Sen. Thompson Rehder's proposed bill seeks to extend sexual misconduct liability to private schools

In 2011, the Missouri state Legislature passed Senate Bill 54 which repealed 11 and enacted 18 sections of the Missouri statute relating to elementary and secondary education.

One of the sections added as a result of the bill's passage was 162.068, in which one of the provisions would hold public school districts liable for damages caused as a result of failing to disclose allegations of sexual misconduct by an employee who was terminated or allowed to resign because of the allegations. Additionally, any public school district employee who reports sexual misconduct with a student receives civil immunity. In 2019, language to include charter schools was added to the section.

However, no language exists in the Missouri statute regarding whether private schools would be held liable in the same way. District 27 Sen. Holly Thompson Rehder’s proposed Senate Bill 766 would change that.

“This was brought to my attention this past summer from a constituent, unfortunately, that was in the process of a legal battle,” Thompson Rehder said. “She called to inform me about what she was going through with her son and that it was something that public schools had to do, but, apparently, private schools did not. It surprised me because I thought we had already gotten that fixed. We contacted our Senate research, which is who helps us with legislation. They confirmed and said that somehow, private schools were left out.”

According to a National Criminal Justice Reference Service report released in 2017 which cites a 2010 Government Accountability Office study, the average offending teacher will pass through three districts before being reported to the police — also known as “passing the trash” — and a single offender can have up to 73 victims in their lifetime.

So far, the bill has received bipartisan support in the Senate and has been passed out of the Education and Workforce Development Committee by a unanimous vote. Thompson Rehder said she anticipates the same response from the House of Representatives if the bill passes the Senate.

“There’s so many things that are bipartisan,” Thompson Rehder said. “There’s a lot of partisan things that we work on that absolutely need to be done, but there are a lot of things when it comes to our families and our children that we can come together and get done quickly. We fight on issues, but we also work together and get these important issues for kids done.”

The next step for SB 766 is to be heard on the Senate floor, which has been disrupted for weeks with filibusters by members of the Missouri Freedom Caucus who were blocking more than 40 gubernatorial appointments in an attempt to pass initiative petition reform.

“It will be heard on the Senate floor,” Thompson Rehder said, “provided that we get these senators that are holding everything up to sit down and allow us to have our normal legislative process.”

The two sides reached an agreement Tuesday morning, Jan. 30, approving the governor's appointments and scheduling an executive session on initiative petitions when the Senate resumes Wednesday, Jan. 31.