Retirements
Two staff members from School Finance are retiring in December. Nica Merala has been with School Finance for more than 20 years and retires on December 1st. Renee Richter has been with School Finance for 2 years and retires on December 3rd. We would like to thank Nica and Renee for their service to the OPI and Montana school districts. We would like to recognize their dedication over the years and the assistance they have provided to schools. We will miss their insight into the many processes that schools navigate year after year. We wish the best of luck to both in retirement.
State School Funding Payments
The November State School Funding Payments for FY 2022 were posted at the following link: State School Payments
The November 19, 2021, payments include: Direct State Aid, Quality Educator Component, At Risk Component, Indian Education for All, Student Achievement Gap, Data for Achievement, Special Education, State Coal Mitigation Block Grant, Education Improvement Payment, Indian Language Immersion Payment and State Tuition.
The FY 2022 December payment is scheduled for December 17, 2021.
If you have questions regarding the payments, please contact Mari Haefka at (406) 444-9852.
Bus Driver Certification Requirements for Reimbursement
School bus drivers must hold a valid Montana school bus driver certificate (TR35) for a district to receive state and county transportation reimbursement.
The school district must electronically input and maintain all necessary documentation into the pupil transportation system, which generates the completed certificate. A school bus driver certificate remains valid until the earliest expiration date of the commercial vehicle operator's endorsement, the first aid and CPR certificate, and physical examination.
A new certificate must be issued to the driver when any of the above items expires and is renewed. A driver may not operate a school bus without a valid, current certificate. The chair of the board of trustees signs the certificate which is issued to a driver who is authorized and qualified to drive a school bus pursuant to all applicable rules, regulations, and laws. ARM 10.7.111 and MCA 20-10-103
NOTE: The bus driver is also given a hard copy of the certificate, which must always be carried while driving a school bus.
The district must retain a copy of each bus driver's certificate, provide a copy to the bus service contractor, if applicable, and files a copy with the county superintendent.
If you have questions regarding Pupil Transportation, please contact Donell Rosenthal at (406) 422-0320.
Compensation Expenditure Reporting
MAEFAIRS is available to report information for the FY2021 Compensation Expenditure Report. The Compensation Expenditure report is due to the Office of Public Instruction (OPI) by December 10, 2021.
There is a new Compensation Expenditure Reporting webinar posted on the OPI website at the following link: FY2021 Compensation Expenditure Reporting Webinar.
The FY 2021 Compensation Expenditure Reporting Instruction have been updated and are available on the OPI website at FY 2021 Compensation Expenditure Reporting Instructions.
If you have questions regarding Compensation Expenditure Reporting, please contact Nicole Thuotte, School Finance Specialist, 406-444-4524.
FY2021 Trustee Financial Summary (TFS) changes – due December 10th
The FY2021 TFS may be revised to correct a material coding error.
Submit a revision to Debbie Casey, Computer Support Specialist.
See A.R.M. 10.10.504(6) for more information about the type of revisions that are allowed.
ESSA Per Pupil Expenditure Reporting
ESSA Per Pupil Expenditure Reporting must be completed by December 10, 2021. Please review the per-pupil calculation for your district(s). The calculation may be reviewed in MAEFAIRS, under Data Entry, ESSA PPE Calculation (please scroll to page 2 for the final per-pupil amount).
An updated ESSA Per Pupil Expenditure Reporting document has been posted to the OPI School Finance Webpage under ESSA Per Pupil Expenditure Reporting: Guidance
If you have questions regarding ESSA Per Pupil Expenditure Reporting please contact Nicole Thuotte, School Finance Specialist, 406-444-4524.
ESSA Reporting
General Information
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires school-based expenditure reporting. This guidance is designed to help districts comply with statewide uniformity to fulfill the federal requirement created in 34 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) § 200.35.
All Local Education Agencies (LEAs) will report per-pupil expenditure data either at the school level or LEA level, including allocations of district wide expenditures to schools, disaggregated by source of funds (state, local and federal). School level expenditure reporting will be submitted to the OPI, which in turn will post to the Montana Report Card, to meet ESSA reporting requirements. This will be accomplished through the Trustees’ Financial Summary (TFS), which will be adding a corrective validation that will prevent submission of the TFS without the required school code (SC) expenditure reporting.
Districts Required to Report by School Code
The federal law requires each school, not each LEA, to report expenditures by SC, regardless of enrollment, number of school buildings, or location.
LE’s that only have one SC do not have to enter the SC when reporting expenditures, as the school code will automatically be assigned, except when acting as the Prime Agency in the Food Service fund (12), Miscellaneous fund (15) or the Interlocal Agreement fund (82).
Please contact with your software vendor for guidance on how to get school codes set up within your software. The OPI is encouraging all schools to work with their software vendors to enter school codes into their accounting software. The following software vendors have provided their contact information:
Black Mountain Software
Please use a contact of support@blackmountainsoftware.com or call the support line at 1-800-353-8829.
C and C Accounting
Please contact David Bardwell at 877-318-0837 or help@candcschoolaccounting.com.
Tyler Technologies/ Infinite Visions
Enter a ticket online through the support portal at https://www.tylertech.com/client-support/Infinite-Visions-support# [tylertech.com] and you will be contacted by the support department, or call the support line at 888.654.3293.
The OPI is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation, require an alternate format, or have questions concerning accessibility, contact the OPI ADA Coordinator, 406-444-3161, opiada@mt.gov, Relay Service: 711.
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