April 8th.

HB 973 (Shields) - a bill that increases the amount of state aid districts and charters can claim for Pre-K remains in the committee on Rules-Administrative Oversight. 

HB 865 (Shields) - a bill that gives counties the authority to seek voter-approved property tax increases and establish local early childhood boards for early childhood education remains in the committee on Rules-Legislative Oversight. 

This week the House perfected HCS HB 137 a.a by a vote of 87-60. Rep. Doug Richey introduced HB 137 to fix a glitch in the funding mechanism for distributing to charter schools their share of local revenue. The bill, as amended, was the culmination of tremendous deliberation between the stakeholders that resulted in compromises from all parties.

To paraphrase the bill sponsor, Rep. Richey, "You know it was a good compromise because no one came away entirely happy or entirely disappointed." A provision to ensure the costs of covering special education for students in school districts and charter schools fairly and equitably was at the heart of the compromise.

The bill as perfected requires that special education costs for all students and the school district's administrative expenses for distributing local revenue should be calculated and set aside first. Following that, local revenue due to the charter schools is calculated and distributed. An additional amendment delays the implementation of the new requirements for three years in St. Louis City, where there is a lawsuit pending between St. Louis Public Schools and the charter schools in St. Louis.

For more details read the Aligned Capitol Report.

Here are a few toplines from the activity this week:

• Representative Rick Roeber (R-Lee's Summit) submitted a letter of resignation to Speaker Rob Vescovo this week.  Roeber, who succeeded his late wife, was elected to the House last year amid allegations from his adult children that they were abused and sexually mistreated by him.  The Speaker refused to accept his resignation until the Ethics Committee investigation was completed. Read more here. 
• On Thursday, Representative Jared Taylor (R-Springfield) announced that the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations would suspend all efforts to collect unemployment overpayments while the legislature works to pass legislation relating to that issue. 
• This week, the House gave first round approval to a bill that would permanently put Missouri on daylight saving account time if three of eight bordering states adopt that time standard.  
• The Missouri Times reports that Kansas City International Airport has received a $2.4 million natural gas bill in the wake of the two week long cold spell last February. Negotiations between the City of Kansas City and Texas-based natural gas company Symmetry Energy Solutions continue as the company initially lowered the bill to $2.1 million.

Bills on the move

HB 2039, a bill requiring students to pass a civics test and financial literacy course before graduating high school, passed the Senate 25-13 and the House 72-51 last week.  This week, state school board members authorized Chairman Jim Porter and Vice Chairwoman Janet Waugh to meet with Governor Kelly and provide her information on the constitutional and statutory authority of the State Board and local school boards and to ask her to consider that information when she considers HB 2039.  Many expect the Governor to veto the bill.  

 

SB 91, the Real-World Learning liability bill, was passed by the House by a vote of 123-0 last week.

HB 2085, the students' right to know act, which provides information on postsecondary education options to better prepare students for the workforce, was enrolled and presented to the Governor on Friday, April 9th. 

S Sub for HB2287, the Kansas Promise Scholarship Act was passed by the House with a vote of 115-9 in March.  The Senate Education Committee recommended do-pass.  We look for a vote during veto session as budget numbers solidify.

 

SB 32 would allow school districts, at the discretion of the local board of education, to pay all or a portion of the costs of tuition, fees, books, materials, and equipment for any high school student who is concurrently or dually enrolled at a postsecondary educational institution (postsecondary institution) is in House Committee on Appropriations. No change this week.

All our best.

Torree Pederson [email protected] (913) 484-4202		Linda Rallo [email protected] (314) 330-8442