STATE BOARD PROPOSES REGULATIONS TO KEEP SCHOOL DISTRICTS OPEN

The State Board of Education has tentatively approved regulations that would help financially troubled school districts remain in operation.

The policy is designed to identify districts facing a financial crisis and to help prevent interruption of school for students.

State Board of Education member Bekki Cook, a Cape Girardeau attorney, said ensuring that schools will continue for children is the primary goal of the regulations

"Districts can always ask the state department for assistance and financial planning," said Cook. "The new regulations get imposed on (districts) when they reach a certain emergency point."

But, Cook said, legislation is needed to deal with districts that might actually become insolvent.

"Our rule will only take us to a certain point," Cook said. "If we determine a district does not have a plan, we need a legislative statute basically a rule for how you bankrupt a school.

"If a district cannot serve the students, then we have got to find a way for the students to be taken care of," Cook said.

Missouri Commissioner of Education Robert Bartman said Sen. Harold Caskey, D-Butler, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, will introduce a bill intended to help deal with the possible collapse of a school district.

Officials of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education have been working with Caskey in recent weeks to draft the legislation and the board's proposed regulations.

Under the draft rules adopted by the board, the Commissioner of Education would notify a local school district when the Department of Education determines that the district shows signs of financial crisis.

The school district's board of education would then be required to develop a formal plan detailing how it would address its financial problems and guarantee that its regular school calendar would not be interrupted.

The local school district's plan would have to be submitted to and approved by the state board of education.

"We want to see what their plan is and to see if it's workable," Cook said.

Now, if a school district fails or refuses to develop an acceptable plan, it could be annexed to another district under existing provisions of state law.

The proposed rule will be published for public comment, and the board could modify the policy before taking final action to implement the regulation. Final action on the proposal is expected in March.

Bartman said: "For some school districts, the financial situation is likely to get worse over the next 12 months before it gets better. With the policy approved by the board, we will be in a better position to protect educational services for Missouri students."

Cook said school districts facing financial troubles are beginning to take action.

She said: "I think they (school districts) finally realize the seriousness of the situation and are starting to make real adjustments. Many are at that stage now, looking at how they can make their budgets balance and making the tough decisions they have to make."

Cook said developing a policy to cover all the different school districts in the state was difficult.

"The school districts run the gamut from the ultimate urban district to the tiniest elementary district. We had to come up with one rule that is fair to all these different districts," she said.

Bartman said: "Our main goal is not to put pressure on school districts but to create a safety net for students. We want to assure that districts are able to maintain acceptable services and that the educational process is not disrupted because of financial problems.

"Under this new policy, I think we will be able to take action sooner to put districts on notice and work with them to develop effective contingency plans."