Case Title: Jane Turner, et al., Appellants, vs. School District of Clayton, et al., Respondents.

Citation: 

Docket Number: SC90236

State: missouri

Court: Missouri Supreme Court

Date: 2010-07-16T00:00:00Z

Document:
SUPREME COURT OF MISSOURI 
en banc 
JANE TURNER, et al.,  
 
 
 
) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
 
 
 
 
Appellants,  
) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
v. 
 
 
 
 
) 
 
 
No. SC90236 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
SCHOOL DISTRICT OF CLAYTON, et al.,  
) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
 
 
 
 
Respondents.  
) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF ST. LOUIS COUNTY 
The Honorable David Lee Vincent III, Judge 
 
Opinion issued July 16, 2010 
PER CURIAM 
 
The dispositive issue in this case is the declaration that the straightforward and 
unambiguous language of § 167.131, RSMo 2000,1 applies as written.  Plaintiffs are 
parents and children who reside in the City of St. Louis transitional school district2 but 
attend schools in the Clayton school district pursuant to tuition agreements.  After the 
transitional school district lost its state accreditation, the parents and children sued the 
Clayton school district, the board of education of the City of St. Louis and the transitional 
                                             
 
1 Unless otherwise noted, all references to § 167.131 and § 167.1060 are to RSMo 2000.  All 
other statutory references are to RSMo Supp. 2009.   
2 With the St. Louis public school district's loss of accreditation in 2007, the special 
administrative board of the transitional school district is the governing body of the St. Louis 
public school district.  For the purpose of simplicity, this respondent will simply be referred to as 
the transitional school district. 
 
district of the City of St. Louis claiming the transitional school district was required to 
pay their tuition pursuant to § 167.131.  The parents and children claim the plain 
language of § 167.131 requires unaccredited school districts to pay the tuition costs of its 
students who choose to attend an accredited school in an adjoining district. 
The parents and the school districts both moved for summary judgment.  The 
circuit court granted the school districts' motion for summary judgment finding that 
§ 167.131 was inapplicable to the transitional school district of the City of St. Louis.  The 
court of appeals issued an opinion, but because of the general interest and importance of 
the issues in this case, it transferred the case to this Court pursuant to Rule 83.02.   
On appeal, the parents and children argue that § 167.131 requires the transitional 
school district to pay the children's tuition costs for attending schools in the Clayton 
school district.  This Court holds that § 167.131's unambiguous mandatory language 
requires unaccredited school districts to pay the tuition of its students who choose to 
attend an accredited school in an adjoining district.3
Facts 
Jane Turner, Susan Bruker, Gina Breitenfeld and William Drendel and their 
children live within the boundaries of the transitional school district of the City of St. 
Louis.  The parents' children currently attend schools in the Clayton school district 
pursuant to personal tuition agreements between the parents and Clayton.  
 
                                             
 
3 However, the parents are required to pay tuition for the school year covered by the contracts 
with Clayton school district, and the parents are not entitled to restitution for the amounts paid.        
 
In June 2007, after the parents had entered into tuition agreements for the 2007-
2008 school year, the transitional school district lost its accreditation.  In response, one of 
the parents sent a letter to the Clayton school board asking it to charge the transitional 
school district for her children's tuition pursuant to § 167.131 rather than charge her 
pursuant to the tuition agreement.  The Clayton school district declined to seek payment 
from the transitional district. 
 
The parents filed suit against the transitional school district, the Clayton school 
district and the board of education for the City of St. Louis, seeking a declaratory 
judgment that because the transitional school district lost accreditation, it was required to 
pay the children's tuition for attending schools in the Clayton district.  The parents' 
amended petition also asserted a claim for restitution for tuition already paid.   
The Clayton school district and the transitional school district filed separate 
motions to dismiss or, in the alternative, for summary judgment.  The transitional school 
district argued § 167.131 does not apply to the City of St. Louis transitional school 
district, claiming that SB 781, passed in 1998, exclusively governs student transfers in the 
district.  Clayton's motion essentially restated the transitional school district's motion.  
Clayton's motion further argued that the "Safe Schools Act" gives school districts 
discretion to admit non-resident students from unaccredited districts under § 167.131 and 
that because Clayton refused to accept the children pursuant to that statute, their claims 
were foreclosed.  Thereafter, the parents filed a cross-motion for summary judgment on 
the claims in their petition.  The circuit court, without stating a specific basis, granted the 
school districts' motions for summary judgment.  
 
3
Standard of Review 
Whether summary judgment was proper is a question of law.  ITT Commercial 
Fin. Corp. v. Mid-Am. Marine Supply Corp., 854 S.W.2d 371, 376 (Mo. banc 1993).  
This Court's review of a grant of summary judgment is essentially de novo; therefore, the 
trial court's order may be affirmed in this Court on an entirely different basis than that 
posited at trial, and this Court will affirm the grant of summary judgment under any 
appropriate theory.  Id. at 376, 387-88; Composoft, Inc. v. AT&T, 252 S.W.3d 189, 194 
(Mo. App. 2008).  The Court views the record in the light most favorable to the party 
against whom judgment was entered and affords that party the benefit of all reasonable 
inferences.  ITT Commercial Fin., 854 S.W.2d at 376.  For summary judgment to be 
entered in its favor, the movant has the burden of proving that no genuine issues of 
material fact exist and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.  Id. at 381.  
Analysis 
Section 167.131, a straightforward and unambiguous statute, was specifically 
written to apply to the factual scenario of this case.  Section 167.131 plainly states that 
the boards of unaccredited schools "shall pay the tuition of and provide transportation . . . 
for each pupil resident therein who attends an accredited school in another district of the 
same or an adjoining county" and, furthermore, that "each pupil shall be free to attend the 
public school of his or her choice."  Section 167.131.1, .2.  It is clear that § 167.131 
applies to the transitional school district, that it requires the Clayton school district to 
admit the students and that it mandates the transitional school district pay the students' 
 
4
tuition.  Once admitted, a student must comply with all disciplinary and academic 
standards in order to remain enrolled. 
Section 167.131 is Applicable to the Transitional School District 
The parents first claim that the circuit court erred in granting the transitional 
school district's motion for summary judgment because a plain reading of § 167.131 
demonstrates that it applies to the transitional school district.  They further assert that the 
plain and unambiguous language of § 167.131 mandates payment of their children's 
tuition under the circumstances presented in this case.  This Court agrees.    
Section 167.131 provides that a school district that loses accreditation with the 
state board of education must pay tuition for any resident pupil who attends an accredited 
school in another district in the same or an adjoining county and sets the amount of 
tuition to be paid by the sending school.  Section 167.131 states: 
1. The board of education of each district in this state that does not maintain 
an accredited school pursuant to the authority of the state board of 
education to classify schools as established in section 161.092, RSMo, shall 
pay the tuition of . . . each pupil resident therein who attends an accredited 
school in another district of the same or an adjoining county. 
 
2. The rate of tuition to be charged by the district attended and paid by the 
sending district is the per pupil cost of maintaining the district's grade level 
grouping which includes the school attended.  The cost of maintaining a 
grade level grouping shall be determined by the board of education of the 
district . . .  Per pupil cost of the grade level grouping shall be determined 
by dividing the cost of maintaining the grade level grouping by the average 
daily pupil attendance . . . . Subject to the limitations of this section, each 
pupil shall be free to attend the public school of his or her choice.  
 
(emphasis added). 
 
 
5
In the present case, it is uncontested that the St. Louis public school district lost its 
accreditation with the state board of education.  Additionally, it is uncontested that the 
parents and their children reside in the City of St. Louis, but the children attend 
accredited schools in a school district in an adjoining county.  Considering only the plain 
and ordinary language of § 167.131.1, the uncontested facts show that § 167.131 applies 
to the transitional school district under the circumstances present in this case.     
The transitional school district challenges this plain reading of § 167.131 by 
arguing that § 167.131 was intended to apply only to situations in which an individual 
school in a district loses accreditation – not to deal with a district-wide loss of 
accreditation.  The transitional school district argues that the legislative history of 
§ 167.131 supports its position and that this Court should examine that history to divine 
the legislature's true intent.            
The seminal rule of statutory construction is to ascertain the intent of the 
legislature from the language used and to consider the words used in their plain and 
ordinary meaning.  State ex rel. Unnerstall v. Berkemeyer, 298 S.W.3d 513, 519 (Mo. 
banc 2009).  There is nothing in the language of § 167.131 indicating that the statute was 
not intended to apply to situations like the present, where a school district suffers a 
district-wide loss of accreditation.  Under § 167.131, a school district is obligated to pay 
the tuition of its students who attend an accredited school if the district "does not 
maintain an accredited school."  The fact that the entire St. Louis public school district 
lost its accreditation in 2007 necessarily means that it no longer maintains any accredited 
schools.  Therefore, the plain language of § 167.131 encompasses the present situation.  
 
6
Because the plain and ordinary language of § 167.131 does not limit its application as 
urged by the transitional school district, there is no need to analyze the legislative history 
of the statute in an attempt to determine the legislative intent.   
The transitional school district further argues that § 167.131 should not apply in 
the present case because the district maintains individual schools that are accredited by a 
private accreditation group.  The fact that certain schools in the City of St. Louis may be 
accredited by a private organization is of no consequence.  Section 167.131.1 speaks only 
of districts that do not maintain accredited schools "pursuant to the authority of the state 
board of education to classify schools."  Accordingly, under § 167.131, the only relevant 
issue is whether the state board of education has classified the district or one of its 
schools as unaccredited.  As noted above, it is undisputed that the St. Louis public school 
district lost its accreditation with the state board of education in 2007.  Therefore, 
because the transitional school district does not maintain any schools accredited by the 
state department of education, it is unaccredited for purposes of § 167.131.  
Section 167.131 is not in Conflict with SB 781 
The parents next claim the circuit court erred in granting summary judgment on 
grounds that § 167.131 was preempted by provisions in SB 781 and, therefore, that the 
transitional school district was not required to pay the students' tuition.  The parents 
assert that the provisions at issue in SB 781 do not preempt the application of § 167.131 
to the transitional school district because no conflicts exist between those provisions.  In 
response, the school districts argue that the provisions in SB 781 apply specifically to the 
City of St. Louis and conflict with the generally applicable provisions of § 167.131 and, 
 
7
therefore, SB 781 should take precedence over § 167.131.  Specifically, the school 
districts argue that § 162.1060, governing the publicly funded transfer of students out of 
the City of St. Louis, and § 162.1100, specifying how the city district will be governed in 
the event it loses accreditation, conflict with § 167.131.4
 
At the outset, it is noted that the school districts do not assert that SB 781 contains 
language expressly excluding the transitional school district from the application of  
§ 167.131.  The school districts' argument that SB 781 should operate to exclude the 
application of § 167.131 to the transitional school district is not based on any textual 
conflict that exists between the two laws.  Instead, the school districts' argument is based 
on the fact that applying § 167.131 to the city district makes it more difficult to 
accomplish some of the statutory reforms mandated by SB 781.5
 
The school districts first argue that § 162.1060, as contained in SB 781, is in 
tension with § 167.131.  Section 162.1060 created the "urban voluntary school transfer 
program" to transfer students between the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County to 
promote the desegregation of the city's schools.  Section 162.1060.1.  Under the 1999 
federal desegregation order, to which § 162.1060 is subject, eligible black students 
residing in the City of St. Louis are transferred to participating school districts in the 
                                             
 
4 Sections 162.1060 and 162.1100 were both provisions contained in SB 781 and went into effect 
after the St. Louis desegregation case was settled. 
5 The policy considerations and mandates regarding public schools and public school funding are 
particularly well-suited for the state legislature and not the courts.  For that reason, this Court 
will adhere to the express language of the statutes and not make an assumption that the 
legislature did not intend § 167.131 to apply to the St. Louis City school district.  It could have 
easily done so when it enacted the legislation to enforce the desegregation of the St. Louis city 
schools. 
 
8
county, while certain white students residing in predominately white school districts in 
the county are transferred to magnet schools in the city.   
The districts identify two principal tensions that exist between § 162.1060 and  
§ 167.131.  First, the districts point out that the funding mechanisms are different in that 
§ 167.131 requires the unaccredited school district to pay the child's costs of attending 
another school, while transfers under § 162.1060 are funded by the corporation that 
oversees the urban voluntary school transfer program.  Section 162.1060.3(2).  The 
districts argue that applying § 167.131 to the City of St. Louis would siphon resources 
away from the city's schools and thereby undermine one of the purposes of SB 781, 
which was to provide additional resources to the city district.6  Second, the districts argue 
that applying § 167.131 to the City of St. Louis will destabilize the urban voluntary 
school transfer program.  They argue the transfer program will be destabilized because 
participating St. Louis County school districts would be likely to discontinue 
participation in the program to accommodate the increasing number of city students 
choosing to transfer to county schools under § 167.131.  As a result, the districts argue 
that the remedial purpose of § 162.1060 – to desegregate the city's schools – would be 
undermined.                 
                                             
 
6 The school districts ignore the fact that a reduction in district resources inevitably results even 
when a transfer occurs pursuant to the urban voluntary transfer program because, under 
§ 162.1060.3(2), the state and federal aid that otherwise would be paid to a student's district of 
residence is paid to the transfer corporation, which in turn transfers the funds to the school 
district the student attends.   
 
9
  
The school districts also argue that § 162.1100, as contained in SB 781, conflicts 
with § 167.131.  That provision directs how the St. Louis public school district is 
governed in the event that it loses state accreditation.  Under § 162.1100.2(2), the 
governor is required to appoint a chief executive, who assumes all of the powers and 
duties of a general superintendent.  After appointment of the chief executive, control of 
the district is taken away from the existing school board and is vested in a special 
administrative board.  Section 162.1100.3.  The special administrative board and the chief 
executive are responsible for taking broad actions aimed at restoring the city school 
district to accredited status.  Section 162.1100.4(1)-(5).  The districts argue that applying 
§ 167.131 to the City of St. Louis would cause an exodus of students from St. Louis city 
schools to St. Louis County schools.  In turn, the districts argue that the decreased 
enrollment in city schools would cause a large reduction in the city district's state 
funding, thereby undermining the ability of the special administrative board to meet its 
statutory obligation of restoring the city district to accredited status.7
Despite their predictions about the effect of decreased funding on the St. Louis 
public school district, the school districts have failed to show that the legislature, by its 
enactment of SB 781, intended to exclude the city district from the application of  
§ 167.131.  As noted earlier, there is nothing in the language of SB 781 expressly 
                                             
 
7 There is no factual information contained in this record to support this speculative claim, and 
this Court refuses to go outside the record below to decide this case.  Neither will this Court 
speculate that a sufficient number of city students would choose any particular new district to 
make their attendance impossible.  The dissent seeks to support this claim by taking judicial 
notice of census information and thereafter makes assumptions of fact. 
 
10
exempting the transitional school district from the application of § 167.131, nor are there 
any textual inconsistencies that exist between the statutes that preclude the provisions of 
SB 781 and § 167.131 from operating concurrently.  The school districts essentially ask 
this Court to find that SB 781 effectuated an implied partial repeal of § 167.131.   
However, repeals by implication are disfavored.  StopAquila.org v. City of 
Peculiar, 208 S.W.3d 895, 905 n.14 (Mo. banc 2006).  "If by any fair interpretation both 
statutes may stand, there is no repeal by implication and both statutes must be given their 
effect."  Silcox v. Silcox, 6 S.W.3d 899, 903 (Mo. banc 1999).  When two provisions are 
not irreconcilably inconsistent, both must stand even if "some tension" exists between 
them.  StopAquila.org, 208 S.W.3d at 905.  At most, SB 781 and § 167.131 are in tension 
with one another in that applying § 167.131 to the transitional school district makes the 
implementation of SB 781 more difficult.  That alone is an insufficient basis for finding 
that the legislature intended to impliedly repeal the application of § 167.131 to the City of 
St. Louis.  
This Court enforces statutes as they are written, not as they might have been 
written.  City of Wellston v. SBC Commc'ns, Inc., 203 S.W.3d 189, 192 (Mo. banc 2006).  
It is presumed that the General Assembly legislates with knowledge of existing laws.  
State ex rel. Broadway-Washington Assocs., Ltd. v. Manners, 186 S.W.3d 272, 275 (Mo. 
banc 2006).  Consequently, the Court must assume that the legislature was aware of  
§ 167.131 when it enacted SB 781.  If the legislature had intended to exclude the 
 
11
application of § 167.131 to the transitional school district when it enacted SB 781, it 
easily could have added such an exception.8  It did not.    
Accordingly, the Court cannot supply what the legislature has omitted from 
controlling statutes.  State ex rel. Mercantile Nat. Bank at Dallas v. Rooney, 402 S.W.2d 
354, 362 (Mo. banc 1966); Bd. of Educ. of City of St. Louis v. State, 47 S.W.3d 366, 
371 (Mo. banc 2001) ("courts cannot transcend the limits of their constitutional powers 
and engage in judicial legislation supplying omissions and remedying defects in matters 
delegated to a coordinate branch of our tripartite government").  Moreover, it is not 
within the Court's province to "question the wisdom, social desirability, or economic 
policy underlying a statute as these are matters for the legislature's determination."  
Winston v. Reorganized Sch. Dist. R-2, Lawrence County, Miller, 636 S.W.2d 324, 
327 (Mo. banc 1982).  The Court must enforce the law as it is written, which in the 
present case means that SB 781 applies concurrently with § 167.131. 
      Clayton School District is Required to Admit Students Pursuant to § 167.131 
Clayton school district additionally argues that admission of students pursuant to 
§ 167.131 is discretionary despite the mandatory language of the statute.  Clayton school 
district asserts that § 167.020 gives a school district discretion whether to admit students 
under § 167.131. 
                                             
 
8 In fact, there are two instances in § 162.1100 in which the legislature expressly exempted the 
transitional school district from the operation of other statutes.  For example, the transitional 
school district is not subject to any certificate of tax abatement issued pursuant to §§ 99.700 to 
99.715.  Section 162.1100.5.  Additionally, the district is not subject to the provisions of 
§§ 162.081, 163.021 or 163.023 with respect to any requirements to maintain a minimum value 
of operating levy.  Id. 
 
12
This argument is based on language in § 167.020 that a student must obtain a 
waiver of the residuary requirement.  Section 167.020 is a general statute and makes no 
mention of § 167.131.  The school district argues that they must be read in pari materia 
and harmonized.   
The school district and the dissent would have this Court harmonize the statutes by 
making "shall" in § 167.131 a "may."  That was an option for the legislature.  This Court 
determines the proper declaration is to recognize that § 167.131 was enacted to cover the 
factual scenario of this case and § 167.020 is a general statute.  The doctrine of in pari 
materia recognizes that statutes relating to the same subject matter should be read 
together, but where one statute deals with the subject in general terms and the other deals 
in a specific way, to the extent they conflict, the specific statute prevails over the general 
statute.  Parktown Imports, Inc. v. Audi of America, Inc., 278 S.W.3d 670, 673 n.2 (Mo. 
banc 2009). 
[T]he rules of statutory interpretation are not intended to be applied 
haphazardly or indiscriminately to achieve a desired result.  Instead, the 
canons of statutory interpretation are considerations made in a genuine 
effort to determine what the legislature intended.  This Court's primary rule 
of statutory interpretation is to give effect to legislative intent as reflected in 
the plain language of the statute at issue. 
 
Id. at 672. 
In this case, this Court need not look to § 167.020 because there is no need to refer 
to other similar statutes where a statute's own language is clear.  Home Builders Ass'n of 
Greater St. Louis, Inc. v. City of Wildwood, 107 S.W.3d 235, 239 (Mo. banc 2003).  Or, 
in other words, this Court does not apply the canons of interpretation or seek aides to 
 
13
interpret a statute when a statute is easily read and understood.9  See, e.g., Ins. Co. of 
State of Pa. v. Dir. of Revenue and Dir. of Ins., 269 S.W.3d 32, 34 n.5 (Mo. banc 2008) 
(There is no need to resort to statutory interpretation when a statute is unambiguous.); 
Hyde Park Housing P'ship v. Dir. of Revenue, 850 S.W.2d 82, 84 (Mo. banc 1993) 
("Where the language is clear and unambiguous, there is no room for construction."); 
Abrams v. Ohio Pac. Exp., 819 S.W.2d 338, 340 (Mo. banc 1991) (internal citations 
omitted) ("There is no room for construction where words are plain and admit to but one 
meaning . . . [w]here no ambiguity exists, there is no need to resort to rules of 
construction.").   
The plain and ordinary meaning of the language in § 167.131.2 that "each pupil 
shall be free to attend the public school of his or her choice" gives a student the choice of 
an accredited school to attend, so long as that school is in another district in the same or 
an adjoining county, and requires the chosen school to accept the pupil.  This 
interpretation is confirmed by the fact that § 167.131.2 was amended to remove the 
discretion previously given to the student's chosen school.  The prior version of 
§ 167.131.2 provided "but no school shall be required to admit any pupil."  Section 
167.131.2, RSMo 1986.  The legislature removed this language specifically taking away 
                                             
 
9 For the same reason, this Court need not look to the Department of Elementary and Secondary 
Education's interpretation of § 167.131 as the dissent does.  Courts do not look to agency 
interpretations when a statute is unambiguous.  Blue Springs Bowl v. Spradling, 551 S.W.2d 596, 
599-600 (Mo. banc 1977).  Moreover, the DESE interpretation cites no legal authority and has 
not been subjected to the rulemaking process. 
 
 
14
any discretion of the receiving school to deny admission under the circumstances of this 
case.  See Cox v. Dir. of Revenue, 98 S.W.3d 548, 550 (Mo. banc 2003) ("[w]hen the 
legislature amends a statute, that amendment is presumed to change the existing law.").  
Therefore, § 167.131.2 does not give an accredited school chosen by a student discretion 
to deny admission to that student.   
The dissent comes to the wrong conclusion because it starts with a false premise.  
Rather than analyzing the statute enacted by the legislature to specifically govern the 
particular situation when a school loses its accreditation, the dissent falsely assumes that 
a later enacted general statute governs over a previously enacted specific statute.  In 
doing so, the dissent, with a particular result in mind, restates the issue assuming 
§ 167.020 controls the issue of whether the Clayton school district has discretion to admit 
students from unaccredited schools seeking admission pursuant to § 167.131. 
Children's Admissions Were Under Tuition Agreements 
The parents argue that the tuition agreements should be terminated for lack of 
consideration and contend that they have a right to restitution because they are now 
paying tuition for an education their children should have received for free under 
§ 167.131.  The contracts did not fail for lack of consideration, and the parents are not 
entitled to restitution.   
The parents obtained the admission of their children to the Clayton school district 
pursuant to § 167.151.1 by entering into personal tuition agreements in which the parents 
agreed to pay their children's tuition.  Under the terms of those agreements, the Clayton 
school district was only obligated to allow the children to attend so long as the parents 
 
15
paid the children's tuition.  By arguing that the Clayton school district is now required to 
seek payment from the transitional school district and that the parents are entitled to 
restitution for tuition previously paid to the Clayton school district, the parents are 
attempting to bind the district beyond the terms of their tuition agreements. 
An unambiguous contract must be enforced according to its terms.  Triarch Indus., 
Inc. v. Crabtree, 158 S.W.3d 772, 776 (Mo. banc 2005).  In the present case, the parents 
contractually obligated themselves to pay the children's tuition in return for the Clayton 
school district's promise to allow the students to enroll during the time period governed 
by the agreements.  There was no contingency in the agreement that provided the parents 
were no longer required to pay the children's tuition if the St. Louis public school district 
lost accreditation.  Therefore, the Clayton school district is not obligated to seek payment 
from the transitional school district for the school years governed by the tuition 
agreements.   
Further, there has been no failure of consideration.  "[C]onsideration must be 
measured at the time the parties enter into their contract and [  ] the diminished value of 
the economic benefit conferred, or even a complete lack of value, does not result in a 
failure of consideration."  Weinstein v. KLT Telecom, Inc., 225 S.W.3d 413, 415-16 (Mo. 
banc 2007); see also Union Pac. R. Co. v. Kansas City Transit Co., 401 S.W.2d 528, 536 
(Mo. App. 1966) (citations omitted) ("If the promisor gets what he bargains for there is 
no failure of consideration, although what he receives becomes less valuable or of no 
value at all").  Here, the parents received the benefit of their bargain – the education of 
 
16
their children by the Clayton school district – and, therefore, cannot claim lack of 
consideration.   
Conclusion 
For the foregoing reasons, the trial court's judgment is reversed, and this case is 
remanded.      
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Price, C.J., Teitelman, Wolff and Fischer, JJ., concur;  
Breckenridge, J., concurs in part and dissents in part  
in separate opinion filed; Russell and Stith, JJ., concur  
in opinion of Breckenridge, J.  
 
17
 
SUPREME COURT OF MISSOURI 
en banc 
 
 
JANE TURNER, et al.,  
 
 
) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
 
 
Appellants,  
 
) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
v. 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
No. SC90236 
 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
SCHOOL DISTRICT OF  
 
) 
CLAYTON, et al.,   
 
 
) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
 
 
Respondents.  
 
) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
OPINION CONCURRING IN PART AND DISSENTING IN PART 
 
I concur with the majority opinion’s conclusion that section 167.1311 
applies to the transitional school district for the City of St. Louis.  I further agree 
that the parents are required to pay their children’s tuition for any school years 
covered by their tuition agreements and that the parents are not entitled to 
restitution of the tuition paid under those agreements.  However, I disagree with 
the majority opinion’s conclusion that section 167.131 compels the Clayton school 
district to admit the children and, instead, believe that section 167.020 gives the 
                                             
 
1 All statutory references to section 167.131 are to RSMo 2000.  Unless otherwise 
noted, all remaining statutory references are to RSMo Supp. 2009.  
 
Clayton school district discretion in admitting the children.  I would affirm the 
trial court’s judgment in favor of the Clayton school district.
The majority opinion holds that the plain and ordinary language in section 
167.131.2 stating that “each pupil shall be free to attend the public school of his or 
her choice” gives the pupil the unfettered choice to attend an accredited school in 
an adjoining district and requires the chosen school to accept the pupil.  The 
majority opinion reaches its conclusion by reading the language that gives the 
pupil a choice of school in isolation rather than by reading such language in the 
context of section 167.131 as a whole.  As addressed below, when the choice-of-
school language is read in context, there are limitations imposed on the pupil’s 
choice.   
Additionally, because the majority opinion considers the language in 
section 167.131 to be clear, it questions whether the Court even should consider 
section 167.020 when interpreting section 167.131.  Even assuming arguendo that 
the language in section 167.131.2 clearly requires a school to admit pupils seeking 
admission pursuant 167.131, it nevertheless remains that when “two statutory 
provisions covering the same subject matter are unambiguous standing separately 
but are in conflict when examined together, [this Court] must attempt to 
harmonize them and give them both effect.”  S. Metro. Fire Prot. Dist. v. City of 
Lee's Summit, 278 S.W.3d 659, 666 (Mo. banc 2009).  As discussed below, the 
majority’s interpretation of section 167.131 brings the statute into conflict with 
section 167.020 and, therefore, the Court must attempt to harmonize the two 
provisions.     
Section 167.020 was adopted by the General Assembly in 1996 as part of a 
bill commonly known as the “Safe Schools Act.”2  1996 Mo. Legis. Serv. H.B. 
Nos. 1301 & 1298.  Section 167.020 comprehensively governs when pupils can 
register to attend school in a district.  Section 167.020 establishes the 
circumstances under which a district is compelled to admit a pupil and when a 
district’s school board has discretion whether to admit a nonresident pupil.  
Section 167.020.3, .6.   
Section 167.020 reads, in relevant part: 
2. In order to register a pupil, the parents or legal guardian of the 
pupil or the pupil himself or herself shall provide, at the time of 
registration, one of the following: 
(1)  Proof of residency in the district. . . . ; or 
(2) Proof that the person registering the student has requested a 
waiver under subsection 3 of this section within the last forty-five 
days. . . . 
3. Any person subject to the requirement of subsection 2 of this 
section may request a waiver from the district board of any of those 
requirements on the basis of hardship or good cause. . . .  [T]he 
                                             
 
2 The Safe Schools Act was passed the year after a freshman girl at McCluer North 
High School in St. Louis County was raped and murdered in the school restroom 
by a pupil who had transferred to her school the day before because he had been 
suspended from another school.  Susan Anderson, THE SAFE SCHOOLS ACT 
PROTECTS MISSOURI STUDENTS, 55 J. Mo. B. 264 (1999); Stanley M. Burgess, 
MISSOURI’S SAFE SCHOOLS ACT: AN ATTEMPT TO ENSURE A SAFE EDUCATION 
OPPORTUNITY, 66 UMKC L. Rev. 603 (1998).  The Safe Schools Act gives a 
school district access to information about a nonresident pupil who seeks 
admission.  Under the act, the district has the right to obtain records of the 
enrolling pupil, including discipline records, and convene a hearing “where there 
is reason to suspect that admission of the pupil will create an immediate danger to 
other pupils and employees of the district.”  Section 167.020.2(2), .7.   
 
3
board shall convene a hearing as soon as possible, but no later than 
forty-five days after receipt of the waiver request made under this 
subsection or the waiver request shall be granted. The district board 
or committee of the board may grant the request for a waiver of any 
requirement of subsection 2 of this section. The district board or 
committee of the board may also reject the request for a waiver in 
which case the pupil shall not be allowed to register. Any person 
aggrieved by a decision of a district board or committee of the board 
on a request for a waiver under this subsection may appeal such 
decision to the circuit court in the county where the school district is 
located. 
 
*     *     * 
 
6. Subsection 2 of this section shall not apply to a pupil who is a 
homeless child or youth, or a pupil attending a school not in the 
pupil's district of residence as a participant in an interdistrict transfer 
program established under a court-ordered desegregation program, a 
pupil who is a ward of the state and has been placed in a residential 
care facility by state officials, a pupil who has been placed in a 
residential care facility due to a mental illness or developmental 
disability, a pupil attending a school pursuant to sections 167.121 
and 167.151, a pupil placed in a residential facility by a juvenile 
court, a pupil with a disability identified under state eligibility 
criteria if the pupil is in the district for reasons other than accessing 
the district's educational program, or a pupil attending a regional or 
cooperative alternative education program or an alternative 
education program on a contractual basis. 
 
(emphasis added.) 
 
To register for classes under the Safe Schools Act, a pupil must show that 
he or she is a resident of the district to be attended, has requested a waiver of the 
residency requirement, or is exempt from the residency and waiver requirements.  
Section 167.020.2, .6.  When a nonresident pupil requests a waiver, the district 
“may grant the request for a waiver of any requirement of subsection 2. . . .” or 
“may also reject the request for a waiver in which case the pupil shall not be 
 
4
allowed to register.”  Section 167.020.3 (emphasis added).  Because the statute 
uses the word “may” rather than “shall” when referring to the grant or denial of a 
waiver, the district is not under a mandatory obligation to grant a waiver to allow a 
pupil to register.  See State ex inf. McKittrick v. Wymore, 119 S.W.2d 941, 
944 (Mo. banc 1938) (“It is the general rule that in statutes the word ‘may’ is 
permissive only, and the word ‘shall’ is mandatory.”).  However, section 
167.020.3 provides for judicial review of a district’s decision to deny a waiver, so 
a district’s discretion is limited.    
Subsection 6 of section 167.020 exempts certain pupils from the residency 
or waiver requirements of subsection 2.  Included in the exemptions are pupils 
attending school pursuant to section 167.121, a statute permitting transfer of pupils 
for transportation hardships, and section 167.151, a statute allowing admittance of 
nonresident tuition-paying pupils.  Section 167.020.6. While pupils attending 
under sections 167.121 and 167.151 are exempt from the waiver requirement, 
pupils attending under section 167.131 are not.   
The majority opinion implies that because section 167.020 does not 
mention section 167.131 expressly, then section 167.020 has no impact on section 
167.131.  Contrary to the majority’s assertion, examination of the statutes 
excluded from the waiver requirement of section 167.020 requires the conclusion 
that the legislature intended that non-resident pupils seeking admission under 
section 167.131 are subject to the waiver requirements of section 167.020.2(2).  
Like section 167.131, sections 167.121 and 167.151 govern situations in which 
 
5
pupils can attend schools outside of their district of residence.  The legislature’s 
inclusion of sections 167.121 and 167.151 in the list of exemptions in section 
167.020.6 indicates that the legislature intended to exclude section 167.131 so a 
pupil attending a school under that section would be required to obtain a waiver 
from the board.  See Harrison v. MFA Mut. Ins. Co., 607 S.W.2d 137, 146 (Mo. 
banc 1980) (“‘the express mention of one thing implies the exclusion of another’” 
(quoting Brown v. Morris, 290 S.W.2d 160, 166 (Mo. banc 1956))).3
As discussed previously, section 167.020.3 vests a school with discretion 
whether to grant a waiver to nonresident pupils who are not exempt from the 
waiver requirements under the Safe Schools Act.  Section 167.020.6 does not 
exempt pupils seeking admission under section 167.131 from the waiver 
requirements in section 167.020.3.  Consequently, because a waiver is required, a 
school district, like Clayton, has discretion pursuant to section 167.020 in deciding 
whether to admit a pupil seeking admission under section 167.131.  The majority’s 
interpretation of section 167.131 conflicts with this plain reading of section 
                                             
 
3 In light of section 167.020’s purpose of promoting safe schools, the legislature 
may have limited its exemptions from waivers in subsection 6 to pupils who are 
required to go through a screening process to be accepted in a program, such as the 
interdistrict transfer program, or pupils given permission to attend school in 
another district by the state board of education under section 167.121, and those 
currently being supervised and monitored by another government entity, such as 
“a pupil who is a ward of the state and has been placed in a residential care facility 
by state officials.”  Pupils who seek to attend under section 167.131 fit in neither 
of these two categories. 
   
 
6
167.020; therefore, an attempt must be made to harmonize the two provisions.  S. 
Metro. Fire Prot. Dist., 278 S.W.3d at 666. 
The two statutes can be harmonized by simply reading the last sentence in 
section 167.131.2 in its entirety and giving effect to every word.  The final 
sentence of 167.131.2 states: “Subject to the limitations of this section, each pupil 
shall be free to attend the public school of his or her choice.”  As noted above, this 
is the same provision the majority interprets as mandating an accredited district to 
accept any pupil from an unaccredited district who applies to the accredited 
district.  The majority’s interpretation of subsection 2 of section 167.131, 
however, focuses only on the language “each pupil shall be free to attend the 
public school of his or her choice” and gives no effect to the legislature’s 
limitation of the pupil’s choice by its inclusion of the phrase “[s]ubject to the 
limitations of this section.”  “‘It is presumed that the legislature intended that 
every word, clause, sentence, and provision of a statute have effect.’” State ex rel. 
Unnerstall v. Berkemeyer, 298 S.W.3d 513, 520 (Mo. banc 2009) (quoting Hyde 
Park Hous. P’ship v. Dir. Of Revenue, 850 S.W.2d 82, 84 (Mo. banc 1993).  
“Conversely, it will be presumed that the legislature did not insert verbiage or 
superfluous language in a statute.”  Id.   
A limitation on a pupil’s choice of schools is found in subsection 1 of 
section 167.131, which provides that the board of education of a district that does 
not maintain an accredited school shall pay the tuition of and provide 
transportation for “each pupil resident therein who attends an accredited school in 
 
7
another district of the same or an adjoining county.” (emphasis added).  Section 
167.131, read in its entirety, provides that while each pupil is free to choose the 
school the pupil desires to attend, that choice is limited by the requirement that the 
pupil be admitted to and attend the school of the pupil’s choice.  Therefore, it is 
necessary to look to other provisions governing the admission of nonresident 
pupils, which would include section 167.020.   
As discussed above, section 167.020 grants receiving schools discretion in 
granting enrollment waivers to nonresident pupils seeking admission pursuant to 
section 167.131.  Therefore, reading section 167.131 in pari materia with section 
167.020 reveals the legislature’s intention that, while a pupil “shall be free to 
attend the public school of his or her choice,” that choice is subject to the 
limitation that the pupil be admitted properly to the receiving school, which 
includes obtaining a discretionary waiver from the receiving school district 
pursuant to section 167.020. 
To the extent that the majority opinion relies on the legislature’s removal of 
the language in section 167.131.2 – “but no school shall be required to admit any 
pupil” – to support its conclusion that a chosen school lacks discretion to deny 
admission to pupils from unaccredited districts, that fact does not change the 
interpretation above.  Although the legislature may have intended to limit a school 
district’s discretion to admit students applying under section 167.131 in 1993 
when it deleted the aforementioned language its subsequent enactment in 1996 of 
section 167.020.3 as part of the Safe Schools Act changed that result.  Section 
 
8
167.020 makes clear the legislature intended for school districts to have discretion 
in granting waivers to allow non-resident students to register and attend school. 
In reaching its conclusion that section 167.131 requires the Clayton school 
district to accept students from the transitional school district, the majority opinion 
relies on the rule of construction that a more specific statute governs over a more 
general statute to the extent of any inconsistency between the two.  However, that 
rule of construction traditionally applies only in situations in which the two 
statutory provisions being construed cannot be harmonized.  See Metro. Fire Prot. 
Dist., 278 S.W.3d at 666 (rule applies “[i]f harmonization is impossible”); see also 
Greenbriar Hills Country Club v. Dir. of Revenue, 47 S.W.3d 346, 352 (Mo. banc 
2001) (“rule applies only in situations where there is a ‘necessary repugnancy’ 
between the statutes.” (quoting State ex rel. City of Springfield v. Smith, 125 
S.W.2d 883, 885 (Mo. banc 1939)); State ex rel. Dir. of Revenue v. Gaertner, 32 
S.W.3d 564, 566 (Mo. banc 2000) (before applying the rule, the two statutes 
“should be harmonized if possible”).  Because sections 167.020 and 167.131 can 
be harmonized, as noted above, the majority opinion’s use of that rule is 
misplaced. 
This interpretation is also consistent with Department of Elementary and 
Secondary Education’s (DESE), interpretation that school districts have discretion 
whether to admit pupils residing in unaccredited schools under section 167.131.  
Shortly before the St. Louis school district officially lost its accredited status, 
DESE released a public statement regarding the effect of a school district’s loss of 
 
9
accreditation.  In the public statement, DESE stated that “Accredited districts . . . 
may accept or reject transfer pupils from an unaccredited district.”  Additionally, 
DESE drafted an earlier memorandum regarding the responsibilities of an 
unaccredited school under section 167.131.  The memorandum stated: 
Historically, the department’s position has been that students may be 
accepted by an accredited school district on a “space available” basis.  An 
accredited school cannot be compelled to accept students from an 
unaccredited district since local boards of education have discretion to 
admit or to not admit tuition-paying students. 
 
DESE’s construction of section 167.131 is entitled to “great weight” because it is 
the agency charged with administering the educational laws of this state that 
pertain to elementary and secondary education.  See Linton v. Mo. Veterinary Med. 
Bd., 988 S.W.2d 513, 517 (Mo. banc 1999). 
Finally, this opinion’s interpretation avoids the absurd consequences that 
would result if the majority’s interpretation of section 167.131 prevails.  To 
interpret section 167.131 as placing a mandatory obligation on the Clayton school 
district to accept all pupils from the City of St. Louis who apply for admission 
would mean there is no limit to the potential influx of pupils that Clayton or any 
other school district in St. Louis County could face.  Under the majority’s 
interpretation of the relevant statutory provisions, school districts in St. Louis 
County would be required to accept pupils from the transitional school district 
even if the number of pupils seeking admittance exceeded their capacity or if St. 
 
10
Louis County school districts have difficulty collecting tuition payments from the 
transitional school district.4
To illustrate the point, taking judicial notice of the 2000 census as 
authorized by section 490.700, RSMo 2000, the City of St. Louis had a population 
of 89,657 people who were under the age of 18 years, with 23,477 of those people 
being under the age of 5.5  Accordingly, in 2000, the City of St. Louis had 
approximately 66,180 school-aged pupils who were entitled to attend the city’s 
school district.  In contrast, Clayton had a population of 2,584 people who were 
under the age of 18, with 490 of those people being under the age of 5.6  
Therefore, in 2000, Clayton had approximately 2,0947 school-aged people entitled 
to attend the Clayton school district.8  Under the majority opinion’s interpretation 
                                             
 
4 One of the reasons given by the Clayton school board for its decision not to 
admit the parents’ children was that it previously had admitted pupils from the 
Wellston school district when that district became unaccredited and the Clayton 
district had difficulty collecting tuition payments. 
5 U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html (enter 
“St. Louis” in Fast Access to Information search engine; then click “GO”; then 
select “St. Louis city, Missouri” hyperlink; then click “2000” tab) (last visited July 
6, 2010). 
6  U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html (enter 
“Clayton” in Fast Access to Information search bar; then select “Missouri” from 
drop-down menu; then click “GO.”) (last visited July 6, 2010). 
7 The validity of using the 2000 census figure is supported by a comparison of 
such figure with the Clayton school district’s average daily attendance figures 
during the 2001-2002 school year.  The average daily attendance for Clayton 
during 2001-2002 was approximately 2,314, while the census figure shows 
approximately 2,094 school-aged pupils residing in the Clayton school district in 
2000. 
8 Admittedly the census figures have changed since the 2000 census; however, any 
changes in the population density of the two cities will not impact the enormous 
 
11
of section 167.131, even if only 3 percent of the approximately 66,000 school-
aged pupils living in the City of St. Louis applied for enrollment in the Clayton 
school district, the district would be required to accept all of those students, 
despite the fact that it would cause nearly a 100-percent increase in its enrollment.  
Such an increase would require the Clayton school district, virtually overnight, to 
acquire new classroom buildings and hire numerous additional faculty members to 
meet the increased demands on the district.  Such a result is absurd.  This Court 
“presumes the legislature did not intend to enact an absurd law and favors a 
construction that avoids unjust or unreasonable results.”  Care and Treatment of 
Schottel v. State, 159 S.W.3d 836, 842 (Mo. banc 2005).9
Conclusion 
In summary, the language in section 167.131 providing that each pupil who 
resides in an unaccredited school district is free to attend the public school of his 
or her choice is subject to the limitations of that section.  Subsection 1 of 167.131 
includes a limitation in that it requires the unaccredited school district to pay 
tuition only for “each pupil resident who attends an accredited school in another 
                                                                                                                                      
 
disparity between the two school districts and the potential for an unmanageable 
number of pupils seeking admission to Clayton schools. 
9 The majority opinion criticizes the fact that this opinion takes judicial notice of 
the 2000 census data.  Judicial notice of the census data is taken only to illustrate 
the grievous consequences that may result if the majority’s interpretation were 
followed.  Those facts are not essential to the ultimate conclusion reached in this 
opinion.  Additionally, this Court, on multiple occasions, has taken judicial notice 
of facts on appeal when the facts were not part of the record on appeal.  See Union 
Elec. Co. v. City of Crestwood, 499 S.W.2d 480, 483 n.3 (Mo. 1973); see also 
Lazare v. Hoffman, 444 S.W.2d 446, 449 (Mo. 1969). 
 
12
district of the same or an adjoining county.”  Section 167.020 governs the 
admittance of nonresident pupils by a school district and gives the district’s school 
board discretion whether to grant an enrollment waiver to any nonresident pupil 
who is not subject to one of the exemptions in subsection 6.  Reading section 
167.131 in its entirety and in harmony with section 167.020, a pupil who resides in 
an unaccredited school district can attend an accredited school in another district 
of an adjoining county and have the pupil’s tuition paid, as required by 167.131.1, 
only if the pupil has been admitted by the accredited school district and, unless the 
pupil qualifies for one of the exemptions in 167.020.6, the accredited school 
district has discretion whether to admit the nonresident pupil.  Because the 
plaintiffs’ children did not qualify for one of the exemptions in section 167.020.6 
and section 167.020.3 gives the Clayton school district board the discretion to 
decide not to admit the children, I respectfully disagree with the majority’s 
holding that Clayton is obligated to admit the plaintiffs’ children.10  Accordingly, I 
would affirm the trial court’s judgment in favor of the Clayton school district.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
_________________________________ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   PATRICIA BRECKENRIDGE, JUDGE 
                                             
 
10 Of course, as the majority opinion notes, this is a reversal of summary judgment 
in favor of the Clayton and transitional school districts and not a final resolution of 
the case.  On remand, the parties are free to seek leave to amend their pleadings, to 
offer additional proof on relevant issues, including impossibility to comply with 
section 167.131, or to take such additional action as may be appropriate.   
 
 
13