We have had a great start to school and we are so proud of what you do for our students.  There have been news stories done on this issue, but we needed to line out a few items before we communicated a message out.  We didn’t make the law, but we are all now personally responsible for adhering to the law.

Again, thank you for a great start to an awesome school year.

If you use photography, film, video, books, magazines, or other print materials with photos or pictures in your classroom or your lessons---Read this!

A new state law took effect on August 28, 2022.  The new law (Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 573.550) makes providing explicit sexual material to a student a criminal offense.  The law defines sexual material as a visual depiction of a sexual act or genitalia.  There are exceptions for works of art that have serious artistic significance, or works of anthropological significance, or materials used in science courses like biology or anatomy.  

You are responsible for any materials in your classroom or possession that could violate this new law.  Violation of this law is now a Class A misdemeanor.

If you think you have any material that could violate the new law, please see your principal or supervisor.

As a reminder, before you bring any material into your classroom, classroom library, school/building library, it should be approved by your school administrator or supervisor.  Just because it is in your classroom does not mean it does not need to be cleared by the district.

Any materials in question need to be reviewed as soon as possible since the new law went into effect on Sunday.