Districts are beginning to enforce their new electronic communications policies, and the Missouri State Teachers’ Association (MSTA) is concerned about possible First Amendment rights violations. “We have heard reports of educators already being suspected of violations,” according to an MSTA blog post. “Some of the violations are personal Facebook posts that are controversial or political … Continue reading
When members of the Missouri General Assembly revised the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act last fall, they made a decision to not make a decision. Instead, legislators passed that responsibility on to the districts. “Our concern when Senate Bill 1 came up in special session was that the state legislature was just setting up school … Continue reading
The North Kansas City School District’s Board of Education will meet Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. Before the meeting, board members will attend a dinner co-sponsored with the Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA). This morning, the MSTA coordinated an event in Jefferson City during which district leaders had the opportunity to meet with state legislators. Missouri’s General Assembly … Continue reading
Center School District’s Board of Education will meet Monday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m. In addition to routine items on the agenda, such as requesting bids for services and overseeing personnel changes, board members will consider approving two policy updates. Staff/Student Relations and Programs for Gifted Students are the two policies being updated. Most significant of the two is … Continue reading
It drew national attention earlier this year, and a Missouri judge said it was most likely unconstitutional. “It” was a provision of the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act regulating online communications among public school employees and students. The Missouri General Assembly passed the legislation, and Gov. Jay Nixon signed into law last summer. Because of … Continue reading
The Liberty School District’s Board of Education is scheduled to meet Monday, Dec. 19, in a closed session at 6 p.m. and a regular session at 7 p.m. that is open to the public. According to the agenda, the board will be reviewing policy updates and will receive the official results of last month’s special election. One important … Continue reading
Petitions are circulating in Missouri this fall, and if enough registered voters sign, then the state will place the Missouri Income Tax Initiative — which supporters call the FairTax and opponents call the Everything Tax — on the ballot next November as a proposed constitutional amendment. If the initiative succeeds, then there would be an … Continue reading
Missourians, you have 28 more days to comment on MSIP 5. And if you don’t know what that acronym means, then you’re not a public school administrator. It stands for version number five of the Missouri School Improvement Program, which is the set of rules the state education department uses for district accreditation. The current MSIP … Continue reading
According to the Missouri State Teachers Association, the Missouri House approved SB 1 (formerly SB 54) about an hour ago and is sending it to Governor Jay Nixon for his signature. The status of the bill on the Missouri General Assembly site is “Truly Agreed to and Finally Passed,” effective today. This is the part … Continue reading
This afternoon, the education committee of the Missouri House of Representatives voted unanimously to send SB 1 — the new version of the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act — to the House floor for debate. Last week the Missouri Senate granted its final approval to the bill, sending it to the House for consideration. According … Continue reading