HB 0288 Establishes the Priority Schools Trust Fund and produces additional alterations to the state's education policy
Current Bill Summary
- Prepared by Senate Research -

SCS/HCS/HB 288 - This act establishes the Priority Schools Trust Fund and produces additional alterations to the state's education policy.

EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCIES - This act authorizes school districts to designate an educational service agency, organized as a nonprofit corporation, for the purpose of developing, managing, and providing instructional services or programs to the participating district or districts (Section 160.071).

This section contains the provisions of SB 204.

ESTABLISHES THE PRIORITY SCHOOLS TRUST FUND - Currently, the moneys from the Gaming Proceeds for Education Fund (in excess of the amount transferred to the school district bond fund) are deposited in the State School Moneys Fund for distribution to the foundation formula.

Beginning in fiscal year 2005, 05% of these funds shall be redirected to the priority schools trust fund, which is created by this act. In fiscal year 2006, 10% of these funds shall be redirected to the priority schools trust fund. By fiscal year 2007, and each fiscal year thereafter, 15% of these funds shall be redirected to the priority schools trust fund.

This act requires that the monies transferred to the priority schools trust fund shall be replaced in the State School Moneys Fund by general revenue.

The act states that the priority schools trust fund transfers shall only occur during fiscal years where the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, the chair of the House Budget Committee, and the commissioner of education jointly determine that the appropriation for the school funding formula would have been sufficient to provide a proration factor on lines 1a and 1b of 1.0 or greater if the aid were distributed pursuant to the school funding formula as such formula existed in law on January 1, 2003.

The priority schools trust fund monies shall be distributed by the state board of education. Fifty percent of the moneys transferred in the current year to the fund shall be used to fund uniform salary supplement grants to all high quality teachers employed in priority schools, provided that the amount distributed to fund such grants shall not exceed the amount needed to fund salary grants to all eligible teachers in the amount of three thousand dollars for every eligible teacher. The remaining moneys transferred in the current year to the fund shall be distributed to all priority school districts in an amount per eligible pupil that is equal to the district's current year formula amount per eligible pupil times the quotient of the amount of funds to be appropriated pursuant to this subsection to priority school districts divided by the total current year formula entitlement for all priority school districts. The moneys distributed to priority school districts shall be used by the district to implement the district's comprehensive strategy for addressing areas of deficiency (Sections 160.534, 160.731, 163.201 and 164.303).

This section contains some provisions similar to SB 574 and the perfected HB 288.

MEMBERSHIP QUALIFICATIONS FOR SCHOOL BOARDS - This act asserts that no school board of any public school shall hire a spouse of any member of such board unless the position has been advertised pursuant to board policy and the superintendent of schools submits a written recommendation for the employment of the spouse to the board of education. The names of all applicants as well as the name of the applicant hired for the position are to be included in the board minutes (Section 162.261).

This section contains provisions similar to the perfected SB 422.

SCHOOL DISTRICT BOUNDARY CHANGES - This act applies standards to be utilized by the Board of Arbitration in determining whether a proposed school district boundary change is necessary. The standards for such a determination include the presence of: school-aged children in the affected area; actual educational harm to school-age children (significant differences in transportation time or educational opportunities); an educational necessity, not a commercial benefit to landowners (Section 162.431).

This section contains the provisions of SB 519.

MEMBERSHIP QUALIFICATIONS FOR SCHOOL BOARDS - The act removes a provision of law which disallows any person from running for the Board of Education of the St. Louis Public Schools who is employed by the school district or who is related to an employee of the school district within the second degree of affinity or consanguinity. Second degree of affinity or consanguinity is defined as a spouse, parent, child, grandparent, brother, sister, grandchild, mother-in-law, father-in-law, daughter-in-law, or son-in-law (Section 162.601).

This section contains provisions of the perfected SB 422.

ALTERS CONDITIONS BY WHICH A SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY TRANSFER MONEYS TO AND FROM CERTAIN FUNDS - This act allows school districts to transfer unrestricted funds from the capital projects fund to the incidental fund in any year in which that year's June 30 combined incidental and teachers funds unrestricted balance compared to the combined incidental and teachers funds expenditures would be less than ten percent without such transfer.

This act deletes a provision which disallows school districts from making expenditures for certain lease purchase obligations from the district's capital projects fund unless the district levies, in the current year, a tax rate in the capital projects fund which is sufficient to generate revenues equal to or greater than the amount of such expenditure and collects such revenues and credits such revenues to the capital projects fund.

Further, this act alters the conditions by which a school district may transfer moneys from the incidental fund to the capital projects fund. The act prescribes that any amount expended from the incidental fund for classroom instructional capital outlays must be subtracted from the 9% of the district's entitlement used to calculate the limit on such transfers.

Also, this act modifies the qualifications for school districts making transfers from the incidental fund to the capital projects fund by deleting the minimum levy and lease-purchase conditions and substituting compliance with provisions concerning compensation of certificated staff in the second preceding year or payment of all penalties for the second preceding year.

Additionally, the act lays out conditions under which a school district may refinance certain lease-purchase obligations (Section 165.011 ).

This section contains the provisions of the SCS/SB 686 and SCS/SB 215.

SALARY COMPLIANCE PROVISIONS - This act asserts that in any fiscal year that the state distributes 96% or less for the formula than it did in fiscal year 2002, certain districts shall not be obligated to comply with the salary compliance provisions of Section 165.016, RSMo. The act prescribes that the district must have unrestricted fund balances in the combined incidental and teacher funds on June 13th of the preceding year which is equal to or less than seventeen percent of the combined expenditures for the preceding year from these funds as a condition for said non-compliance.

Further, this act articulates another set of specifications school districts may meet in order to be exempt from the salary compliance provisions of the section:

- School districts with ten percent or more of its assessed valuation owned by one person or corporation who is delinquent in a property tax payment;

- School districts with unrestricted fund balances in the combined incidental and teacher funds on June thirtieth of the preceding year which are equal to or less than one half of the local property tax revenue for the previous year; and

- School districts which receive in the current fiscal year ninety-six percent (or less) of their fiscal year 2002 formula distribution (Section 165.016).

This section contains provisions similar to the SS/SCS/SB 264.

PIPELINE CAPACITY COSTS FOR SCHOOLS WHICH AGGREGATELY PURCHASE NATURAL GAS - This section requires the Public Service Commission to treat a gas corporation's pipeline capacity costs for schools which aggregately purchase natural gas in the same manner as large industrial or commercial customers (Section 393.310).

This act contains an emergency clause.
DONALD THALHUBER

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