SS/HCS/HB 641 - This act revises the distribution of state aid for special education services.

STATE AID FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION - Funding for special education summer school, homebound special education services and special education services provided by the Division of Youth Services shall be adjusted annually by the same proportion as overall funding for special education changes.

Currently, Exceptional Pupil Aid is provided based upon the number of special education teachers and professional and paraprofessional staff. The act provides that, as appropriations allow, the overall fraction of Exceptional Pupil Aid distributed based upon teachers and staff shall be reduced to fifty percent, and the remaining fraction, up to fifty percent, shall be distributed based upon the number of eligible pupils in the district. This distribution formula shall be phased in, as appropriations allow, until fifty percent of Exceptional Pupil Aid is distributed based upon teachers and staff and fifty percent is distributed on eligible pupils. State aid for teachers and staff shall include payment for staff working under contract.

No district shall receive less state aid for special education services under the act than it received in the year preceding the year in which distribution of aid based upon eligible pupils begins.

The act increases the allowable fraction of state reimbursement for special education services for children ages three to five years from seventy-seven percent to ninety percent.

The act allows state reimbursement for costs of approved remedial reading programs at up to ninety percent.

The act maintains the allowable state reimbursement for costs of instructional personnel and special materials for gifted education programs at seventy-five percent.

This portion of the act is similar to SB 428.

COST REIMBURSEMENT FOR EDUCATING NONRESIDENT STUDENTS - Current law does not permit school districts to recover their excess costs for educating certain children when public agencies place them in school districts other than the parent's district of residence. This act permits excess education costs which are not reimbursed by the sending school district or state aid to be paid by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), from available funds, for children placed by the Department of Social Services or by a court. DESE will also cover such costs for children placed by the Department of Mental Health (DMH) in facilities or programs run by DMH. Duplicative provisions specifying how the costs of special education are allocated when handicapped children have a domicile in one district but reside and attend school in a different district are repealed.

STATE AID DISTRIBUTION AND PROTESTED TAXES - Districts shall not receive a state aid deduction for current year taxes which are protested and held in escrow and not received by the district. Protested taxes from previous years, but not prior to 1997, shall be deducted in the year received at 90%. This provision is also in SS#3/SB 360.

STATE AID DISTRIBUTION AND ASSESSED VALUATION - A district may use the current year's estimated assessed valuation for determining state aid, if the current year's estimated assessed valuation is more than ten percent less than the assessed valuation for the preceding year. This provision is also in SS#3/SB 360.

LEASE PURCHASE OF SCHOOL BUSES - The Jan. 1, 1997 moratorium on entering into new lease purchases and making transfers of operating funds to the capital projects fund for repayment shall not apply to lease purchases of school buses. This provision is also in SS#3/SB 360.

SCHOOL BUILDING EXPENDITURE REPORTS - This act amends section 160.522, RSMo, to require school districts to report per building expenditure for a building only if there is more than one building at that grade level in the district. This provision is also in SB 468 from 1997.

REPORTING SCHOOL FIGHTS - Under current law, a principal must report any incident where a child commits an act which would be a third degree assault if committed by an adult, including acts such as fighting and spitting, and such report must be made to both the superintendent and law enforcement. The act provides that if a school district and law enforcement agency execute a written agreement regarding reporting such incidents, then such acts shall be reported in accordance with the agreement. Similar provisions are contained in SCS/SBs 311 and 200.

SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS - The act exempts student discipline hearings and proceedings related to the right to attend school or receive academic credit from the procedure requirements for administrative hearings in chapter 536, RSMo, provided that due process procedures are observed. School board rulings in such cases may be appealed to circuit court for a trial de novo. A similar provision is contained in SB 151.

YOUTH SERVICES TREATMENT FUND - This bill allows any board or commission member to contribute all or a part of their expense reimbursement for the counseling, treatment and therapy of children who have been abused. The contribution is deposited into the Youth Services Treatment Fund which is created for this purpose. The fund shall be administered by the Division of Youth Services. The Division shall make recommendations on fund expenditures to the Governor and the Department of Social Services. This provision is also contained in HB 821 from 1997.

ADMINISTRATIVE RULES - The act places any rule promulgated under its authority under certain standards for withstanding a court challenge, requires the court to award reasonable fees and expenses to any prevailing party in such a challenge, and requires that rules promulgated pursuant to the substitute expire on August 28th of the year after they become effective unless extended by statute. These rules provisions have a conditional termination date.
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