Missouri 2026 Regular Session Status: In Committee 2 R cosponsors

HB 2157 — Enacts provisions requiring school districts to develop policies for released-time courses

Last action — Referred: Emerging Issues(H)

Track this bill free

No card. One bill, free forever — alerts when it moves.

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced December 03, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the House.

Prognosis

Stalled 18% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 2 sponsors

    1 primary, 1 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (2 R).

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

In plain language

The bill requires school districts to allow students to attend religious courses with certain policies.

This legislation mandates that school districts adopt policies to excuse students for released-time religious courses. It outlines requirements for parental consent, attendance records, and the responsibilities of sponsoring entities.

What this means for you
  • Families: Parents can request their children be excused to attend religious courses.

Bill Text

How this bill changes current law

1 change Share ↗

AI-generated reading aid from the bill's amendatory text — verify against the official bill.

This bill amends 1 section(s) of the Missouri Revised Statutes: Section 162.059, RSMo.

  • Section 162.059, RSMo

    Released-Time Education Act". 2. As used in this section, the following terms mean: (1)ent", a parent, legal guardian, or other person having control, custody, or charge of a child; ("Released-time course", a course in religious instruction taught by an independent sponsoring entity that a student is excused from school to attend; (3) "School district", the same definition as in section 160.011. 3. A school district shall adopt a policy as provided in this section to excuse a student from school to attend a released-time course. Such policy shall not interfere with the ability of a student's parent to request or access a released-time course for the student. 4. A school district shall, upon the request of a student's parent, excuse a student under its jurisdiction from school to attend a released-time course for at least one hour per week but not more than five hours per week if the following requirements are met: (1) student's parent gives written consent for the student to attend the released-time course; bold-face (2) The entity sponsoring the released-time course maintains attendance records and makes them available to the school district the student attends; (3)sportation to and from the place of instruction including, but not limited to, transportation for students with disabilities, is the complete responsibility of the sponsoring entity, parent, or student; (4) The sponsoring entity makes provisions for and assumes liability for the student while under the control of the sponsoring entity; (5) No school district moneys other than de minimis administrative costs are expended in providing the released-time course; (6)eased-time courses shall not be held on school district property unless permitted under a neutral policy of equal access opening school district property for use by community groups; and (7) The student assumes responsibility for any missed schoolwork. 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any period for which a student is excused to attend a released-time course shall be considered as the student attending the public school from which the student is excused for the purposes of calculating state aid for such school and satisfying attendance requirements. 6. No provision of this section shall be construed to deny a released-time course or the sponsoring entity equal access to moneys, benefits, or services that the school district provides or makes available to community groups or other independent entities. 7. (1) A school district shall adopt a policy that awards academic credit for the completion of a released-time course and recognizes the credits of an independently accredited provider of released-time courses. (2)determining how much credit to award for completion of such a course, the school district shall evaluate the course based on purely secular criteria that are substantially the same criteria used to evaluate similar courses for purposes of determining how much credit to award for such course. The decision to award credit for a released-time course shall be neutral to, and shall not involve any test for, religious content or denominational affiliation. (3) For purposes of this section, secular criteria include, but are not limited to, the following: (a) The number of hours of classroom instruction time; (A review of the course syllabus that reflects course requirements and materials used; (c) The methods of assessment used in the course; and (d) The qualifications of the course instructor. 8. Any person or organization aggrieved by a violation of this section may bring an action against the school district responsible for the violation and seek appropriate relief including, but not limited to, injunctive relief, monetary damages, reasonable attorney's fees, and court costs.

    amended

Action History

  1. Referred: Emerging Issues(H)

  2. Read Second Time (H)

  3. Read First Time (H)

  4. Prefiled (H)

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

1 sponsors · 1 co-sponsors · 197 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (1)

Not signed on (197)

197 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 197 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

education
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

Who sponsors HB 2157?
HB 2157 is sponsored by Cathy Jo Loy (Republican) and Josh Hurlbert (Republican).
What is the current status of HB 2157?
This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced December 03, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HB 2157?
Track HB 2157 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

Make your voice heard on HB 2157

Find the representatives who decide this bill and tell them where you stand — for yourself, or mobilize your whole list in one click with One Click Politics advocacy software.

Find my representatives → Run a campaign

Stay ahead of HB 2157

Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

One Click Politics tracks every bill in Congress and all 50 states.

Track this bill →