MO SB342

Requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to ensure all school districts implement criteria to remove barriers to educational success for foster care children due to frequent moves.

Schools must facilitate timely enrollment, honor previous course placements (including honors, advanced placement, and career pathway courses), and allow flexibility in waiving prerequisites and entrance requirements.

Schools must provide comparable special education services under IDEA, Section 504, and the Americans with Disabilities Act for foster care students with disabilities based on current Individualized Education Programs.

Schools must waive specific graduation requirements if similar coursework was completed elsewhere, accept exit exams or standardized tests from previous schools, and provide alternative means of acquiring required coursework for on-time graduation.

If a foster care student transferring in their senior year cannot graduate from the receiving school, both schools must ensure the student receives a diploma from the sending school if graduation requirements are met there.