Montana’s public school funding accepted
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News from the Office of Public Instruction
HELENA — Montana state’s public school funding formula, distributed to approximately 400 public school districts, was accepted after months of negotiations with the US Department of Education (USED). The American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) of 2021, enacted on March 11, 2021, contained a new federal mandate as a requirement for receiving Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER III) COVID-19 funds. This new federal calculation depends on an annual student enrollment that conflicted with Montana’s complex school funding formula, which strives for the equitable distribution of state funding to public school districts as required by Article X of the Montana Constitution.
The Montana state funding formula is unique as it is driven by prior year student enrollment and a 3-year average. The formula has specific components that safeguards Montana’s very rural schools and allow for student enrollment changes.
Funding Components:
• Per-ANB Entitlement
• Special Education Allowable
Cost Payment
• Data for Achievement
• Indian Education for All
Quality Educator
• At-Risk Student
• American Indian Achievement
Gap
• Basic Entitlement
“This is a big win for Montana,” said Superintendent Elsie Arntzen. “Montana’s Constitution and our state’s school funding formula protects our state’s rural nature from federal mandates and overreach. Our persistence paid off, and I am grateful that Montana’s uniqueness is recognized and respected.”
Through negotiations, a new FAQ was released that allowed for a reasonable level of tolerance for very small school districts. This permitted Montana the ability to have small schools funded fairly, based on a variation of tolerance, over the federal formula. The Office of Public Instruction (OPI) drafted and worked with the USED to create a two-tiered variance from the federal formula for small schools, which was subsequently accepted by the USED on Feb. 1, 2022.
