167.020. Registration requirements--residency--homeless child or youth defined--recovery of costs, when--records to be requested, provided, when.

MISSOURI STATUTES AND CODES

167.020. Registration requirements--residency--homeless child or youth defined--recovery of costs, when--records to be requested, provided, when.

Registration requirements--residency--homeless child or youthdefined--recovery of costs, when--records to be requested,provided, when.

167.020. 1. As used in this section, the term "homeless child" or"homeless youth" shall mean a person less than twenty-one years of age wholacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence, including a childor youth who:

(1) Is sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing,economic hardship, or a similar reason; is living in motels, hotels, orcamping grounds due to lack of alternative adequate accommodations; isliving in emergency or transitional shelters; is abandoned in hospitals; oris awaiting foster care placement;

(2) Has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or privateplace not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleepingaccommodation for human beings;

(3) Is living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings,substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and

(4) Is a migratory child or youth who qualifies as homeless becausethe child or youth is living in circumstances described in subdivisions (1)to (3) of this subsection.

2. In order to register a pupil, the parent or legal guardian of thepupil or the pupil himself or herself shall provide, at the time ofregistration, one of the following:

(1) Proof of residency in the district. Except as otherwise providedin section 167.151, the term "residency" shall mean that a person bothphysically resides within a school district and is domiciled within thatdistrict or, in the case of a private school student suspected of having adisability under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C.Section 1412, et seq, that the student attends private school within thatdistrict. The domicile of a minor child shall be the domicile of a parent,military guardian pursuant to a military-issued guardianship orcourt-appointed legal guardian; or

(2) Proof that the person registering the student has requested awaiver under subsection 3 of this section within the last forty-five days.In instances where there is reason to suspect that admission of the pupilwill create an immediate danger to the safety of other pupils and employeesof the district, the superintendent or the superintendent's designee mayconvene a hearing within five working days of the request to register anddetermine whether or not the pupil may register.

3. Any person subject to the requirements of subsection 2 of thissection may request a waiver from the district board of any of thoserequirements on the basis of hardship or good cause. Under nocircumstances shall athletic ability be a valid basis of hardship or goodcause for the issuance of a waiver of the requirements of subsection 2 ofthis section. The district board or committee of the board appointed bythe president and which shall have full authority to act in lieu of theboard shall convene a hearing as soon as possible, but no later thanforty-five days after receipt of the waiver request made under thissubsection or the waiver request shall be granted. The district board orcommittee of the board may grant the request for a waiver of anyrequirement of subsection 2 of this section. The district board orcommittee of the board may also reject the request for a waiver in whichcase the pupil shall not be allowed to register. Any person aggrieved by adecision of a district board or committee of the board on a request for awaiver under this subsection may appeal such decision to the circuit courtin the county where the school district is located.

4. Any person who knowingly submits false information to satisfy anyrequirement of subsection 2 of this section is guilty of a class Amisdemeanor.

5. In addition to any other penalties authorized by law, a districtboard may file a civil action to recover, from the parent, militaryguardian or legal guardian of the pupil, the costs of school attendance forany pupil who was enrolled at a school in the district and whose parent,military guardian or legal guardian filed false information to satisfy anyrequirement of subsection 2 of this section.

6. Subsection 2 of this section shall not apply to a pupil who is ahomeless child or youth, or a pupil attending a school not in the pupil'sdistrict of residence as a participant in an interdistrict transfer programestablished under a court-ordered desegregation program, a pupil who is award of the state and has been placed in a residential care facility bystate officials, a pupil who has been placed in a residential care facilitydue to a mental illness or developmental disability, a pupil attending aschool pursuant to sections 167.121 and 167.151, a pupil placed in aresidential facility by a juvenile court, a pupil with a disabilityidentified under state eligibility criteria if the student is in thedistrict for reasons other than accessing the district's educationalprogram, or a pupil attending a regional or cooperative alternativeeducation program or an alternative education program on a contractualbasis.

7. Within two business days of enrolling a pupil, the school officialenrolling a pupil, including any special education pupil, shall requestthose records required by district policy for student transfer and thosediscipline records required by subsection 9 of section 160.261, RSMo, fromall schools previously attended by the pupil within the last twelve months.Any school district that receives a request for such records from anotherschool district enrolling a pupil that had previously attended a school insuch district shall respond to such request within five business days ofreceiving the request. School districts may report or disclose educationrecords to law enforcement and juvenile justice authorities if thedisclosure concerns law enforcement's or juvenile justice authorities'ability to effectively serve, prior to adjudication, the student whoserecords are released. The officials and authorities to whom suchinformation is disclosed must comply with applicable restrictions set forthin 20 U.S.C. Section 1232g (b)(1)(E).