JEFFERSON CITY 鈥 Both Missouri Legislative chambers gave first-round approval Tuesday to their respective school transfer measures, which expand virtual education options.
The measures are the Legislature鈥檚 second try at modifying the transfer law 鈥 which allows children in unaccredited school districts to transfer to higher-performing ones 鈥 since a 2013 Missouri Supreme Court ruling upheld it.
Last year, the Legislature鈥檚 attempted fix fell to Gov. Jay Nixon鈥檚 veto pen, largely because it included an option to transfer to private, nonreligious schools.
The House gave first-round approval to its measure with a vote of 112-44, more than the 109 needed to override a veto from Nixon if necessary. Lawmakers likely will have better luck getting Nixon鈥檚 signature this year after both chambers removed the private school transfer option, choosing to expand charter and virtual education options 鈥 a move lawmakers say Nixon approves.
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鈥淲e have our fiercest fights when we fight for our kids and the state of Missouri should be proud of what this body did today,鈥 said Rep. Jack Bondon, R-Belton.
Just a few hours later, the Senate ended an about two-week debate on its measure, approving the bill just before 6 p.m.
Both bills would require 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. They also could access virtual education, but the two bills differ in how that would be accomplished.
鈥淲e need to keep students as close to home as possible,鈥 said Bill sponsor Rep. David Wood, R-Versailles, on the floor Tuesday.
In the House bill, students in lapsed, provisionally accredited and unaccredited school districts 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.
The Senate measure would allow students in provisionally accredited or unaccredited districts, as well as districts with provisionally accredited or unaccredited scores, the option to access virtual education.
Both measures require sending districts to pay transportation costs to at least one designated accredited district. Some lawmakers likely will see this as an improvement over last year鈥檚 measure, which did not require sending districts to pay for a transfer student鈥檚 transportation.
In terms of tuition, the House measure would allow receiving school districts to change tuition 鈥 but they don鈥檛 have to 鈥 using a formula that would set them at roughly $7,500 for each transfer student, but districts wouldn鈥檛 have to. A floor amendment Tuesday by Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, would allow districts that accept the lower rate to limit the number of transfers accepted at that rate.
The Senate鈥檚 version mirrors that of last year鈥檚 bill vetoed by Nixon. The local school board of each receiving district would determine the tuition rate to be paid. If they choose to charge less than 90 percent of their actual rate, 10 percent of the receiving district鈥檚 rate could be paid from a state fund set up for supplemental tuition, if money is appropriated into the fund. If they choose to charge 70 percent or less of the sending district鈥檚 tuition, transfer students鈥 test scores would not be counted for five years, and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education would consider that decision a factor when deciding whether to name the school accredited with distinction.
Both bills need one more vote in their respective chambers before heading to the other.
The bills are HB 42 and SB 1.