PRIA Logo™
MissouriSB682025 Regular SessionSenateWALLET

Creates, repeals, and modifies provisions relating to elementary and secondary education

Sponsored By: Mike Henderson (Republican)

Signed by Governor

Personalized for You

How does this bill affect your finances?

Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to download

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

36 provisions identified: 22 benefits, 4 costs, 10 mixed.

Higher minimum pay for public-school teachers

Beginning in 2025–26, fully certificated Missouri public-school teachers have a $40,000 annual salary minimum; part-time minimums are prorated. Full-time teachers with a master’s degree and 10 years of public-school teaching experience qualify for higher minimums. These are $46,000 in 2025–26, $47,000 in 2026–27, and $48,000 in 2027–28. The law removes earlier restrictions tied to the master’s degree field and teaching assignment. Starting in 2028–29, minimums rise when January consumer-price inflation reaches 1%, with increases capped at 3% and effective July 1.

Adult high schools open at eighteen

Adults without a high school diploma can enroll at age 18, down from 21. The state must authorize qualifying Missouri nonprofits to run up to five adult high schools. One must be in a city outside a county, and one in a third-classification county. Schools must offer a diploma and industry certification together, provide child care, and remain outside the listed school-funding programs. Nonprofits seeking approval can count experience serving disadvantaged adults starting at age 18 rather than 21.

Alternate tests for special education students

Students receiving special education services take an alternate assessment when their individualized education program team finds it more appropriate. The assessment must fit their developmental needs and evaluate independent living skills. The State Board must establish or identify these assessments. Most members of its advisory panel must be active special education teachers living in Missouri.

Parents gain school information and notices

Parents and custodians can request information about instruction, teachers, school contracts, funding, and student data collection and sharing. They can review curricula, access their child’s records under privacy laws, approve field trips, and visit under reasonable procedures. Schools must give timely notice when their child is involved in a safety incident and an employee faces criminal charges. Schools must promptly report serious discipline involving their child and offer a meeting. Staff cannot encourage children to hide information, except when disclosure could reasonably lead to abuse or neglect. Schools must adopt rights procedures, protect student identities in contract and funding disclosures, and address emergencies and access restrictions in visit rules.

Parents must approve school corporal punishment

Districts cannot use corporal punishment without notifying the child's parent or guardian and getting written permission. This applies when the district's discipline policy allows corporal punishment.

Teachers gain safety and workplace rights

Teachers at Missouri local education agencies gain protection from physical abuse by students and parents, and threats from parents. They have rights to scheduled preparation time during contract hours, work-duty insurance, and professional input on student discipline. Schools can bar parents who physically abuse teachers from school property and events. Student physical abuse can lead to suspension or expulsion.

Broader lead protections for school water

School lead rules cover water used for drinking, cooking, and cleaning cooking or eating utensils. Remediation must reduce lead below five parts per billion; flushing does not count. Schools can replace lead parts or use qualifying filters when the water supply causes contamination. While that source remains untreated, a building-entry filter must meet state requirements. Schools can also close affected outlets while contamination from internal pipes remains untreated.

Schools prepare for sudden cardiac emergencies

Beginning in 2026–27, public schools must have cardiac emergency plans coordinated with local emergency services. Plans must include response teams, staff training, annual drills, defibrillator maintenance, and ongoing review. Schools with athletic programs must keep clearly marked defibrillators unlocked and accessible at athletic venues, events, and practices. They must make best efforts to provide access within three minutes of cardiac arrest. Additional defibrillator purchases or installation are required only when lawmakers provide funding for all related costs.

Schools prepare to control severe bleeding

The state education department must develop a severe-bleeding protocol before January 1, 2026. Districts and charter schools must implement it before the 2025–26 school year ends. It covers bleeding-control kits, emergency plans and drills, annual inspections, and replacement of expired supplies. Annual training requires successful completion and certification through the specified STOP THE BLEED course from surgical specialists or the American Red Cross. Kit placement, restocking, and training depend on funding covering all related costs; schools and the state must post information online.

Schools strengthen emergency planning and reporting

Districts and charter schools must adopt emergency plans covering prevention, response, follow-up, and mental health needs. They must share plans with local police, fire services, and emergency management. Every facility needs an annual physical security assessment, with state standards and compliance oversight. Local education agencies must report safety incidents and credible threats. The state must publish updated grouped data without identifying students and share related data with public safety officials.

Retired substitutes keep pensions within limits

From June 30, 2022, through June 30, 2030, eligible retirees can substitute part-time or temporarily while keeping non-disability retirement payments. They do not contribute to the retirement system for that work. Regular full-time employment stops retirement payments for the months worked full-time. Third-party or independent-contractor work must be for an employer included in the retirement system.

Schools tighten bullying responses and safeguards

Districts and charter schools must maintain antibullying policies; staff must report witnessed bullying within one school day. Investigations must start within two school days and finish within ten school days after starting, unless good cause supports more time. Schools must document findings, notify parents about confirmed bullying, and consider self-defense when deciding discipline. Qualifying harassment goes to police, or the children's division when the bullying student is under 11. Schools gain authority over cyberbullying involving school technology, a sufficient school connection, or personal devices at school or school activities. Charter schools cannot expel or transfer students solely because bullying reports were made against them.

Student discipline combines rules and discretion

Starting in 2026–27, Missouri local education agencies must adopt, enforce, publicly post, and annually review student conduct codes. Codes must set behavior rules, require prompt responses and graduated consequences, and involve parents in significant discipline. They must prohibit treatment based primarily on race alone. Schools must train staff in classroom order, civility, and responsibility; classroom removals must follow that training. Districts must also prohibit zero-tolerance policies that impose automatic detention, suspension, expulsion, or other punishment without case-by-case discretion.

Military families can register students remotely

Missouri districts must allow remote school registration when a student’s parent or parents relocate to Missouri under military orders. Districts cannot require the student, parent, or legal guardian to appear in person to register. Families must provide proof of residency within 10 days after the student starts attending.

Teacher externships keep counting toward pay

The certified teacher externship program continues without an automatic end date. Qualifying externships count as graduate-level credits for salary schedules. They can raise pay where a district or charter school rewards those credits. Externships must meet requirements published by the state economic development and education departments.

Teachers gain more accepted credential paths

Teachers of Tomorrow certification is an alternative to American Board certification for the specified teaching credentials and mentoring requirements. Applicants must still meet applicable contact-hour and other initial-certificate requirements. Continuing certification still requires applicable professional development, mentoring, evaluation, and beginning-teacher assistance. Private schools and accrediting agencies can also accept certificates from the specified 18-hour online teacher-preparation program, but acceptance is optional.

Broader lead-water protections replace older rules

The law repeals an older optional lead-testing rule for pre-1996 school buildings serving children below first grade. Its related notices for results above federal standards are also repealed, alongside a broader school-water testing and remediation framework. Those broader duties began in 2023–24 and require drinking-water outlets to test below 5 parts per billion. Schools must notify parents and staff within seven business days of results above 5 parts per billion and supply bottled water if needed. Flushing does not count as remediation; replacement or certified filtration does.

Legal protections for school safety interventions

School employees and volunteers gain liability protection when intervening to protect students during bullying, violence, violent behavior, or crimes. Protection requires following board procedures or acting in good faith with a reasonable belief that self-defense law justifies the intervention. Districts, charter schools, and employees also receive civil-liability protection for bullying discipline imposed in good faith. Courts must award court costs and attorney’s fees when a covered school, district, or employee wins the lawsuit.

School staff gain lifesaving training protections

School boards must provide all district and charter-school employees with CPR and other lifesaving training, using methods each board chooses. Staff using bleeding-control kits in good faith receive protection from civil liability. That protection excludes gross negligence and willful, wanton, or intentional misconduct. The kit provision does not create a new right to sue schools or staff.

Schools count suspended students as attending

Beginning in 2026–27, suspended and expelled students count as attending for specified school accountability calculations. They also count toward weighted average daily attendance used for state aid. This accounting rule does not end or shorten a student's suspension or expulsion.

Schools get faster student safety records

New schools must request threat-assessment and safety-plan records within two business days when students have current or past-12-month safety plans. Districts holding requested student records must respond within five business days. For nonresident students covered by the placement law, schools must request specified discipline and safety records within 48 hours. Those requests reach prior schools, agencies, and placement organizations involved within 24 months; safety-plan requests use the same 12-month test. Listed law enforcement and juvenile authorities must notify schools within 24 hours after specified serious student charges or petitions are filed. They must report case outcomes and relevant findings within two business days after disposition.

Student tests emphasize skills and readiness

State assessments must measure problem solving, analysis, evaluation, creativity, and how students apply knowledge. They must neither promote nor prohibit rote memorization and must exclude existing or enhanced tests approved under the specified law. After academic standards are adopted and implemented, the State Board must adopt a standardized test based on them. For grades three through eight, the state must describe academic knowledge and readiness using advanced, proficient, grade level, and basic.

Teachers retain two-hour dyslexia training

Practicing teachers must receive two hours of training on dyslexia and related disorders under the law's shared training framework. The requirement applies beginning with the 2018–19 school year and continues in later years.

More school funding for teacher raises

Districts and charter schools qualify for extra aid when their prior-year approved calendars planned at least 169 attendance days. Aid equals 1% of prior-year state aid in fiscal years 2026–2027, then 2% starting in fiscal year 2028. Authorized calendar reductions and specified emergencies do not disqualify an otherwise eligible calendar. This aid must raise teacher salaries; misuse triggers an equal state-aid withholding. A separate grant program helps districts meet minimum teacher salaries, but depends on legislative funding. Those grants can only raise minimum salaries, and total appropriations cannot exceed the amount needed to help districts meet those minimums.

Schools stop repaying forgiven teacher scholarships

Local school districts no longer repay 25% of amounts forgiven under the Teacher Recruitment and Retention State Scholarship loan-repayment provision. This removes a district expense, not a payment owed by teachers. The law does not specify total savings.

Schools can require lifesaving graduation training

School boards can require students to complete CPR and lifesaving-methods training before graduating. This is a local choice, not an automatic statewide graduation requirement.

School bus driver training hours fall

Districts must provide school bus drivers at least four hours of special driving instruction each year, down from eight hours. This applies to drivers employed by districts and those working under district contracts. The law cuts the required training minimum in half.

School safety training loses annual requirement

School staff using restraint or seclusion must still train in the specific techniques they use. District employees must still receive instruction on their district's discipline policy. Districts and charter schools must train mandatory reporters on child abuse, including sexual abuse and potentially abusive relationships. These provisions remove the stated annual training requirements and place training under the law's shared training framework.

Some schools test water less often

Schools finding no drinking-water outlet above five parts per billion of lead must test only every five years. Other retesting intervals in the law still apply to outlets below five parts per billion.

Students face classroom and mealtime device limits

Beginning in 2026–27, districts and charter schools must publish student personal communication device policies. Policies must ban use during scheduled instructional time and meals, define instructional time, and explain discipline procedures. They must allow uses required by education plans, health plans, disability protections, and federal civil-rights law. Schools can allow emergency and authorized educational uses. Employees and volunteers following discipline procedures in good faith receive liability protection; the section expires August 28, 2032.

Virtual students gain monitored online testing

Virtual schools can give required statewide tests online, except specified nationally provided college- or workforce-readiness tests. A program employee must manage a live session at an assigned date and time. Camera monitoring must continue throughout testing, with no more than ten students per proctor. A second camera-equipped device is required unless the platform lets the proctor see the student and background. Students must stay until released, and the administrator must verify completed submissions.

Schools can offer limited resilience training

Local education agencies can offer evidence-based resilience training for teachers and counselors with governing-board approval. Training must emphasize community standards intended to benefit all students equally. It cannot reference or require training or curriculum mainly focused on race, gender, or similar classifications.

Districts must pay for outside schooling

A child’s responsible home district must pay the district providing or arranging services for that child. Payment is capped at the home district’s average local-tax-funded amount per child. If payment remains unpaid 90 days after a written voucher arrives, the state deducts the debt from subsequent state-aid payments. The state sends that money to the district that provided or arranged services. This is a payment between districts, not a household bill.

Schools gain alternatives to construction bidding

Districts using authorized alternative purchasing processes are exempt from the usual public-advertising, sealed-bid, and lowest-responsible-bidder requirements for school construction. Options include cooperative purchasing, specified state purchasing services, and other processes authorized by state or federal law. This adds purchasing flexibility but removes those standard bidding requirements for qualifying purchases. The law does not guarantee lower costs.

Small-district aid excludes some nonresident students

Missouri distributes $30 million each year in aid to eligible small school districts. Districts must average 350 or fewer students in daily attendance during the school year before payment. Nonresident students enrolled through the specified virtual education program do not count in this aid calculation. The law does not state how much any district's award changes.

Teacher scholarship loans require servicing transfer

The state education department must sell Teacher Recruitment and Retention State Scholarship loans to the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority. The authority services those loans. The sale is mandatory rather than optional; the provision does not change loan balances, repayment terms, or borrower eligibility.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

  • Mike Henderson

    Republican • Senate

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 40 • No: 2

House vote • 5/12/2025

Reported Do Pass

Yes: 6 • No: 2

House vote • 4/24/2025

Reported Do Pass

Yes: 8 • No: 0

House vote • 4/17/2025

Reported Do Pass

Yes: 10 • No: 0

House vote • 4/3/2025

HCS Reported Do Pass

Yes: 16 • No: 0

Actions Timeline

  1. Delivered to Secretary of State (G)

    7/9/2025

  2. Approved by Governor (G)

    7/9/2025

  3. Delivered to Governor

    5/30/2025

  4. Signed by House Speaker

    5/29/2025House

  5. House Message

    5/13/2025House

  6. Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed

    5/13/2025

  7. House Adopts Conference Committee Report

    5/13/2025House

  8. House Submits Conference Committee Report

    5/13/2025House

  9. Reported Do Pass - AYES: 6 NOES: 2 PRESENT: 0

    5/12/2025House

  10. Voted Do Pass

    5/12/2025House

  11. Executive Session Completed

    5/12/2025House

  12. Referred: Fiscal Review

    5/7/2025House

  13. House Distributes Conference Committee Report

    5/7/2025House

  14. Taken Up

    5/7/2025

  15. House Message

    5/5/2025House

  16. House Conference Committee Appointed - REPRESENTATIVES ALLEN, LEWIS, POLLITT, STEINHOFF, BOYKIN

    5/1/2025House

  17. House Refuses to Recede, Grants Conference

    5/1/2025House

  18. Taken Up

    5/1/2025

  19. Taken Up

    4/29/2025

  20. Reported to the Senate with... - HCS, as amended

    4/28/2025House

  21. Third Read and Passed with Amendments - with House Amendment No. 1, House Amendment No. 2, House Amendment No. 3, House Amendment No. 4, House A mendment No.5, House Amendment No. 6, House Amendment No. 7, House Amendment No. 8, House Amendment No. 9, House Amendment No. 10, House Amendment No. 11, House Amendment No. 12, and House Amendment No. 13.

    4/24/2025House

  22. HCS Adopted

    4/24/2025House

  23. Title of Bill - Agreed To

    4/24/2025

  24. Taken Up for Third Reading

    4/24/2025House

  25. Reported Do Pass - AYES: 8 NOES: 0 PRESENT: 0

    4/24/2025House

Bill Text

  • Committee Substitute

    PDF

Related Bills

Back to State Legislation