Start an Adult Agriculture Program
in Your School and Community

The catalysts behind any good adult agriculture program are the agriculture instructors in the local school and the farmers and other agricultural professionals in the community who are interested in initiating opportunities to improve the viability and profitability of their own farming enterprises and agricultural businesses. They also see the overall benefit of adult education in terms of what it can do to increase agriculture's contribution and influence in the local economy. When the agriculture instructor and a group of interested patrons decide to start a program, the steps are simple. Adult programs are funded either as "hourly" programs or "full-time" programs.

Start a Short-Term or 'Hourly' Adult Program

Step 1: Identify Classes and Activities

Get a group of three to eight interested persons together to identify what types of classes and adult activities will fit the community’s needs and will attract sufficient enrollment. Use the topics list as a resource to get some ideas on the table. In addition, don’t hesitate to use neighboring agriculture instructors, the district agricultural education supervisor and the state Farm Business Management Analysis (FBMA) coordinator as resources.

Step 2: Prepare a Budget

Make a list of the class sessions and activities your group selected, and prepare a simple budget of how much it will cost to operate the program and from where the funds will come. Present the written plan and budget to the school administration for approval. (Use our sample form for your written plan and budget.) It is key that the local school determines how much the instructor will be paid for coordinating the adult class. The school might decide to pay $20 per hour of adult instruction, but the maximum state reimbursement is $10 per hour. Classes also must enroll at least 10 students to qualify for reimbursement. Typically, a teacher would request three hours of reimbursement for each adult class session or 25 hours of reimbursement for each FBMA enrollee who completes the analysis program.

Step 3: Report the Adult Program and Request Salary Reimbursement from DESE by April 1 on MOSIS

The agriculture instructor can plan and complete adult classes at any time during the school year. After the completion of the class(es), the agriculture instructor should provide the necessary information to report the classes and request salary reimbursement to the school's data clerk. The following pdf files provide instructions and examples of how the MOSIS form should be completed for different types of adult classes http://dese.mo.gov/MOSIS/ . The MOSIS form must be completed and submitted to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) by April 1 and cannot be submitted past that date. Salary reimbursement for the adult class(es) will be made by DESE to your school district, which will - in turn - pay the instructor for the class.        Instructions-Example

Start a 'Full-Time' Adult Program

Starting a full-time adult program (hiring a full-time adult teacher) in a local school district involves basically the same steps as an hourly program. The requirements for funding reimbursement are structured differently, however, because full-time adult programs are required to complete a minimum level of work in each of the three adult components: Farm Business Management Analysis, classroom instruction and leadership development (Young Farmer chapter). The requirements are outlined in the Missouri Agricultural Education Program Planning Handbook.

State funds through DESE currently are not available for full-time-instructor salary reimbursements for the startup of additional full-time adult agricultural education programs in Missouri. Any new full-time programs would have to be funded from other sources secured by the local school district.