HB 2115 Missouri House · 2026 Regular Session

Requires school districts to provide instruction in cursive writing

HB 2115 requires all elementary schools in the district to teach cursive writing, ensuring students can produce legible cursive documents by the end of fifth grade. It mandates that each student pass a teacher-created test demonstrating proficiency in both reading and writing cursive. The bill directly affects elementary students and schools, setting a specific academic benchmark for cursive skills. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education may create rules to implement these requirements, subject to standard regulatory processes.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Dec 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Dec 2, 2025 Last action Apr 29, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → House Committee Substitute · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to combine it with HB 1876, changing its official number. The core requirement for cursive writing instruction was modified to give schools flexibility in how they teach it, while the mandatory testing requirement was delayed until the 2028-29 school year. Additionally, the responsibility for approving the curriculum and standards for these tests was shifted from the state department to local school boards.

Scope change

The bill now applies to both House Bill 2115 and House Bill 1876, and the testing requirement is now limited to students in grade five.

REQUIREMENT

The mandate for cursive instruction was changed from a strict requirement to create legible documents by fifth grade to a flexible requirement that includes cursive writing, allowing schools to determine the specific manner of instruction.

TIMELINE

The requirement for students to pass a cursive competency test was delayed from an immediate deadline to beginning in the 2028-29 school year.

ENFORCEMENT

Local school boards or charter school governing boards are now responsible for approving and adopting the curriculum and competency standards used for the cursive tests, rather than the state department.

SCOPE

The bill title and header were updated to reflect that it is a combined substitute for HB 2115 and HB 1876.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 23, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported Do Pass (H) - AYES: 8 NOES: 2 PRESENT: 1

lower

Feb 23, 2026

Lower · Passed

Voted Do Pass (H)

lower

Feb 12, 2026

Committee

Referred: Rules - Administrative(H)

lower

Feb 4, 2026

Lower · Passed

HCS Reported Do Pass (H) - AYES: 13 NOES: 4 PRESENT: 3

lower

Feb 4, 2026

Lower · Passed

HCS Voted Do Pass (H)

lower

Jan 8, 2026

Committee

Referred: Elementary and Secondary Education(H)

lower

Dec 2, 2025

Introduced

Prefiled (H)

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor