Section 166.720

Title XI EDUCATION AND LIBRARIES

Chapter 166

Effective - 28 Aug 2021   

  166.720.  Government control or supervision over qualified schools prohibited, when — qualified schools not agents of state — transfer of student, effect of. — 1.  Sections 166.700 to 166.720 shall not be construed to permit any governmental agency to exercise control or supervision over any qualified school in which a qualified student enrolls other than a qualified school that is a public school.

  2.  A qualified school, other than a qualified school that is a public school, that accepts a payment from a parent under sections 166.700 to 166.720 shall not be considered an agent of the state or federal government due to its acceptance of the payment.

  3.  A qualified school shall not be required to alter its creed, practices, admissions policy, or curriculum in order to accept students whose parents pay tuition or fees from a Missouri empowerment scholarship account to participate as a qualified school.

  ^*4.  (1)  Any qualified student receiving a Missouri empowerment scholarship who leaves a public school or charter school, as such terms are defined in chapter 160, in the qualified student's resident school district to enroll in a qualified school that is not the qualified student's resident school district shall continue to be counted in the resident public school or charter school's weighted average daily attendance as a resident student for the purposes of determining state and federal aid for the qualified student's resident school district or charter school.

  (2)  The qualified student will continue to be counted for such purpose as provided:

  (a)  For five years after the qualified student no longer attends school in the qualified student's resident school district;

  (b)  Until any calendar year that the qualified student no longer receives grant money in their scholarship account;

  (c)  Until the qualified student is counted in the weighted average daily attendance for a public school or charter that they are a resident student in; or

  (d)  Until the qualified student graduates.

  (3)  The educational assistance organization and the state treasurer shall provide the necessary information to the department of elementary and secondary education to allow the federal and state aid to continue to the public school or charter school in the qualified student's resident school district previously attended by the qualified student.

  (4)  The provisions of this subsection shall terminate five years after August 28, 2021.

  5.  In any legal proceeding challenging the application of sections 166.700 to 166.720 to a qualified school, the state shall bear the burden of establishing that the law is necessary and does not impose any undue burden on qualified schools.

  6.  The provisions of section 23.253 of the Missouri sunset act shall not apply to sections 166.700 to 166.720.

­­--------

(L. 2021 H.B. 349)

*Subsection 4 terminates 8-28-26.