SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 640
89TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR HOUSE.
Pre-filed January 5, 1998, and 1,000 copies ordered printed.
TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.
S2448.02I
AN ACT
To repeal sections 163.161 and 167.275, RSMo 1994, relating to education, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to the same subject.
Section A. Sections 163.161 and 167.275, RSMo 1994, are repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 163.161 and 167.275, to read as follows:
163.161. 1. Any school district which makes provision for transporting pupils as provided in section 162.621, RSMo, and sections 167.231 and 167.241, RSMo, shall receive state aid for the ensuing year for such transportation on the basis of the cost of pupil transportation services provided the current year. A district shall receive, pursuant to section 163.031, an amount not greater than seventy-five percent of the allowable costs of providing pupil transportation services to and from school and to and from public accredited vocational courses, and shall not receive an amount per pupil greater than one hundred twenty-five percent of the state average approved cost per pupil transported the second preceding school year, except when the state board of education determines that sufficient circumstances exist to authorize amounts in excess of the one hundred twenty-five percent of the state average approved cost per pupil transported the second previous year.
2. The state board of education shall approve all bus routes or portions of routes and determine the total miles each district should have for effective and economical transportation of the pupils and shall determine allowable costs. The state board of education shall approve all mileage necessary for effective and economical transportation to ensure that each resident pupil is able to attend the same district school throughout the school year at which the pupil was first enrolled for that school year, if such transportation is requested in writing by the pupil or the pupil's parent or guardian. Under circumstances where the state board approves only a portion of a route, the costs for the disapproved portion shall not be considered allowable costs. The local school board, in its discretion, may continue that portion of the route unless that portion of the route was discontinued by the state board of education for safety reasons. When the local school board decides to continue that portion of the route, costs incurred shall be paid from local money or by the parents of the students living on that portion of the route under consideration. State aid for any other portion of the route which shall otherwise be approved shall not be affected. No state aid shall be paid for the costs of transporting pupils living less than one mile from the school. However, if the state board of education determines that circumstances exist where no appreciable additional expenses are incurred in transporting pupils living less than one mile from school, such pupils may be transported without increasing or diminishing the district's entitlement to state aid for transportation.
3. State aid for transporting handicapped and severely handicapped students attending classes within the school district or in a nearby district under a contractual arrangement shall be paid in accordance with the provisions of section 163.031 and an amount equal to seventy-five percent of the additional cost of transporting handicapped and severely handicapped students above the average per pupil cost of transporting all students of the district shall be apportioned pursuant to section 163.031 where such special transportation is approved in advance by the department of elementary and secondary education. State aid for transportation of handicapped and severely handicapped children in a special school district shall be seventy-five percent of allowable costs as determined by the state board of education which may for sufficient reason authorize amounts in excess of one hundred twenty-five percent of the state average approved cost per pupil transported the second previous year. In no event shall state transportation aid exceed seventy-five percent of the total allowable cost of transporting all pupils eligible to be transported.
4. No state transportation aid received pursuant to section 163.031 shall be used to purchase any school bus manufactured prior to April 1, 1977, that does not meet the federal motor vehicle safety standards.
167.275. 1. Effective January 1, 1991, all public and nonpublic secondary schools shall report to the state literacy hot line office in Jefferson City the name, mailing address and telephone number of all students sixteen years of age or older who drop out of school for any reason other than to attend another school, college or university, or enlist in the armed services. Such reports shall be made either by using the telephone hot line number or on forms developed by the department of elementary and secondary education. Upon such notification, the state literacy hot line office shall contact the student who has been reported and refer that student to the nearest location that provides adult basic education instruction leading to the completion of a general educational development certificate.
2. The department shall develop a public school pupil attendance and dropout reporting system to be used solely for the purposes enumerated in this act. School districts shall report attendance records for each pupil to the department pursuant to procedures established by the department by rule. The attendance and dropout information shall be used to determine the district's average daily attendance and the number of district eligible pupils, as those terms are defined in section 163.011, RSMo, for distribution of state school aid under section 163.031, RSMo. The attendance and dropout information shall be updated and monitored to determine all students who have dropped out of school since the previous report, and such dropouts shall be treated in the same manner as dropouts reported under subsection 1 of this section. The information obtained for this pupil attendance and dropout reporting system shall be limited to the name, address, phone number and attendance record of the student.
3. The department shall annually report the four-year public high school graduation rate for the previous year for the state and for each school district to the governor and general assembly on or before December fifteenth of the school year. School districts shall annually report all attendance and dropout information required by the department by rule to calculate the graduation rates. For the purposes of this section, the "four-year public high school graduation rate" shall be the quotient of the number of graduates in the current year as of June thirtieth divided by the sum of the number of graduates in the current year as of June thirtieth plus the number of twelfth-graders who dropped out in the current year plus the number of eleventh-graders who dropped out in the preceding year plus the number of tenth-graders who dropped out in the second preceding year plus the number of ninth-graders who dropped out in the third preceding year. Such school shall provide the number of years such drop out students have attended the reporting school district.