Suit over 'Facebook law' set for February hearing

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A Cole County judge has set Feb. 16 as a hearing date for the Missouri State Teachers Association's lawsuit against the state regarding the electronic communication portion of a bill signed in to law this summer.

MSTA contends that the current language in the bill prohibits certain forms of one-on-one communication between teachers and students. The language problem prompted Gov. Jay Nixon to include the topic in his call for the legislative special session.

Nixon told lawmakers that he wanted the electronic communication language simply stripped from the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act. Instead, the state legislature sent Nixon the so-called "Facebook Fix," which revises the law by calling upon individual school districts to draft their own policies governing communications between students and school staff members.

Nixon has not said whether he will sign that legislation. MSTA is on board with the Facebook Fix and representatives of the association have said if Nixon signs the bill, it will drop its lawsuit. But for now, the bill's original language and the MSTA lawsuit remain in place.