FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 481
93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR SHIELDS.
Read 1st time February 28, 2005, and ordered printed.
TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.
1801S.01I
AN ACT
To repeal sections 162.675, 162.725, 162.735, and 162.740, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to special education services.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 162.675, 162.725, 162.735, and 162.740, RSMo, are repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 162.675 and 162.740, to read as follows:
162.675. As used in sections 162.670 to 162.995, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following terms mean:
(1) "Gifted children", children who exhibit precocious development of mental capacity and learning potential as determined by competent professional evaluation to the extent that continued educational growth and stimulation could best be served by an academic environment beyond that offered through a standard grade level curriculum;
(2) "Handicapped children", children under the age of twenty-one years who have not completed an approved high school program and who, because of mental, physical, emotional or learning problems, require special educational services;
(3) "Severely handicapped children", handicapped children under the age of twenty-one years who[, because of the extent of the handicapping condition or conditions, as determined by competent professional evaluation, are unable to benefit from or meaningfully participate in programs in the public schools for handicapped children. The term "severely handicapped" is not confined to a separate and specific category but pertains to the degree of disability which permeates a variety of handicapping conditions and education programs] meet the eligibility criteria for state schools for severely handicapped children, identified in state regulations that implement the individuals with disabilities education act;
(4) "Special educational services", programs designed to meet the needs of handicapped or severely handicapped children and which include, but are not limited to, the provision of diagnostic and evaluation services, student and parent counseling, itinerant, homebound and referral assistance, organized instructional and therapeutic programs, transportation, and corrective and supporting services.
162.740. The district of residence of each child attending a state school for severely handicapped children[, an institution providing contractual services arranged pursuant to section 162.735,] or an educational program for a full-time patient or resident at a facility operated by the department of mental health, except school districts which are a part of a special district and except special school districts, shall pay toward the cost of the education of the child an amount equal to the average sum produced per child by the local tax effort of the district. The district of residence shall be notified each year, not later than December fifteenth, of the names and addresses of pupils enrolled in such schools. In the case of a special district, said special district shall be responsible for an amount per child not to exceed the average sum produced per child by the local tax efforts of the component districts. The district of residence of the child's parents or guardians shall be the district responsible for local tax contributions required by this section.
[162.725. 1. The state board of education shall provide special educational services for all severely handicapped children residing in school districts which are not included in special districts provided that such school districts are unable to provide appropriate programs of special instruction for severely handicapped children; however, this shall not prevent any school district from conducting a program for the special instruction of severely handicapped children, except that such program must provide substantially the same special educational services as would be provided in a school operated by the state board of education and such program must be approved by the state department of elementary and secondary education in accordance with regulations established pursuant to section 162.685.
2. Special educational programs shall be established which are designed to develop the individual pupil in order that he may achieve the best possible adjustment in society under the limitation of his handicap.
3. When special districts have been formed to serve handicapped and severely handicapped children under the provisions of sections 162.670 to 162.995, severely handicapped children residing in school districts comprising the special district shall be educated in programs of the special district.]
[162.735. The state department of elementary and secondary education may assign severely handicapped children, except severely handicapped children residing in special school districts and in districts providing approved special educational services for severely handicapped children, to state schools for severely handicapped children, the school for the blind or the school for the deaf. Furthermore, the state board of education may contract for the education of a severely handicapped child with another public agency or with a private agency when the state department of elementary and secondary education determines that such an arrangement would be in the best interests of the severely handicapped child. Assignment of severely handicapped children under this section shall be made to a particular school or program which, in the judgment of the state department of elementary and secondary education, can best provide special educational services, and such assignment shall be made upon the basis of competent evaluations; provided, however, the assignment may be appealed by a parent or guardian pursuant to sections 162.945 to 162.965. Children who are not residents of this state may be admitted to these schools if the schools have the capacity to receive them and upon payment of full tuition and costs as prescribed by the state board of education.]