SCS/SB 1370 - This act modifies the "Workforce Diploma Program" and establishes provisions regarding adult eligibility for virtual school courses and programs. Under this act, an adult student may enroll in any state-approved virtual course or full-time virtual program offered by a school district or a public institution of higher education. Adult students are also eligible to enroll in the Missouri Course Access and Virtual School Program. An "adult student" is defined as a Missouri resident over 21 years of age who has not yet earned a high school diploma but is within 12 academic credits or 2 school years of achieving such a diploma. An adult virtual program shall be entitled to a monthly allocation of state aid for adult students in an amount equal to 14% of the state adequacy target per completed course. However, an adult virtual program shall not be entitled to a school district's ordinary school revenue, including local effort revenue, and any state aid allocated to an adult virtual program shall not count toward the constitutional minimum amount of state aid required for the establishment of free public schools in this state. The total amount of funding provided for an adult student enrolled in a virtual program shall not exceed the state adequacy target. No school district with an adult student enrolled in an adult virtual program shall be required to report such adult student's information for purposes of annual performance reports or as required for full-time, school-age virtual students under current law. (Section 161.672) The act modifies the "Workforce Diploma Program" by repealing current requirements relating to funding, the qualification process for program providers, and program performance standards, as well as repealing the "Workforce Diploma Program Fund" and the sunset on such program. Rather than being subject to these repealed provisions, a program provider through the Workforce Diploma Program shall be authorized under the act's provisions regarding adult eligibility for virtual school courses and programs. (Section 173.831) This act is substantially similar to HCS/HB 3239 (2026), and is similar to SA#4 to SS/HCS/HBs 2097 & 1905 (2026), HCS/HB 1516 (2025), and to provisions in SCS/SB 1207 (2026), HCS/SS/SB 1196 (2026), and in SS/SCS/HB 2896 (2026). OLIVIA SHANNON

Missouri bill expands virtual school enrollment to adults, raising questions about funding, eligibility criteria, and impacts on existing student services.