Allows the enrollment of nonresident students in public school districts
SB 70 creates a statewide public school open enrollment framework in Missouri, allowing eligible students to apply to attend public schools or charter schools outside their resident district beginning with the 2026-27 school year. The bill establishes the “Public School Open Enrollment Act,” sets application deadlines and procedures, requires districts and charter schools that choose to participate to publish the number of transfer slots available, and creates a waiting-list and appeal process when applications are denied. It also requires participating districts to count transferring students as resident pupils for aid purposes and to accept transferred credits and diplomas if graduation requirements are met.
The bill includes several eligibility and priority rules. It generally bars districts from considering academic achievement, athletic ability, disability, English proficiency, or prior discipline in transfer decisions, while allowing limited denials based on capacity, classroom space, desegregation orders, diversity plans, or serious discipline history. It also creates transportation reimbursement for some low-income transfer students, special education reimbursement for participating districts, and a $60 million Parent Public School Choice Fund to support the program. The bill also makes related changes to charter school enrollment rules, residency verification, homeless and military-family registration provisions, and tuition/open-enrollment references in existing law.
SB 70 would substantially revise Missouri school enrollment law by adding thirteen new statutory sections and amending existing sections governing charter school admissions, residency verification, tuition, transportation aid, and student transfer rights. It would create a new statewide open enrollment option for kindergarten through grade 12 students, shift certain funding and aid calculations to the receiving district, and establish new state-level administrative duties for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, including model policies, data collection, audits, and reporting. It would also create new penalties and enforcement tools, including appeal procedures, reimbursement rules, and potential withholding of state aid for improper administration.
The bill’s overall policy direction is pro-school-choice and expansionary, favoring broader access to public schools outside a student’s home district. Even without recorded committee testimony or votes in the provided materials, the structure of the bill suggests support for parental choice, transfer flexibility, and statewide participation options. At the same time, the bill is designed with multiple safeguards and exceptions, indicating an effort to balance choice with district capacity, desegregation obligations, and student discipline concerns.
The main points of contention are likely to be the effect of open enrollment on local district control, enrollment capacity, funding, and segregation. Districts may object to being required to process transfers, publish available seats, and potentially lose students and associated funding, while supporters are likely to emphasize parental choice and access to better educational options. Additional controversy may arise over the bill’s interaction with desegregation orders and diversity plans, the transportation and special-education reimbursement obligations, the athletics eligibility restrictions, and whether the $60 million fund is sufficient to cover program costs.