MEASURE WOULD PREVENT EXPELLED STUDENTS FROM CHANGING DISTRICTS

JEFFERSON CITY -- State Rep. Joe Heckemeyer is sponsoring legislation this session to prevent students expelled in one school district from transferring to another.

Under House Bill 453, any suspension or expulsion from one school district would be effective in all public school districts of the state.

"So many times, problem students who are thrown out of one school simply enroll somewhere else where they cause trouble again," said the Sikeston Democrat. "My proposal would prevent this from happening."

Heckemeyer said he filed the bill after the problem was brought to his attention by Sikeston Superintendent Bob Buchanan.

Buchanan said transfers of expelled students are fairly common, and often go unnoticed because it is not unusual for students with divorced parents to move in with the other parent and change schools.

But what is happening in these cases is expelled students are moving in with relatives and avoiding expulsion by changing schools. Under current state law, that is legal. Heckemeyer's bill would close that loophole.

"If a kid is too bad to be in our school he or she is too bad to be in another school. A kid that is too bad to be in another school district is too bad to be in our school district," said Buchanan.

He explained that at Sikeston they attempt to seek records and information from students moving into the district, but still have had some students move in who were kicked out of other districts.

"If a kid has problems and is moved to another district, all they have done is prolonged the situation. They have overlooked the problems of the child and just reintroduced him to a new environment," said Heckemeyer.

A dramatic illustration of the problems of students changing districts occurred recently in St. Louis. A 15-year old boy, who was suspended from several St. Louis schools, then transferred to McCluer North High School where he murdered a freshman girl in the restroom on the second day of his attendance.

Heckemeyer's bill will have a hearing before the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee in the next few weeks. But he is hoping to add the 11-line bill as an amendment to another measure.

An opportunity may come when he meets as a member of a special subcommittee that will look at school discipline.

Heckemeyer said his educators are telling him that problem students need to be taken out of the classroom and shifted to an alternative education program.

"Hopefully, we will come out with a good bill that basically will allow us to remove a disruptive child from the classroom," Heckemeyer said.