HB 477 Missouri House · 2025 Regular Session

Establishes written parental consent requirements for individualized education programs (IEPs)

HB 477 requires school districts to obtain written or electronic parental consent before making certain changes to a child's Individualized Education Program (IEP), such as initial placements, service removals, or changes exceeding 25% in service minutes. It mandates a standardized consent form with options for full consent, refusal, or partial consent, and requires schools to document parent signatures. The bill also establishes a 10-business-day timeline for resolving disagreements and allows parents to visit proposed programs before consenting. This bill, which would take effect July 1, 2026, is currently inactive after being dropped from the legislative calendar in May 2025.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Dec 2024

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Dec 10, 2024 Last action May 6, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → House Committee Substitute · 7 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended from its original introduced version to a House Committee Substitute version, incorporating substantive changes to special education parental consent procedures. Key modifications include expanding definitions to cover emancipated children, clarifying dispute resolution options, adjusting timelines for IEP disagreements, and updating the effective date language. These changes aim to strengthen procedural safeguards for parents and students with disabilities.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on special education parental consent procedures under Missouri's Chapter 161, RSMo, but the applicability was refined to include emancipated children acting on their own behalf and clarified dispute resolution pathways.

DEFINITION

Added 'emancipated child acting on the child's own behalf' to the definition of 'Parent' to ensure legal protections extend to independent minors.

REQUIREMENT

Changed 'ten business days' to 'ten school days' for IEP agreement timelines, aligning the deadline with the school calendar rather than a standard work week.

Added specific dispute resolution options including facilitated IEP meetings, child complaint investigations, state-paid mediation, and due process hearings.

Extended the timeline for resolving IEP disagreements to include a 20-school-day initial period with a possible 20-school-day extension if progress is made.

Changed the requirement for the department to 'adopt' a parental consent form to 'create or establish' a parental consent model form, giving the department more flexibility in form development.

Added a requirement for LEAs to notify parents and provide notice in accordance with federal regulations when services are removed due to code of student conduct violations.

TECHNICAL

Updated the bill identifier from 'HB 477' to 'HCS HB 477' to reflect its status as a House Committee Substitute, and changed the Chief Clerk name from Dana Rademan Miller to Joseph Engler.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 12, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported Do Pass (H) - AYES: 6 NOES: 4 PRESENT: 0

lower

Mar 12, 2025

Lower · Passed

Voted Do Pass (H)

lower

Feb 19, 2025

Committee

Referred: Rules - Legislative(H)

lower

Feb 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

HCS Reported Do Pass (H) - AYES: 18 NOES: 2 PRESENT: 1

lower

Feb 11, 2025

Lower · Passed

HCS Voted Do Pass (H)

lower

Jan 16, 2025

Committee

Referred: Elementary and Secondary Education(H)

lower

Dec 10, 2024

Introduced

Prefiled (H)

lower

1 primary · 8 co-sponsors