Missouri School Boards' Association Archives

Missouri vaccination update: Get ready teachers, childcare centers, grocery workers

February 25, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

The next tier of Missouri’s coronavirus vaccination plan will be activated on March 15. That means all teachers, faculty, and staff in public, private, and nonprofit pre K-12 will become eligible. So will state licensed childcare center workers, some food production employees, as well as grocery and convenience stores workers.

Missouri is currently vaccinating residents in Phase 1A, Phase 1B – Tier 1, Phase 1B – Tier 2.

During a press briefing today, Gov. Mike Parson says the next group to become eligible, Phase 1B – Tier 3, allows 550,000 additional Missourians to get vaccinated.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on February 4, 2021 (file photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

“Tier 3 represents another very important part of our society,” says Parson. “They are the workers in many of the industries we depend on each day to keep our day-to-day lives operating normally.”

Earlier this month, Missouri’s 2017-2021 Teachers of the Year sent a letter to state Department of Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams asking him to prioritize educators and support staff for immediate coronavirus vaccinations. Missouri’s K-12 schools have been operating for months with at least partial in-person education.

The following is a statement from the Chair of Missouri’s Education Roundtable, Dr. Doug Hayter:

“The Education Roundtable, representing eight major education organizations in Missouri, appreciates Governor Parson’s announcement allowing educators to begin receiving COVID-19 vaccinations. Getting educators vaccinated as soon as possible is an important step toward keeping educators in the classroom and providing our students with in-person instruction.”

Missouri’s Education Roundtable is made up of the American Federation of Teachers (Missouri), the Missouri Association of Elementary School Principals, the Missouri Association of School Administrators, the Missouri National Education Association, the Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals, the Missouri School Boards’ Association, the Missouri State Teachers Association, and the Missouri PTA.

Parson says vaccine supply remains limited, but he expects slow and steady increases.

“We heard news this week that the pharmaceutical companies are increasing their production,” says Parson. “The federal government is planning to increase our allotment and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is expected to be approved at any time.”

The governor says he expects that Missouri will be able to order vaccine from Johnson & Johnson by early next week.

He says if supply continues to improve, Parson says he thinks Phase 2 of Missouri’s vaccination plan will begin mid-April.

A press release today from Parson’s office says the state also continues to move forward with regional mass vaccination events. There have been 68 completed across Missouri, and more than 66,500 Missourians have received an initial vaccine dose at one of these events.

The release says targeted teams in St. Louis and Kansas City have completed 24 vaccine clinics with more planned in the coming days and weeks. These teams serve vulnerable populations in communities with limited access to health care.

For more information about the next tier of eligible Missourians, click here.

Missouri K-12 education community buckles up for potential eventful legislative session

January 19, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

The coronavirus pandemic has created a world of challenges for America’s educational system, maybe to the point of driving some members of the Missouri Legislature to put a greater emphasis this session on changes to Missouri K-12 education. In the Senate, roughly 40 bills have been filed so far about K-12 education. The House has more than 30.

Missouri Capitol

Out of the gate, the Missouri Senate Education Committee is scheduled to consider Tuesday two contentious public education topics.

Senate Bill 23 would let parents use tax credits to pay for their kids to attend private school, get tutoring, school supplies, and other educational needs. Supporters refer to this type of legislation as educational savings accounts and opponents call it private school vouchers.

Sen. Andrew Koenig, R-Manchester, is offering the proposal.

“This notion that one school can be all things to all kids is something that is false,” Koenig tells Missourinet. “I have five kids and they all learn differently. The reality is every child is different and every school can’t be everything to every child. It shouldn’t be a situation where you can only move your child if you are rich. And that’s the situation. If you’re are rich, you can pay for private school tuition or move your family into a school district that is better performing.”

Brent Ghan with the Missouri School Boards’ Association (MSBA) says the group strongly opposes such bills.

“What it boils down to in their kind of convoluted schemes essentially to direct taxpayer money to private schools,” he tells Missourinet. “We are not opposed to private schools but we draw the line when private schools receive taxpayer dollars whenever they are not accountable to the public like traditional public schools are.”

Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, is proposing a similar measure. Both could cost the state up to $50 million annually during a time when Missouri is watching every penny it has.

Eigel’s proposal, Senate Bill 25, also includes provisions that would expand charter schools in any school district located within a charter county as well as in any Missouri city with a population greater than 30,000 people.

Missouri Senate Education Committee Chair Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, is an advocate of charter school expansion. Charter schools are public and privately funded schools operating independently of traditional public schools.

“Most people within communities support their school. It’s kind of the center of their community, especially in our rural areas. People feel a lot of pride and loyalty to that school,” she tells Missourinet affiliate KWIX in Moberly. “But there are always going to be some people who just for whatever reason don’t thrive in that particular school and would like to go somewhere else. I believe that parents should have the right to send their child somewhere else if it isn’t working for them in the current school that they are in. So, I think parents need more choice and I think our rural schools need more funding.”

Under current state law, charter schools are allowed in Kansas City, St. Louis, and any unaccredited Missouri public school district.

Ghan says the MSBA wants greater accountability for charter schools.

“Charter schools just don’t play by the same rules as our traditional public schools. They don’t have the same degree of accountability for taxpayer dollars,” he says. “Until we see greater accountability for charter schools, we are going to be very much opposed to their expansion to other districts outside of St. Louis and Kansas City.”

Ghan says another problem MSBA has is charter schools do not have members elected to their boards.

The committee will also hear a bill sponsored by O’Laughlin. Senate Bill 55 would ban any K-12 public school from being a member of a statewide activities association, like MSHSAA, if the school prohibits a home school student from participating in an event or activity offered by a public school.

Tuesday’s hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City.

Missouri leaders brief panel about COVID-19 response efforts

August 12, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

A Missouri House Committee heard Tuesday from state Department of Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams and K-12 Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven. During a public hearing at the state Capitol in Jefferson City, they briefed lawmakers about the state’s response to COVID-19, its spending of federal coronavirus relief funds, and reopening measures taken by Missouri’s schools.

Missouri Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven

The hearing is the second time the Special Committee on Disease Control and Prevention has met. The first time was in March.

Vandeven says the state’s goal is to get as many school buildings open as possible and as safely as possible. She says students could take a real toll if they miss out on months of in-person learning.

“We’re hearing about an increase in suicides,” says Vandeven. “We’re hearing about just what this long-term social and emotional development, particularly for our youngest learners, the impact that we could see decades from now.”

Representative Lane Roberts, a Republican from Joplin and a former Missouri Public Safety Director, says not all students will be safe at home if they are doing online classes.

“When they’re out doing other things, they’re engaging in activities that in my opinion, based on some experience, that those activities generate more injury and death than they would suffer from the virus,” says Roberts.

Vandeven says parents and school leaders should consider both sides of the risk.

“If you go back to any kind of time frame when they are out of school, you do see increases in some of the activities that you are talking about,” she says.

According to Vandeven, the state has distributed as much federal coronavirus aid to Missouri schools as it can at this time. She says Missouri’s local governments can also use their own federal aid to support school-related health measures.

State Representative Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia, passionately encouraged all Missouri school leaders to require students and staff to wear masks.
“For the life of me, I cannot understand why it’s not 10%,” says Kendrick. “If we want to do in-seat, if we want to do this correctly, why is it not 100%.”

Vandeven says the state left the decision up to local leaders to make.

“We’ve certainly provided guidance that talks about the importance of wearing masks,” says Vandeven. “But particularly, if you’re within six feet, we’ve certainly emphasized the importance of that. But those are local decisions.”

“With all due respect, should this be a local decision on masks?” asks Kendrick.

Missouri Health and Senior Services Department Director Randall Williams

“Well, I’ll ask you all that because this is Missouri and we’ve typically always prided ourselves in being a local control state. I would have to say that we see our role as providing the best guidance that we possibly can and trusting that our local authorities know the best for their communities to make those decisions,” says Vandeven.

A German study shows about 20% of COVID-19 patients surveyed have developed heart problems, including some middle-aged adults with mild cases of the virus. Long after recovering, some patients have reported persistent symptoms like shortness of breath, fatigue, coughing and headaches. Some athletes have chosen to sit out the season out of fear of developing such health complications.

Dr. Williams says science is showing that COVID-19 can target the kidneys, the lungs and heart.

“That’s one thing that just makes me so sensitive to this idea why ‘I’m 25 years old, I’ll just get COVID-19 and go on.’ I don’t believe that’s true. I believe the that sequela of that, whether it’s to your point, two months from now you still have difficulty breathing or muscle aches, or that you give it to someone else. I just think we don’t want anybody to get COVID-19 because I don’t think we know enough about it even at this juncture, eight months into it, to give any assurance to a young person that ‘you are just going to get it and get over it.’ I don’t know that we know that to be true,” says Williams.

MSBA’s Susan Goldammer

Due to the potential long-term health problems, Representative Matt Sain, D-Kansas City, suggested that school leaders shift to online learning until a vaccination is available and there’s more data about the disease.

Susan Goldammer with the Missouri School Boards’ Association testified before the committee. The group represents about 400 school districts around the state.

She says staffing during the pandemic is a prominent question schools are asking her organization about. She says some teachers are retiring early due to COVID-19. Missouri has had a persistent teacher shortage and could even have a shortage of substitute teachers and bus drivers this fall.

COVID-19 could cause greater Missouri teacher and bus driver shortages this fall

July 20, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Many Missouri K-12 schools have had a persistent shortage of full-time teachers, substitute teachers and bus drivers. Kelli Hopkins, associate executive director of the Missouri School Boards’ Association, tells Missourinet the COVID-19 outbreak could cause an even greater shortage this upcoming school year.

COVID-19 could cause greater Missouri teacher and bus driver shortages this fall

She expects the need for substitute bus drivers in rural Missouri school districts to run especially deep. To address social distancing health guidelines, more buses and drivers could be required to transport kids.

“This is huge for our rural districts because, of course, buses are how the children get to school. And, if you have to double the number of buses, it’s going to be a problem,” she says. “If the virus continues to spread, we may have drivers that can’t drive because they’ve tested positive and they’re quarantined or because they have someone at home they have to care for – same thing with substitute teachers.”

Missouri has 555 public school districts and charter schools. The changes could be a financial headache for many districts, especially the ones already facing money problems.

“There really are some creative folks out there in schools, working on staggered arrival times, and alternate day attendance and alternate hour attendance,” says Hopkins. “Some come in here, go for these four hours, some they take them home and pick up another route, etc. All we’re talking about here is not just the logistics. The finances of it are incredible.”

Some Missouri parents might be ready for their kids to return to the classroom this fall, but whether teachers are comfortable returning during the COVID-19 pandemic could be a different story for some. Many schools have been surveying their parents and staff about their preferences on returning to school, learning remotely, or something in between for the upcoming school year.

“If my full-time job is a teacher and I’m too leery to come, I suspect someone who’s a substitute, who may be in multiple rooms with multiple children is going to be even maybe less excited about coming to work with students,” says Hopkins.

The going pay rate for teachers and bus drivers could factor into the overall shortage, along Missouri’s historically low unemployment rate. Pay varies from district to district. For substitute bus drivers, Hopkins says the pay could be a daily rate, based on the number of trips made, etc.

For substitute teachers, 60 hours of college and a good background check are required. For substitute bus drivers, a commercial driver’s license and good background check are required.

“So it’s not like you can say ‘I’ll drive,’” says Hopkins.

The Missouri Departments of Health and Senior Services and Elementary and Secondary Education have rolled out answers to frequently asked health questions about schools reopening next month. They include details about screening, assigned seating, desk placement, requiring hand washing before and after students move from one space to another and loading buses appropriately. The guidance urges schools to keep kids in the same group of students and adults throughout the day, including during P.E., recess, lunch and music classes.

In May, representatives from DHSS and DESE worked with the Missouri School Boards’ Association to publish the “Pandemic Recovery Consideration: Re-Entry and Reopening of Schools”, a 110-page guide with more thorough information to help school leaders develop plans for returning to onsite teaching and learning.

Meanwhile, the Missouri State High School Activities Association has outlined its recommendations to member schools for their return to activities. In the eight-page guidelines, if says if a district is only offering online learning with no face to face education, either temporarily or for the semester/year, the district cannot offer activities during that period. If a participant or coach tests positive for COVID-19, all participants who had direct contact should be excluded from play for 14 days. The association also urges urge schools to develop live streaming of events to reduce crowd size.

High school sports are still on schedule to begin with practices starting August 10 and competition beginning August 28.

Missouri schools scrambling to overhaul new sexual assault and discrimination regulations

July 13, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

The U.S. Department of Education has issued new regulations for the nation’s K-12 and most higher education schools to use when responding to sexual harassment and assault allegations. The changes fall under the federal Title IX law, which bans discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities getting federal financial aid.

Missouri schools scrambling to overhaul new sexual assault and discrimination regulations

The new rule, issued in May, begins August 14 – leaving many Missouri schools rushing to comply with the changes while they also figure out how to reopen schools in a COVID-19 world.

Key provisions of the new rule include:
• Defines sexual harassment to include sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking, as unlawful discrimination on the basis of sex
• Requires the school to offer survivors supportive measures, such as class or dorm reassignments or no-contact orders
• Protects K-12 students by requiring elementary and secondary schools to respond promptly when any school employee has notice of sexual harassment
• Holds colleges responsible for off-campus sexual harassment at houses owned or under the control of school-sanctioned fraternities and sororities
• Restores fairness on college and university campuses by upholding all students’ right to written notice of allegations, the right to an advisor, and the right to submit, cross-examine, and challenge evidence at a live hearing
• Shields survivors from having to come face-to-face with the accused during a hearing and from answering questions posed personally by the accused
• Requires schools to select one of two standards of evidence, the preponderance of the evidence standard or the clear and convincing evidence standard – and to apply the selected standard evenly to proceedings for all students and employees, including faculty
• Gives schools flexibility to use technology to conduct Title IX investigations and hearings remotely

Kelli Hopkins, associate executive director of the Missouri School Boards’ Association, tells Missourinet the rule very narrowly defines sexual harassment and takes on a more due process approach.

“You need four trained people in pretty much what I would call courtroom-level types of process,” Hopkins says. “And we’ve got school districts with two people in the central office.”

Hopkins says the changes are very complicated.

“Now there are a set of procedures and requirements about how to investigate, who investigates, and who decides whether they did something wrong and what the penalties can be and a whole slew of brand new ways to do things,” Hopkins says.

A coordinator is required to educate the rest of the group charged with Title IX duties. An investigator is required to examine the allegations. Another individual issues a decision in each case. If an appeal is made, another person must hear each appeal.

Under the new requirements, Hopkins says if one of the parties involved in a claim leaves the school for good, the school no longer has jurisdiction. Private and criminal lawsuits could still be filed.

According to Hopkins, the new rule only applies if the alleged events took place as part of the school’s programming or activities.

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit requesting a federal court to block the new requirements. The organization says by adopting a rule that subjects sexual harassment to different standards than other forms of harassment, the Trump administration is doing exactly what Title IX prohibits — discriminating on the basis of sex.

The ACLU opposes the provisions in the regulation that:
• Impose an unduly narrow definition of sexual harassment, one narrower than that used for racial harassment
• Allow colleges and universities to not investigate complaints of incidents that they reasonably should have known about
• Relieve schools of the obligation to investigate many instances of student-on-student harassment or assaults that occur off campus, even where they have continuing effects on campus
• Allow schools to adopt unreasonable responses to complaints and holding them responsible only if their actions are “deliberately indifferent”
• Allow schools to apply a clear and convincing evidence standard of proof

Hopkins says a claim also being made is that the regulations will make sexual assault almost impossible to prove and could serve as a deterrent for victims to file a complaint.
She says another ACLU argument is a federal law cannot be overturned with an administrative rule.

“What they (ACLU) are saying is what Congress created, they (U.S. Education Department) have now altered so significantly that the regulations are illegal,” says Hopkins. “I think they have a legitimate argument, especially for K-12.”

A press release from the U.S. Department of Education says the new requirements hold schools accountable for failure to respond equitably and promptly to sexual misconduct incidents and ensures a more reliable judgement process that is fair to all students.

“Too many students have lost access to their education because their school inadequately responded when a student filed a complaint of sexual harassment or sexual assault,” says U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. “This new regulation requires schools to act in meaningful ways to support survivors of sexual misconduct, without sacrificing important safeguards to ensure a fair and transparent process. We can and must continue to fight sexual misconduct in our nation’s schools, and this rule makes certain that fight continues.”

The release goes on to say the Obama administration denied students basic due process protections – leading to such cases frequently being overturned by the courts.

State answers frequently asked questions about Missouri school reopening

July 10, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

The Missouri Departments of Health and Senior Services and Elementary and Secondary Education are answering frequently asked health questions about schools reopening next month. The information is designed to help schools navigate during the COVID-19 era.

State answers frequently asked questions about Missouri school reopening

It includes details about screening, assigned seating, desk placement, requiring hand washing before and after students move from one space to another and loading buses appropriately. The guidance urges schools to keep kids in the same group of students and adults throughout the day, including during P.E., recess, lunch and music classes.

During a Capitol press conference Thursday, Gov. Mike Parson says schools should do whatever they can to get schools open again and students back in class.

“I talked to some of the school administrators, the teachers, the students. I don’t think there’s any question in the state of Missouri – we’ve got to get the schools opened back up and we’ve got to get the kids back to school. There’s a lot of things that occur by not having them in school that can be far worse than going in there and fighting a virus,” says Parson.

The five pages of answers can be found on the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s website and will be updated with other topics. Click here to view the information.

In May, representatives from DHSS and DESE worked with the Missouri School Boards’ Association to publish the Pandemic Recovery Consideration: Re-Entry and Reopening of Schools, a 110-page guide with more thorough information to help school leaders develop plans for returning to onsite teaching and learning.

Missouri State Representative Roeber still recovering from vehicle crash

May 13, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri House Speaker says a state lawmaker who was seriously injured in a March head-on collision will need to learn to walk again.

State Rep. Rebecca Roeber, R-Lee’s Summit, speaks on the Missouri House floor on May 12, 2017 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, tells Missourinet that State Rep. Rebecca Roeber, R-Lee’s Summit, continues to recover. Roeber is no longer at MU Health Care in Columbia.

“Representative Roeber is now back in the Kansas City area, she continues to receive treatment but at least my understanding is her need for surgeries are done,” Haahr says.

The March collision happened on Highway 50 in west-central Missouri’s Syracuse. The Missouri State Highway Patrol says Roeber crossed the center line on Highway 50 and struck a second vehicle.

Roeber, who was first elected to the House in 2014, chairs the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee. She will not return to the Capitol this session, which ends Friday at 6 p.m.

Meantime, legislation that would allow charter schools to expand to Missouri cities and charter counties with a population larger than 30,000 is finished for the year.

Chairwoman Roeber is the House sponsor. Her bill is House bill 581.

House Speaker Pro Tem John Wiemann, R-O’Fallon, tells Missourinet the bill was removed from the House calendar because of the amount of time it sat in the calendar and was not brought up for debate.

Speaker Haahr told Missourinet recently the bill already faced an uncertain future with Roeber out. He noted that charter school legislation would have probably have had come through the Senate first, where it’s already been filibustered.

“If not, we always have next year to work on that issue,” says Haahr.

Proponents of charter school expansion legislation include the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the organization Excellence in Education in Action. Supporters say school choices benefit all in society and that expansion will give more children an opportunity to attend schools that meet their needs.

Bill opponents include the Missouri School Boards Association and the Missouri State Teachers Association. Opponents say removing students from public education impacts the overall district and that the fiscal impact of charter school expansion will hurt public school funding and programs.

Under current law, charter schools are only allowed in St. Louis, Kansas City and an unaccredited school district. Charter schools are publicly-funded schools which operate independently of traditional public schools.

Education groups, others re-iterate arguments against tax cut bill veto override

September 10, 2013 By Mike Lear

A coalition of groups supporting the governor’s veto of tax legislation has made its case in the final hours before the legislature has its chance at a veto overturn. The Coalition for Missouri’s Future says allowing the bill that would cut Missouri income taxes to become law would jeopardize funding to the state’s public school and higher education.

Doctor Carter D. Ward (at podium), Executive Director of the Missouri School Boards Association addresses the media for the Coaltion for Missouri's Future, discussing both groups' opposition to HB 253.

Doctor Carter D. Ward (at podium), Executive Director of the Missouri School Boards Association addresses the media for the Coalition for Missouri’s Future, discussing both groups’ opposition to HB 253.

Missouri School Boards’ Association President-Elect Doug Whitehead says the legislation, HB 253, would force budget cuts.

“There will be teacher layoffs, overcrowded classrooms and longer bus rides to-and-from school. This bill has the potential to halt technology upgrades, eliminate many after school activities such as sports programs and limit the variety of classes available to Missouri students.”

The President of the Student Association at the University of Missouri Nick Droege says a tax cut bill vetoed by the Governor “represents a threat to Mizzou and its students.”

“Higher education is one area that faces the deepest cuts and toughest budget times that we’ve seen time after time after time. With an $800-million state shortfall higher education would be forced to make difficult decisions that include tuition increases, cutting staff and faculty, decreased wages or even enrollment caps.”

Association Executive Director Carter Ward says the Association does not oppose the concept of cutting taxes, but calls this legislation irresponsible.

“The overriding thing is that we’re not going to put our state in a downward trend of financial support for those obligations that we have committed to Missourians through previous legislatures or through other policy.”

Whitehead says before discussing cutting taxes, he wants to see priority given to fully funding the foundation formula for public schools.

“That’s the law of the land and the statute and that’s what we would like to see happen.”

Supporters say the cuts in the bill would not kick in until revenue increases by 100-million dollars, year-to-year. The Coalition says that trigger only offers a false sense of security. Ward says the Association has no confidence in it…

“In fact that trigger doesn’t even apply to many of the provisions that are in the bill.”

The veto session begins tomorrow at noon.

Filing for school board elections begins next week

December 7, 2009 By admin

Running for public office is not restricted to statewide offices, State Senators, State Representatives, and other so-called political positions. Filing will soon open for Missourians who want to serve on school boards.

The Missouri School Boards’ Association (MSBA) is reminding those who want to play a role in shaping the future of schools and education at the local level to consider filing to run once the candidate filing period for the April elections begins on December 15th for most districts in the state and on December 22nd for Kansas City school districts. [Read more…]