SCS/HCS/HB 1789 – This act modifies provisions relating to travel hardships of public school students.COMPOSITION OF A BOARD OF ARBITRATION FOR A BOUNDARY LINE CHANGE: This act prohibits a current or retired school administrator from serving on a board of arbitration to determine whether to move a school district boundary line. (Section 162.431)
ASSIGNMENT OF A PUPIL TO ANOTHER DISTRICT BASED ON TRANSPORTATION HARDSHIP: For any pupil who was assigned to another district based on a transportation hardship by the Commissioner of Education prior to August 28, 2012, the assignment will apply to the pupil's siblings and also remain in effect until the pupil completes the course of study in the receiving district. (Section 167.121)
ST. ALBANS, ST. ELIZABETH, GRAVOIS MILL: Currently, the Commissioner of Education may assign a pupil to another district based on an unusual or unreasonable transportation hardship. This act allows the parent or guardian of a child residing in St. Albans, St. Elizabeth, or Gravois Mill to apply, and requires the Commissioner to assign the pupil to another district, if the following conditions are met: the actual driving distance from the pupil's residence to the attendance center in his or her district of residence is at least seventeen miles by the shortest route; the attendance center to which the pupil would be assigned is at least seven miles closer in actual driving distance than the attendance center in the district of residence; and the pupil's attendance will not cause the classroom in the receiving district to exceed the number of students per class as determined by the receiving district. The commissioner must assign pupils in the order in which the applications are received.
For a pupil to be eligible to be assigned to another district, the pupil must have been enrolled in and attending a public school in his or her school district of residence. A pupil who has been paying tuition to attend a school district other his or her district of residence will also be eligible to apply to the Commissioner of Education for a transportation hardship assignment. Pupils who become eligible for kindergarten or first grade will be eligible to transfer. A pupil not enrolled in a public school district will become eligible to transfer after he or she enrolls in and attends a public school in the district of residence for a full school year.
The assignment will continue until the pupil, and any sibling of the pupil who attends the same attendance center, completes the course of study in the receiving district. If a parent or guardian withdraws a pupil from a hardship assignment, the granting of any future application will be discretionary. (Section 1)
MICHAEL RUFF