HB 320 establishes Montana's Academic Prosperity Program for Scholars (MAPPS) to offer educational options for eligible students aged 5-19. The program provides state income tax credits to individuals and corporations who donate to educational assistance accounts for participating students, and also to parents for their qualified education expenses. A program manager oversees these funds and their distribution for educational assistance, with guidance from a new MAPPS council. Students participating in MAPPS are exempt from public school compulsory enrollment requirements.
HB 837 establishes a statewide Retired Teacher Induction and Mentoring Program to support new teachers by pairing them with retired teachers from the same school district. School districts can optionally participate, matching a new teacher with a former teacher for up to three months of guidance. Participating districts compensate retired teachers hourly for up to 36 hours, and the Office of Public Instruction then reimburses these costs. The program, funded by an annual $100,000 state appropriation, aims to provide new teachers with support such as classroom feedback, administrative assistance, and help with district policies.
HB 51 proposes to increase the supplemental employer contribution rate paid by employers within the Montana University System (MUS) to the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS). Currently, MUS employers contribute 4.72% of the total compensation for employees participating in the MUS Retirement Program. This bill would raise that contribution rate to 14.21%. The increased contributions are intended to help amortize the past service liability of the Teachers' Retirement System for university system members by July 1, 2033, with the changes taking effect on July 1, 2025.
HB 385 proposed establishing the School Mental Health Promotion Pilot Program, administered by the Office of Public Instruction. This program would have provided grants to Montana school districts to implement innovative, student-led, and locally determined initiatives aimed at improving student mental health. Districts applying for grants would have needed to demonstrate specific needs, broad community support in their application development, and plans for mental health promotion activities and program evaluation. The bill proposed annual grants ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 for a two-year period, with $250,000 appropriated annually from the general fund. The program was set to terminate on June 30, 2029.
HB 405 proposed to increase the maximum reimbursement rates that school districts receive from state and county sources for student transportation. The bill specifically raised the per-mile rates for school buses of different passenger capacities, as well as for non-bus mileage. The intent was to lower school district property taxes designated for transportation expenses. These changes would have applied to school district transportation budgets starting July 1, 2025.
HB 508 aimed to establish media literacy as a legislative goal for Montana's public elementary and secondary schools. The bill proposed amending state law to include strengthening media literacy within the state's educational objectives. This would involve teaching students to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act using various forms of communication. Additionally, it sought to help students reduce their susceptibility to disinformation, misinformation, propaganda, and indoctrination. The overall goal was to integrate these media literacy skills into the learning environment for all public school students.
HB 265 proposed changes to how Montana school districts manage their general fund budgets, primarily affecting school boards and local taxpayers. The bill would have allowed school boards to increase a previously voter-approved local property tax levy (an "over-BASE levy") by the same inflationary adjustment provided by the legislature for state school funding. This adjustment would not require a new vote from district electors, provided the increase was solely due to the legislative inflation adjustment and stayed within overall budget limits. The bill aimed to improve the alignment of school funding with the defined "basic system" and ensure annual inflationary adjustments are included in the funding formula.
HB 922 proposes to establish a new education tax credit for resident taxpayers who are parents or legal guardians of children attending nonpublic schools. This bill would allow a $250 credit per eligible student each year, applied against the taxpayer's income tax liability. Any unused credit could be carried forward for up to three years. The legislation also revises the review schedule for existing tax credits and aims to provide parity in aggregate limits for educational programs in public and nonpublic school settings.
HB 654 aims to support and expand early literacy targeted intervention programs within school districts. The bill clarifies how school districts can count students participating in these programs, including those offered in partnership with community organizations, for Average Number Belonging (ANB) calculations, which affects state funding. It also proposes creating a temporary grant program to help districts establish or expand classroom-based early literacy intervention initiatives.
HB 373 aimed to revise the allocation of excess state lottery revenue, dedicating it to education funding instead of the state general fund. The Office of Public Instruction would distribute these funds quarterly to school districts based on a per-quality-educator formula. Districts would deposit these funds into their school flexibility funds, which could be used for various expenditures, including teacher salaries, benefits, housing, technology enhancements, and facility improvements.
