With key endorsement, bills to regulate Missouri religious boarding schools advance
Legislation that would for the first time place some regulations on Christian boarding schools in Missouri moved one step closer to passage Wednesday morning.
The Missouri House Committee on Children and Families voted unanimously to pass two identical bills that would implement more oversight over schools that draw students from across the country. The measures now go to the rules committee and then on to the House floor.
Before Wednesday’s hearing, the proposals received an endorsement from the editor of The Pathway, a news publication for the 500,000-member Missouri Baptist Convention.
“In Psalm 127:3, God declares that children are ‘a heritage from the Lord,’” said Don Hinkle, who is also the convention’s adviser of public policy. “Therefore, they must be treated with love and respect. This bill codifies these truths into law.”
In an email to Rep. Rudy Veit, one of the sponsors of the legislation, Hinkle said the requirements in the bill are “necessary and deserve immediate passage.”
Veit, R-Wardsville, said Hinkle’s support is crucial.
“We had discussions with him about the bill and also had discussions with their general counsel about the bill,” said Veit, who has worked alongside the measure’s co-sponsor, Rep. Keri Ingle, a Lee’s Summit Democrat who first requested a hearing on allegations at one southwest Missouri school.
“What is important about that is it shows it not only has bipartisan support,” Veit said, “it has the support of very strong religious organizations also.”
Wednesday’s hearing before the House Children and Families Committee comes as The Star has been investigating faith-based reform schools, which are exempt from state oversight. A 1982 law allows religious organizations to claim an exemption from Missouri’s licensing requirement. The state is one of only two — South Carolina is the other — that has no regulations for exempt schools.
Since early September, The Star has spoken to more than 50 former students who attended several of these unlicensed facilities in Missouri. They have said that some school owners were lured to Missouri because of a lack of regulations and came here after being investigated or shut down in other states.
Six former students and one parent testified before the House committee earlier this month. They all urged lawmakers to finally improve Missouri’s lax law, which has made the state a haven for unlicensed religious boarding schools.
Known as The Child Residential Home Notification Act, the proposed legislation would require all faith-based boarding schools to register with the state — referred to in the measures as “notification” — and mandate federal criminal background checks for all employees and volunteers. Any person who fails to complete a criminal background check is guilty of a class B misdemeanor. The schools also would have to adhere to fire, safety and health regulations.
The measure would require schools’ registration to include a description of the agency or organization running the facility, the names of all the students and the contact information for their parents or guardians. The schools also would have to provide the name of the executive director and all staff members, as well as a copy of the fire, safety and health inspections and proof that every child’s medical records are on file.
A legislative effort to change the law in 2003 died in the House after intense pressure from opponents who said it would interfere with religious freedom. But sponsors of the new bill and child advocates insist the issue is not about religion.
Under the legislation, no government agency would be allowed to regulate or control the content of a school’s religious curriculum or the ministry of a school sponsored by a church or religious organization.
Ingle said she hopes that the measure continues to have “bipartisan enthusiastic support” throughout the legislative process.
“I strongly believe that the courageous testimony and advocacy from the survivors deeply impacted the committee’s unanimous vote,” she said.
This story was originally published February 24, 2021 at 10:00 AM.
