Senate Education Committee review bathroom and performance-based bills

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Senate Education Committee met Tuesday morning to review a bathroom-based bill and a performance-based bill that could affect schools across the state.

Senate Bill 1558, sponsored by Rep. Dane Diehl (R-Butler), proposes that private schools should not be held civilly liable for having single-sex bathrooms and changing rooms.

According to the bill, the only people who can enter single-sex facilities are maintenance staff, emergency medical assistance or parents accompanying children aged eight or younger with school permission.

In addition, local governments are prohibited from passing rules that would stop private schools from establishing single-sex facilities. Any local government that violates the act will cover the private schools' legal costs in any resulting lawsuit.

Several public testimonies were heard over the course of the meeting. Those who supported the bill were grateful that the bill was put forward and were disappointed that this was even a topic of conversation. Speakers who opposed the bill said that this would be very difficult to enforce and that it would discriminate and exclude transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming and intersex children.

House Bill 2710, sponsored by Republican Sen. Mike Henderson, was also up for discussion and proposes new accountability measures for public schools, charter schools, and school districts by creating the "Show Me Success Program" to provide performance-based funding to schools and districts.

There were multiple testimonies regarding HB 2710, both in support and opposition; however, the most consistent concern mentioned was the state-issued standardized test, MAP. Committee members and those who gave testimony agreed that the MAP test is too flawed when it comes to knowing a school's performance.