HILLSBORO R-III board votes to join multi-entity legal challenge to Senate Bill 3, authorizes litigation funding and counsel

The HILLSBORO R-III School Board voted to join a multi-entity legal challenge to provisions of Missouri Senate Bill 3 that the board says would alter local property-tax procedures and affect district funding.

Board members approved a resolution authorizing the district’s participation and shared contribution to litigation costs. During discussion, Dr. Isaacson said the district had learned that multiple political subdivisions, including Warren County and other local entities, were joining as plaintiffs and that the collaboration was intended to protect local services the district and community rely on.

"The board and the school district are committed to protecting the services our families rely on," Dr. Isaacson said. "This is joining with those other entities, to just ensure that this is constitutional...this 7 month frame, actually doesn't do that." The board then voted to approve the resolution with no recorded opposition.

Trustees also approved a related resolution to retain outside legal counsel for the litigation and authorized the superintendent to execute the documents and any necessary actions to move forward. The firm name in the meeting record was garbled and not clearly legible in the transcript; the board voted to retain counsel as recorded in the meeting minutes and to authorize execution of retention documents.

The motions passed unanimously. No further procedural steps or dollar amounts for the district’s contribution were specified on the record; the administration said entities joining as plaintiffs have agreed to shared fiduciary arrangements.