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DESE guidance on SB 727 forces Cape Girardeau schools to use AMI days to protect incentive funding
Summary
District academic staff said state guidance tied to Senate Bill 727 created a separate 169-day accounting layer that makes use of AMI days necessary to preserve planned incentive funding, prompting immediate schedule and operational decisions after a late December guidance release.
Academic services staff told the Cape Girardeau Board of Education on Jan. 27 that state guidance issued after passage of Senate Bill 727 changed how instructional time is calculated and compelled some schools to use AMI days to protect state incentive funding.
Mister Russell, speaking for Academic Services, said the district has operated under a familiar calculation (described in the meeting as 104 days) but that DESE's guidance tied to SB 727 introduced an alternate 169-day measure. The new guidance, issued in mid-December, created an incentive structure the district must meet to receive funding earmarked for teacher pay increases; Russell said schools risked losing “a huge pot of incentive money” if they did not follow the guidance.
Russell told the board the district received the guidance on Dec. 17'20 and that the rapid turnaround coincided with winter weather that disrupted the first week back, causing some schools to use AMI days and others not to. He said some schools missed out on incentive funds because they did not interpret the guidance as requiring use of AMI days first.
Board members and staff discussed ongoing legislative fixes: Russell said several bills addressing the guidance and the incentive structure were being floated in the current session. The board heard that the incentive starts at 1% in the initial year and increases in subsequent years, with the funding designated for teacher pay; Russell estimated the provision could represent roughly a $500,000 impact over three years but said specifics depended on final legislation and state budgeting.
The district distributed the DESE guidance to board members; staff urged board members to expect further legislative clarifications during the session.
