2014 Key Education Legislation

All bills below are effective August 28, 2014, unless otherwise noted. 
Please note that the links below are links to the Missouri General Assembly's website; by clicking these links you will leave the DESE website.

HB 1189  (Wood)  Requires DESE to adopt a policy on high school graduation that allows certain agriculture or career and technical education course to satisfy certain subject-specific graduation requirements. Signed by the Governor July 9, 2014

HB 1490   (Bahr)  Mandates work groups on English language arts, mathematics, science,and history and governments whenever it develops, evaluates, modifies,or revises either academic performance or learning standards. Requires the SBE to adopt and implement academic performance standards beginning in the 2016-2017 school year and align statewide assessment system to the new standards as needed. Authorizes DESE to pilot assessments from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium during the 2014-2016 school year. The results of a statewide pilot will not be used for teacher evaluations or to lower any school district’s accreditation. Signed by the Governor July 14, 2014

HB 1689  (Swan)  Allows a school district to receive state aid for children ages three to four participating in certain early childhood education programs. Signed by Governor July 9, 2014

SB 492  (Pearce)  Implements a new model for allocating core funding to higher education institutions. Establishes the Missouri Advisory Board for Educator Preparation. Signed by the Governor June 19, 2014

SB 701 (Lager) Allows school districts to share a superintendent who possesses a valid Missouri Superintendent license. Signed by the Governor July 9, 2014

SB 719 (Kehoe)   Prohibits any elected official, appointed official, or employee of any school district or a relative from performing a service, or selling, renting, or leasing any property to the school district for more than $500 per transaction or $5000 annually unless the transaction is made after public notice, competitive bidding, and the lowest bid or offer is accepted. Modifies a prohibition on school boards leasing or renting buildings while a school building is unoccupied so that a school board may lease a building when a school building is unoccupied. Signed by the Governor July 9, 2014

SB 782   (Romine)  Allows an individual with certification from the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence to obtain teacher certification in elementary education. Signed by the Governor July 9, 2014

SB 907   (Richard)  Allows the Carthage School District to transfer funds from the incidental to the capital projects funds to complete student safety-related projects. Governor Signed July 9, 2014

SB 493  (Pearce)  Modifies provisions relating to school accreditation and student transfers, and mandates building-level accreditation for provisionally accredited and unaccredited districts. Mandates four levels of accreditation. Mandates that each district develop a policy on transfers and requires students to establish a 12-month residency prior to transfer. Provides for a non-public transfer option for students. Vetoed by the Governor June 24, 2014

SB 523   (Emery)  Prohibits school districts from requiring a student to use an identification device that uses radio frequency identification technology to transmit certain information. Vetoed by the Governor July 9, 2014

SB 656  (Kraus)  Omnibus bill relating to firearms. In part, this act allows a school district  to designate one or more school teachers or administrators as a school protection officer. School protection officers are authorized to carry a concealed firearm or self-defense spray devices. Vetoed by the Governor  July 14, 2014