SS/SB 304 - This act establishes provisions relating to charter schools and assessment of public elementary and secondary schools. CHARTER SCHOOLS (Sections 160.400, 160.422, and 160.425) Under this act, charter schools may be operated in any school district located in Boone County or St. Charles County. Procedures relating to changes in a school district's accreditation status that affect charter schools are repealed under this act. Under this act, St. Louis City shall not adopt, enforce, impose, or administer an ordinance, local policy, or local resolution that prohibits property sold, leased, or transferred by the city from being used for any lawful education purpose by a charter school. St. Louis City may not impose, enforce, or apply any deed restriction that expressly, or by its operation, prohibits property sold, leased, or transferred by the city from being used for any lawful educational purpose by a charter school. If St. Louis City offers property of the city for sale, lease, or rent, St. Louis shall not refuse to sell, lease, or rent to a charter school solely because the charter school intends to use the property for an educational purpose. Any deeds that have been executed and recorded prior to the effective date of this act shall be exempt from this provision. These provisions are similar to SB 650 (2022), provisions in SCS/SB 55, 25, & 23 (2021), HCS/HB 137 (2021), HB 322 (2021), HB 729 (2021), SB 315 (2021), SB 649 (2020), SB 603 (2020), HB 1917 (2020), SS#2/SCS/SB 292 (2019), SCS/HB 485 (2019), and is similar to HCS/HB 581 (2019), SB 51 (2019), SCS/SB 271 (2019), HCS/HB 924 (2019), HCS/SS/SB 218 (2019). LOCAL CONTROL SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND ASSESSMENT OF SCHOOLS (Sections 160.518, 160.522, 161.062, and 163.201) This act provides for the designation of local control school districts that are exempt from certain assessment, data reporting, and performance reporting requirements. The act also modifies provisions relating to the statewide assessment system, school accountability report cards, the powers and duties of the State Board of Education, and the designation of option districts. STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM (Section 160.518) The act repeals provisions of current law that authorize the State Board of Education to develop a statewide assessment system and a standardized assessment instrument based on academic performance standards. Instead, the State Board shall develop an assessment system that satisfies the requirements of federal law, and the State Board shall use the results of the assessments only for the purpose of compliance with federal law and the determination of performance districts in the calculation of state aid. The State Board shall ensure that standardized assessments are administered to the minimum extent necessary to comply with federal law. The State Board shall not use assessment results to classify school districts and charter schools. The act repeals a provision of current law that the statewide assessment system shall permit the academic performance of students in each school to be tracked only against prior academic performance in the same school. Under the act, school districts and charter schools shall create local assessments that reflect statewide academic standards. The assessments shall meet certain criteria outlined in the act. Local assessments and assessment systems shall be developed by teachers and school administrators working individually, in grade teams, in discipline teams, and with the community. The act repeals provisions of law relating to the State Board's authority to suggest criteria for a school to demonstrate that its students learn the knowledge, skills, and competencies measured by the statewide assessment system at exemplary levels. The act further repeals provisions relating to "Outstanding School Waivers" that exempt certain schools from meeting requirements related to the authority of the State Board to classify school districts. SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT CARDS (Section 160.522) The act repeals provisions of law authorizing the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to produce a school accountability report card for each public school district, public school building, and charter school in the state. Under the act, districts and charter schools shall report certain accountability data annually to parents, community members, and the media. The act repeals provisions of law relating to the identification of priority schools that fail to meet acceptable standards of student achievement set by the State Board of Education. The act also repeals provisions relating to the identification of attendance centers that are categorized as requiring school improvement strategies. The act repeals the requirement for school districts and charter schools to provide their school accountability report cards to legislators by December first annually, as well as the requirement for the State Board of Education to approve the inclusion of charter school data in a school district's school accountability report card. POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION (Section 161.092) The act provides that the State Board of Education shall identify a minimum of two national school accreditation agencies from which any district may seek to obtain accreditation. Any district accredited by at least one of these agencies shall be considered to be fully accredited for all legal purposes. A district that is accredited by one of these agencies shall not be subject to the State Board's authority to classify the public schools of the state, establish requirements for the schools of each class, and formulate rules governing the inspection and accreditation of schools. The act repeals a provision of law enabling an accredited district to propose alternative criteria to become classified as accredited with distinction. The act specifies that no assessment data shall be used in determining State Board classification. OPTION DISTRICTS (163.042) The act repeals provisions of law authorizing the designation of option districts that may forgo state aid in exchange for waivers from certain requirements related to the authority of the State Board of Education to classify school districts. LOCAL CONTROL SCHOOL DISTRICTS (Section 163.201) Any public school district or public charter school may become designated as a local control school district by certifying to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in writing that it intends to be designated as a local control school district pursuant to the provisions of the act. A local control school district shall not be required to participate in the Missouri school improvement program; annual performance reviews conducted by the Department; the requirement to develop and report standards of teaching to the Department; or the maintaining of a school improvement plan in any format provided by or approved by the Department. A local control school district shall not be assigned an accreditation classification by the State Board of Education, but shall be considered as accredited for all legal purposes. A local control school district shall further have the ability to develop and implement a local assessment system. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shall not advise or incentivize the adoption of any curriculum resources, software programs, or assessments purchased from commercial vendors. Assessment items shall not be developed from materials provided to the district or teachers by entities that have not been formally reviewed and adopted by the district's board of education. Local control school districts may form a consortium without the approval of the State Board of Education for the purpose of developing, reporting, or purchasing assessments in their district assessment plans. The act requires a local control school district to store all district data on servers secured according to industry standards. A local control school district may share only aggregated data, and not any personally identifiable information, as defined in the act, with any external parties, including public agencies and private vendors. A local control school district may continue to receive state funding through the foundation formula. A local control school district may apply for state and federal grants and shall be considered for such grants without prejudice or penalty. OLIVIA SHANNON