A trial to determine the constitutionality of a state law that enables charter schools to operate in Boone County is scheduled to begin next month in Jefferson City.
At a hearing Monday, Cole County Circuit Judge Emily Fretwell set Sept. 10 as the trial date for Columbia Public Schools’ lawsuit against the State of Missouri.
Both Grant Wiens, representing the school district, and Ryan Dugan, representing the state, were present at the Monday hearing.
In June, Fretwell ruled that the district could continue to challenge the 2024 legislation passed by the Missouri General Assembly that added Boone County to the locations where charter schools could operate. For more than 20 years, the only charter schools allowed in Missouri were in the Kansas City and St. Louis metropolitan school districts.
This changed with the passage of Missouri Senate Bill 727, which opened the possibility that independent but publicly funded charter schools could be located in any of the six Boone County districts.
The Columbia school district sued the state in December to challenge the law, claiming it is unconstitutional. The district argues that the law targets Boone County alone for the expansion of charter schools in Missouri, thus violating Article III, Section 40, of the Missouri Constitution.
According to the argument in the lawsuit, “the Missouri Constitution forbids the state from enacting legislation that singles out a single county for special treatment.”
The petition claims that language in the law expands charter schools only to counties with a population between 150,000 and 200,000, which effectively applies only to Boone County.
“The State of Missouri drafted this population bracket purposefully narrow, knowing that only Boone County met that definition,” according to the lawsuit. In addition, “this approach was not compelled by educational necessity, by administrative limitations or by any statewide policy consideration.”
The lawsuit argues that singling out Boone County violates the constitutional ban that forbids local or special laws when a general law could apply. The district is asking the court for a judgment that declares the law unconstitutional.
Meanwhile, Frontier Schools is taking steps to open a charter school in Columbia in the fall of 2027. The Missouri Board of Education approved the opening of the STEM-based elementary school in April.
Another organization, Job Point, has also submitted an application to open a charter school in Columbia, and it is currently pending.
