{"id":8069,"date":"2025-12-09T12:20:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T18:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/public-school-open-enrollment-wins-tentative-support-from-missouri-education-board-2\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T12:20:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T18:20:03","slug":"public-school-open-enrollment-wins-tentative-support-from-missouri-education-board-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/public-school-open-enrollment-wins-tentative-support-from-missouri-education-board-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Public school open enrollment wins tentative support from Missouri education board"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Missouri State Board of Education President Mary Schrag and Education Commissioner Karla Eslinger lead a board meeting Sept. 17 at the Missouri Special Olympics building in Jefferson City (Annelise Hanshaw\/Missouri Independent).<\/p>\n

The Missouri State Board of Education approved <\/span>legislative priorities<\/span><\/a> Tuesday that signal support for \u201clegislation on voluntary public school open enrollment.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What this means, though, is unclear.<\/span><\/p>\n

Board members during a Tuesday morning meeting expressed differing opinions on open enrollment,\u00a0 a policy that broadly speaking would allow students to enroll in neighboring school districts. After debating the issue, the board initially seemed poised to remove it from its priorities for the upcoming legislative session but ultimately agreed to wave it through and make edits at a later date.<\/span><\/p>\n

Board President Mary Schrag said the intention is to give the board and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education a \u201cseat at the table\u201d as lawmakers consider provisions that alter how open enrollment would be administered.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have to take a stance on (open enrollment),\u201d she said. \u201cI do think we need to make sure that we stay as a player and are at the table.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

State lawmakers have filed open enrollment bills <\/span>for the past five years<\/span><\/a>, passing out of the House each time but coming to a <\/span>standstill in the Senate<\/span><\/a>. The proposal has evolved over the years, with changes like a cap on the number of students that may leave a district and who is responsible for the cost of transportation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Commissioner of Education Karla Eslinger said if lawmakers move forward with open enrollment, she\u2019d like the board to have a say in some of the details.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c(State lawmakers) continue to have conversations in the legislature about what is the best fit for Missouri and how do you create this opportunity for choice within the public system,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, by having this board have an opinion that open enrollment is something we want to have a conversation about, it makes us relevant.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She told state senators in a hearing about an unrelated issue last week that she \u201cdid not have a problem with\u201d open enrollment as a concept.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a superintendent of schools, I can tell you that if a parent didn\u2019t feel like that I met their needs, I want them to be able to go someplace,\u201d she told the Senate Education Committee last Thursday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Board member Pamela Westbrooks-Hodge, of Pasadena Hills, said Tuesday that she had concerns that she would like to enumerate in a clearer policy position.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be supportive of our board, but I am concerned about harming small communities, and that isn\u2019t reflected in this language,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Board member Mike Matousek, of Kansas City, indicated that he supported the idea of open enrollment but he felt like approving the legislative priorities was premature.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are key issues that we just need to talk about first to understand what it is we\u2019re actually supporting here, and what are our priorities,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

He was the lone vote in opposition to approving the document.<\/span><\/p>\n

Schrag said many of the priorities, like a focus on early childhood literacy, have come up in numerous board conversations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs board members, we are learning and absorbing and digging in all the time through all of our conversations,\u201d she said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t require a specific agenda item, in some cases, to come to an understanding of a position.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The board has approved legislative priorities for four years, focusing on improving the programs offered by the state\u2019s education department.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other priorities approved Tuesday include a recommendation to fully fund the formula that determines state aid for public schools and the creation of a program to improve math instruction statewide.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Missouri State Board of Education President Mary Schrag and Education Commissioner Karla Eslinger lead a board meeting Sept. 17 at the Missouri Special Olympics building in Jefferson City (Annelise Hanshaw\/Missouri Independent). The Missouri State Board of Education approved legislative priorities Tuesday that signal support for \u201clegislation on voluntary public school open enrollment.\u201d\u00a0 What this means,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nPublic school open enrollment wins tentative support from Missouri education board - WestplexNews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/public-school-open-enrollment-wins-tentative-support-from-missouri-education-board-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Public school open enrollment wins tentative support from Missouri education board - WestplexNews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Missouri State Board of Education President Mary Schrag and Education Commissioner Karla Eslinger lead a board meeting Sept. 17 at the Missouri Special Olympics building in Jefferson City (Annelise Hanshaw\/Missouri Independent). 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