Title XI — EDUCATION AND LIBRARIES

168.011. Teachers — license required — teaching, and administration, to be recognized as professions. — 1. No person shall be employed to teach in any position in a public school until he has received a valid certificate of license entitling him to teach in that position. 2. Teac…

168.014. Criminal background check, fingerprint submission. — 1. The state board of education may require that fingerprint submissions be made as part of an application seeking a certificate of license to teach or substitute teach in public schools, as provided in sections 168.01…

168.015. Advisory council of certification for educators established — number — appointment — qualifications — powers — duties. — 1. There is hereby established within the department of elementary and secondary education, the "Missouri Advisory Council of Certification for Educat…

[Repealed or reserved.]

168.023. Contact hours included in professional development requirements for vocational-technical certification. — Professional development requirements pursuant to section 168.021 for vocational-technical certification or successor certification shall include contact hours relat…

168.024. Local business externship, count as contact hours of professional development. — 1. For purposes of this section, "local business externship" means an experience in which a teacher, supervised by his or her school or school district, gains practical experience at a busin…

168.025. Teacher externships, requirements — rulemaking authority. — 1. For purposes of this section, "teacher externship" means an experience in which a teacher, supervised by his or her school or school district, gains practical experience at a business located in Missouri thro…

168.036. Substitute teacher certificates, issuance of — requirements — retired teachers employed as substitutes, no loss of retirement, when — employment as a substitute teacher — orientation — background checks — rules. — 1. In addition to granting certificates of license to tea…

168.037. Web-based survey, substitute teachers, purpose — survey completion and contents. — 1. The department of elementary and secondary education shall create and maintain a web-based survey for collecting anonymous information from substitute teachers in Missouri public school…

168.071. Revocation, suspension or refusal of certificate or license, grounds — procedure — appeal. — 1. The state board of education may refuse to issue or renew a certificate, or may, upon hearing, discipline the holder of a certificate of license to teach for the following cau…

168.081. Teaching or acting as school administrator without certificate prohibited. — After September 1, 1988, no person without a valid Missouri certificate shall: (1) Engage in the practice of teaching or the performance of education duties in grades kindergarten through twelve…

168.082. Retirement benefits, speech-language pathology assistant considered speech implementer, when. — For the purposes of determining retirement benefits, any person who was employed as a speech implementer before August 1, 2022, that is employed in a position on or after Augu…

168.101. Employment of certificated teachers ineligible for permanent status under the teacher tenure act (all districts except metropolitan). — 1. In addition to the employment of teachers as provided in section 168.104, the school board or board of directors of a school distric…

168.102. Short title. — Sections 168.102 to 168.130 shall be known and may be cited as the "Teacher Tenure Act" and shall become effective July 1, 1970. ­­-------- (L. 1969 p. 275 § 168.101) CROSS REFERENCE: Suspension or termination of contracts of certificated staff and adminis…

168.104. Definitions. — The following words and phrases when used in sections 168.102 to 168.130, except in those instances where the context indicates otherwise, mean: (1) "Board of education", the school board or board of directors of a school district, except a metropolitan sc…

168.106. Indefinite contract, what affects. — The contract between a school district and a permanent teacher shall be known as an indefinite contract and shall continue in effect for an indefinite period, subject only to: (1) Compulsory or optional retirement when the teacher rea…

168.108. Contract, form of — requirements. — 1. Every indefinite contract shall contain the following provisions in substantially the following form: "It is hereby agreed by and between ______, the teacher, and the Board of Education of ______ School District, the employer, that …

168.110. Contract modification, when — definitions — differential placement, when, requirements. — 1. As used in this section, the following terms mean: (1) "Hard-to-staff schools", attendance centers where the percentage of certificated positions in the attendance center that we…

168.112. Modification or termination, how. — An indefinite contract between a permanent teacher and a board of education may be terminated or modified at any time by the mutual consent of the parties thereto. Any teacher who desires to terminate his contract at the end of a schoo…

168.114. Board may terminate, grounds for. — 1. An indefinite contract with a permanent teacher shall not be terminated by the board of education of a school district except for one or more of the following causes: (1) Physical or mental condition unfitting him to instruct or ass…

168.116. Termination by board — notice — charges. — 1. The indefinite contract of a permanent teacher may not be terminated by the board of education until after service upon the teacher of written charges specifying with particularity the grounds alleged to exist for termination…

168.118. Termination hearing, procedure, costs. — If a hearing is requested on the termination of an indefinite contract it shall be conducted by the board of education in accordance with the following provisions: (1) The hearing shall be public; (2) Both the teacher and the pers…

168.120. Appeal by teacher, procedure. — 1. The teacher shall have the right to appeal from the decision of the board of education to the circuit court of the county where the employing school district is located. The appeal shall be taken within fifteen days after service of a c…

168.122. Leaves of absence, board may establish policy — retention of permanent status. — A board of education may establish policies for granting leave of absence including sabbatical leave, maternity leave, sick leave, and military leave. The board of education of a school dist…

168.124. Board may place on leave — provisions governing — salary to be paid to affected teacher, when. — 1. The board of education of a school district may place on leave of absence as many teachers as may be necessary because of a decrease in pupil enrollment, school district r…

168.126. Probationary teachers, how terminated — notice, contents — reemployed, how. — 1. A board of education at a regular or special meeting may contract with and employ by a majority vote legally qualified probationary teachers for the school district. The contract shall be ma…

168.128. Teacher records, how maintained — evaluations, how performed and maintained. — The board of education of each school district shall maintain records showing periods of service, dates of appointment, and other necessary information for the enforcement of sections 168.102 …

168.129. Board member exempt from civil liability resulting from charges against teacher. — No member of a board of education or duly designated administrative officer of a board of education shall be liable in a civil action based on a statement of charges against a school teach…

168.130. Teachers not to participate in management of school board election, campaign. — No teacher shall take part in the management of the campaign for the election or defeat of members of a board of education by which he is employed. Any teacher who violates the provisions of …

168.133. Criminal background checks required for school personnel, when, procedure — rulemaking authority. — 1. As used in this section, "screened volunteer" shall mean any person who assists a school by providing uncompensated service and who may periodically be left alone with …

168.151. Solicitation of or payment by teacher of expenses of school prohibited, penalty. — It is unlawful for any school board or any member or employee of a school board to solicit or to receive any money from any teacher employed by their district for the purpose of paying tui…

168.171. Supervisor of physical education, supervisor of health and school nurses may be employed in certain districts. — Each school board employing thirty or more teachers may employ a supervisor of physical education for the schools under its jurisdiction whose qualifications …

168.181. Business manager and clerical help may be employed in certain districts — duties. — The school board in every school district containing a city which has a population of not less than ten thousand inhabitants may: (1) Employ the clerical help and telephone service which …

168.191. Superintendent of schools, employment of authorized (first class charter counties). — In all counties of the first class except counties of the first class not having a charter form of government, any board of education, other than boards in urban districts, in charge of…

168.201. Superintendent of schools and other employees — employment of by all districts except metropolitan authorized. — The board of education in all districts except metropolitan districts may employ and contract with a superintendent for a term not to exceed three years from …

168.205. Superintendent, school districts may share, when — additional state aid. — 1. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, two or more school districts may share a superintendent who possesses a valid Missouri superintendent's license. If any school districts ch…

168.211. Superintendent of schools, appointment, term — superintendent to appoint a treasurer and commissioner of school buildings and associate and assistant superintendents — bond — powers of superintendent (metropolitan districts). — 1. In metropolitan districts the superinten…

168.221. Probationary period for teachers — removal of probationary and permanent personnel — hearing — demotions — reduction of personnel (metropolitan districts). — 1. The first five years of employment of all teachers entering the employment of the metropolitan school district…

168.232. Consequences of dissolution of St. Louis special school district. — 1. If the responsibility for teaching all or any group of students in a special school district located in a county of the first classification with a charter form of government and population of at leas…

168.251. Noncertificated employees — appointment, promotion, removal, suspension (metropolitan districts). — 1. All employees of a metropolitan school district shall be appointed and promoted under rules and regulations prescribed by the board of education of the school district.…

168.261. Director of personnel, appointment — personnel committee, appointment (metropolitan districts). — A director of personnel may be appointed by the superintendent of schools subject to the approval of the board of education of the metropolitan school district. The director…

168.271. Probationary period for employees — discharge during (metropolitan districts). — The first year of employment of all employees covered by sections 168.251 to 168.291* shall be deemed a period of probation. During the probationary period, any probationary employee whose w…

168.281. Permanent employees, removal, procedure — suspension, demotion — reduction of personnel (metropolitan districts). — 1. After completion of satisfactory probationary service, appointments of employees shall become permanent subject to removal for any one or more causes he…

168.300. District employers may authorize contributions to credit unions and for other purposes, to be deducted and paid from compensation — procedure. — 1. Every school district in this state including special school districts may adopt policies and regulations providing for ded…

168.303. Job-sharing rules to be adopted by board, job sharing defined. — The state board of education shall adopt rules to facilitate job-sharing positions for classroom teachers, as the term "job-sharing" is defined in this section. These rules shall provide that a classroom te…

168.400. Programs established for public school personnel — contents. — 1. Sections 168.400 to 168.415 shall be known and may be cited as the "Missouri Professional Teacher and Administrator Act". This section shall become effective September 1, 1988, and shall establish programs…

168.405. Administrator assessment center established — certificate issued — unsatisfactory assessment, hearing. — There is hereby established an "Administrator Assessment Center", which shall be organized and administered by the department of elementary and secondary education, e…

168.407. Principal-administrator academy program for school leaders — programming requirements. — 1. There is hereby created the "Principal-Administrator Academy" under the auspices of the department of elementary and secondary education. The academy is not a single institution, …

168.409. Fees and costs for assessment center — funding for principal-administrators academy. — 1. The department of elementary and secondary education may charge a reasonable fee to cover the expenses and costs related to the services provided at the assessment center establishe…

168.410. Evaluations of school administrators and district superintendents — copy of evaluation to person evaluated. — School administrators and school district superintendents shall be evaluated in the following manner: (1) The board of education of each school district shall ca…