In July 2011, Sen. Jane Cunningham presented Senate Bill 54 to the Missouri General Assembly.  On Jul. 14, the bill was signed into law by Gov. Jay Nixon, creating the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act.
The act, that was to take effect on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011, would make many changes to schools across the state.
The law requires that allegations of sexual misconduct must be forwarded by the school district to the Children’s Division of Missouri and handled by the division.  It requires background checks on all teachers and bus drivers before being hired.  Also, school districts must disclose allegations against former employees to other school districts. It would also prohibit student-teacher contact on the Web or on mobile devices, except for when the interaction is moderated by school administrators or has public availablilty.
“SB54 prohibits teachers from private (one-to-one) communications with any student without an administrator’s and/or parent’s knowledge,” District director of technology Dr. Gloria Stephenson said.
Although the law has many useful sections, many students and teachers are having a hard time accepting the interaction portion of the law.
“It wasn’t thought through thoroughly enough,” junior Sarah Black said.  “I think that if you’re a pedophile, you’re going to find ways to get around the law anyways.”
Black also commented that this portion of the law divides students and teachers.
On Friday, Aug. 26, Cole County circuit judge Jon Beetem issued an injunction on the portion of the law that bans online and mobile student-teacher interaction, blocking the law until Feb. 20, 2012.
Because the student-teacher interaction portion of the law has come into question as to whether or not it’s constitutional, districts are still adhering to the majority of the law.  Until its constitutionality is ruled upon in court, the Attorney General’s Office is barred from enforcing the part that Beetem placed an injunction on.                  
“We need to act like the law is still in place because officials could keep it the same,” Assistant principal Randy Maglinger said.
On Sept. 6, Gov. Nixon called a special session of the Assembly to review a list of things in the law that might be repealed.  The things up for review are the mandatory student-teacher communication policies, and the student-teacher interaction part that was the subject of the lawsuit.  
According to a St. Louis Today.com article, the law has been modified by the Missouri State Senate to let local school districts regulate teacher/student online social network and texting communication. The revisions next go to the Missouri State House for approval.