Gov. signs bill allowing military children to stay in Missouri for education

8^th Senatorial District

For Immediate Release:

June 25, 2015

Jefferson City, MO 65101

Contact:

(573) 751-1464

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Gov. Nixon signed a bill today that will give children in military families a more consistent educational experience.

Senate Bill 116 allows a student to remain in a Missouri school district if one or both of the student’s parents are stationed out of state. The bill was designed to provide continuity in a military child’s education, said bill sponsor Sen. Will Kraus, a Lee’s Summit Republican.

“As a veteran myself, I know how difficult it can be to be deployed or stationed out of state, both for military members and their families,” Kraus said. “When military children can stay in the same school, their education is better. They can keep their classes, their teachers and their friends.”

The new law allows children to stay in Missouri with other family members and continue attending their current school when their parent is stationed outside Missouri. This bill updated a statute added in 2013 providing the same benefit to families with a parent deployed.

“If Missouri can make a military family’s life a little easier, we should do it,” Kraus said. “We have a duty to help those who serve and the families that make difficult sacrifices for our country.”