JEFFERSON CITY • The Missouri House passed Wednesday what Rep. Genise Montecillo calls a "dirty Band Aid" fix to the school transfer law.
The measure, passed 114-43 Wednesday, is the Legislature's second try at fixing the school transfer law since 2013 the Missouri Supreme Court upheld the law, which allows children in unaccredited school districts to transfer to higher-performing ones. Last year, the Legislature’s attempted fix fell to Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto pen, largely because it included an option to transfer to a private, nonreligious schools.
Though the House bill does not include the private school option, Montecillo, a former teacher and Democrat from 50¶È»ÒÊÓƵ, said public dollars will still be going to private companies because of the bill's expansion of virtual and charter schools. Lawmakers have said Nixon approves of these options.
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"We need to fix this (transfer) problem," Montecillo said, who is an advocate of "a clean transfer bill."
The bill isn't perfect, but sponsor Rep. David Wood, R-Versailles, said it keeps students close to home while still providing access to a quality education.
Rep. Lyle Rowland, R-Cedarcreek, agreed, saying representatives are giving "students the best option for education that we can at this point."
The bill requires children who have attended an unaccredited school in an unaccredited district for one semester to first transfer into open spots in accredited schools within that district. Once those schools were full, they could cross district boundaries or attend a charter school. Students in lapsed, provisionally accredited and unaccredited school districts also could participate in virtual education at the cost of the district. Students could transfer only once: if they come back to their home district, they have to stay there under the measure.
For those who choose to transfer, sending districts would have to pay transportation costs to at least one designated accredited district. The bill Nixon vetoed last year did not require sending districts to pay a transfer student's transportation.
Receiving districts would be allowed to change tuition — but they don’t have to — using a formula that would set them at roughly $7,500 for each transfer student. If districts accept the lower rate, they could limit the number of transfers accepted at that rate.
On Tuesday, Rep. Clem Smith, D-Velda Village Hills, attempted to set a fixed tuition rate of $7,200 for students leaving the Normandy School District, which he represents.
After the law was upheld in 2013, unaccredited districts were left paying the tuition and transportation costs for students who transferred to better schools. It left Normandy close to insolvent, resulting in layoffs and the closure of an elementary school.
Smith said some receiving districts are making money off the transfer students while Normandy is struggling. He called this "problematic" and believes if it continues, Normandy could cease to exist.
Additionally, Smith joined Montecillo in denouncing a portion of the measure that would require districts to transfer their buildings to charter schools at fair market value if requested.
"Forcing a school district to sell a building would not float in any of your districts, but for some reason you think it would work in the district I represent and that's not fair," Smith said.
If it were a leasing situation, Montecillo said Wednesday she could have supported this portion.
The bill now heads to Senate, which gave first round approval Tuesday to its version of the bill. Any differences between the House and the Senate version would need to be reconciled before the measure is sent to the governor.
The bill is HB 42.