Bill Text: MO HB738 | 2011 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Requires each school district to ensure that every student develops a personal plan of study prior to the end of the student's eighth grade year
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-04-19 - Placed on Informal Calendar [HB738 Detail]
Download: Missouri-2011-HB738-Comm_Sub.html
FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 738
96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Reported from the Committee on Education, April 14, 2011, with recommendation that the Senate Committee Substitute do pass and be placed on the Consent Calendar.
TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.
1443S.02C
AN ACT
To repeal sections 168.124 and 168.221, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof five new sections relating to elementary and secondary education.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 168.124 and 168.221, RSMo, are repealed and five new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 161.380, 162.1115, 167.780, 168.124, and 168.221, to read as follows:
161.380. 1. By June 30, 2012, the department of elementary and secondary education shall develop an evaluation instrument that shall be provided to school districts to evaluate school superintendent performance.
2. The department may promulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this section. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010 that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536, and, if applicable, section 536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536, to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2011, shall be invalid and void.
162.1115. 1. When two or more school districts consolidate under section 162.223, the department of elementary and secondary education shall grant the new school district a waiver from review under the Missouri school improvement program for a period of three years.
2. When a school district annexes another district under section 162.441 and the annexation results in a ten percent increase in the number of pupils enrolled in the district, the department of elementary and secondary education shall grant a waiver from review under the Missouri school improvement program for a period of three years.
3. When a school district boundary line is changed under section 162.431 and the boundary line change results in a ten percent increase in the number of pupils enrolled in the district, the department of elementary and secondary education shall grant a waiver from review under the Missouri school improvement program for a period of three years.
167.780. 1. Prior to the end of the student's eighth grade year, and in conjunction with the student's parent or guardian, each school district shall be responsible for ensuring that each student develops a personal plan of study based upon standards adopted under this section.
2. The school district shall adopt all necessary policies to implement a comprehensive guidance and counseling program focusing on career awareness in the elementary grades, career exploration at the middle grades, and educational and career planning at the high school level, with the goal of ensuring that all students will possess the knowledge and skills to develop and implement a personal plan of study.
3. The school district policy shall include, but not be limited to, the following elements:
(1) Active participation by counselors, teachers, administrators, as well as involvement of the student's parent or guardian in the development, review and revision of personal plans of study;
(2) Adequate resources and training for the development of personal plans of study;
(3) Adequate time and opportunity for schools to implement the individual planning process required in the development of personal plans of study;
(4) Access to the statewide, web-based educational and career planning system sponsored by the department of elementary and secondary education; and
(5) Opportunities for community involvement in the program, including such activities such as job shadowing, volunteer experience, and internship experiences related to the educational and career goals of the student.
4. The personal plan of study shall be reviewed at least annually by school personnel and the student's parent or guardian and updated based upon the needs of the student. Each plan shall cover a term of eight years or until the student has reached his or her post-secondary goals. The plan shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) Requirements for graduation from the school district;
(2) Career or post-secondary goals based on career paths or career clusters;
(3) Course work or program of study related to career and post-secondary goals;
(4) Grade-appropriate, career-related experiences, as outlined in the grade level expectations of the Missouri Comprehensive Guidance Program;
(5) Student assessments, interest inventories or academic results needed to develop, review, and revise the personal plan of study; and
(6) Opportunities for a post-secondary experience based on the results of well-planned exploration and knowledge of all post-secondary opportunities including but not limited to on-site or virtual visits, internship, exploration and planning for financial aid, dual and articulated credit, advanced placement course work and other relevant experiences, as appropriate.
168.124. 1. The board of education of a school district may place on leave of absence as many teachers as may be necessary because of a decrease in pupil enrollment, school district reorganization or the financial condition of the school district. In placing teachers on leave, the board of education shall be governed by the following provisions:
(1) No permanent teacher shall be placed on leave of absence while probationary teachers are retained in positions for which a permanent teacher is qualified;
(2) Permanent teachers shall be retained on the basis of performance-based evaluations and seniority (however, seniority shall not be controlling) within the field of specialization;
(3) Permanent teachers shall be reinstated to the positions from which they have been given leaves of absence, or if not available, to positions requiring like training and experience, or to other positions in the school system for which they are qualified by training and experience;
(4) No appointment of new teachers shall be made while there are available teachers on unrequested leave of absence who are properly qualified to fill such vacancies;
(5) A teacher placed on leave of absence may engage in teaching or another occupation during the period of such leave;
(6) The leave of absence shall not impair the tenure of a teacher;
(7) The leave of absence shall continue for a period of not more than three years unless extended by the board.
2. Should a board of education choose to utilize the mechanism for reducing teacher forces as provided in subsection 1 of this section in an attempt to manage adverse financial conditions caused at least partially by a withholding of, or a decrease or less than expected increase in, education appropriations, then the district additionally shall follow the provisions of subsection 3 of this section.
3. If a school district has an unrestricted combined ending fund balance of more than ten percent of current expenditures in its teachers' and incidental funds, and in the subsequent fiscal year such district, because of state appropriations, places a contracted teacher on leave of absence after forty days subsequent to the governor signing the elementary and secondary education appropriation bill, the district shall pay the affected teacher the greater of his or her salary for any days worked under the contract, or a sum equal to three thousand dollars.
4. Should a board of education choose to utilize the mechanism for reducing teacher forces as provided in subsection 1 of this section, the board shall also reduce administrative costs by a percent equal to the percent by which the amount of funds spent on teacher compensation was reduced.
168.221. 1. The first five years of employment of all teachers entering the employment of the metropolitan school district shall be deemed a period of probation during which period all appointments of teachers shall expire at the end of each school year. During the probationary period any probationary teacher whose work is unsatisfactory shall be furnished by the superintendent of schools with a written statement setting forth the nature of his incompetency. If improvement satisfactory to the superintendent is not made within one semester after the receipt of the statement, the probationary teacher shall be dismissed. The semester granted the probationary teacher in which to improve shall not in any case be a means of prolonging the probationary period beyond five years and six months from the date on which the teacher entered the employ of the board of education. The superintendent of schools on or before the fifteenth day of April in each year shall notify probationary teachers who will not be retained by the school district of the termination of their services. Any probationary teacher who is not so notified shall be deemed to have been appointed for the next school year. Any principal who prior to becoming a principal had attained permanent employee status as a teacher shall upon ceasing to be a principal have a right to resume his or her permanent teacher position with the time served as a principal being treated as if such time had been served as a teacher for the purpose of calculating seniority and pay scale. The rights and duties and remuneration of a teacher who was formerly a principal shall be the same as any other teacher with the same level of qualifications and time of service.
2. After completion of satisfactory probationary services, appointments of teachers shall become permanent, subject to removal for any one or more causes herein described and to the right of the board to terminate the services of all who attain the age of compulsory retirement fixed by the retirement system. In determining the duration of the probationary period of employment in this section specified, the time of service rendered as a substitute teacher shall not be included.
3. No teacher whose appointment has become permanent may be removed except for one or more of the following causes: immorality, inefficiency in line of duty, violation of the published regulations of the school district, violation of the laws of Missouri governing the public schools of the state, or physical or mental condition which incapacitates him for instructing or associating with children, and then only by a vote of not less than a majority of all the members of the board, upon written charges presented by the superintendent of schools, to be heard by the board after thirty days' notice, with copy of the charges served upon the person against whom they are preferred, who shall have the privilege of being present at the hearing, together with counsel, offering evidence and making defense thereto. Notifications received by an employee during a vacation period shall be considered as received on the first day of the school term following. At the request of any person so charged the hearing shall be public. During any time in which powers granted to the district's board of education are vested in a special administrative board, the special administrative board may appoint a hearing officer to conduct the hearing. The hearing officer shall conduct the hearing as a contested case under chapter 536 and shall issue a written recommendation to the board rendering the charges against the teacher. The board shall render a decision on the charges upon the review of the hearing officer's recommendations and the record from the hearing. The action and decision of the board upon the charges shall be final. Pending the hearing of the charges, the person charged may be suspended if the rules of the board so prescribe, but in the event the board does not by a majority vote of all the members remove the teacher upon charges presented by the superintendent, the person shall not suffer any loss of salary by reason of the suspension. Inefficiency in line of duty is cause for dismissal only after the teacher has been notified in writing at least one semester prior to the presentment of charges against him by the superintendent. The notification shall specify the nature of the inefficiency with such particularity as to enable the teacher to be informed of the nature of his inefficiency.
4. No teacher whose appointment has become permanent shall be demoted nor shall his salary be reduced unless the same procedure is followed as herein stated for the removal of the teacher because of inefficiency in line of duty, and any teacher whose salary is reduced or who is demoted may waive the presentment of charges against him by the superintendent and a hearing thereon by the board. The foregoing provision shall apply only to permanent teachers prior to the compulsory retirement age under the retirement system. Nothing herein contained shall in any way restrict or limit the power of the board of education to make reductions in the number of teachers or principals, or both, because of insufficient funds, decrease in pupil enrollment, or abolition of particular subjects or courses of instruction, except that the abolition of particular subjects or courses of instruction shall not cause those teachers who have been teaching the subjects or giving the courses of instruction to be placed on leave of absence as herein provided who are qualified to teach other subjects or courses of instruction, if positions are available for the teachers in the other subjects or courses of instruction.
5. Whenever it is necessary to decrease the number of teachers because of insufficient funds or a substantial decrease of pupil population within the school district, the board of education upon recommendation of the superintendent of schools may cause the necessary number of teachers beginning with those serving probationary periods to be placed on leave of absence without pay, but only in the inverse order of their appointment. Nothing herein stated shall prevent a readjustment by the board of education of existing salary schedules. No teacher placed on a leave of absence shall be precluded from securing other employment during the period of the leave of absence. Each teacher placed on leave of absence shall be reinstated in inverse order of his placement on leave of absence. Such reemployment shall not result in a loss of status or credit for previous years of service. No new appointments shall be made while there are available teachers on leave of absence who are seventy years of age or less and who are adequately qualified to fill the vacancy unless the teachers fail to advise the superintendent of schools within thirty days from the date of notification by the superintendent of schools that positions are available to them that they will return to employment and will assume the duties of the position to which appointed not later than the beginning of the school year next following the date of the notice by the superintendent of schools. When decreasing the number of teachers under this subsection, the board of education shall also reduce administrative costs by a percent equal to the percent by which the amount of funds spent on teacher compensation was reduced.
6. If any regulation which deals with the promotion of teachers is amended by increasing the qualifications necessary to be met before a teacher is eligible for promotion, the amendment shall fix an effective date which shall allow a reasonable length of time within which teachers may become qualified for promotion under the regulations.
7. A teacher whose appointment has become permanent may give up the right to a permanent appointment to participate in the teacher choice compensation package under sections 168.745 to 168.750.
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