State School Funding Payments
The December State School Funding Payments for FY 2022 were posted at the following link: State School Payments
The December 17, 2021, payments include: Guaranteed Tax Base Aid for General Fund, State Lands Block Grant, and County Retirement.
The FY 2022 January payment is scheduled for January 26, 2021.
If you have questions regarding the payments, please contact Mari Haefka at (406) 444-9852.
Pupil Transportation
2nd Semester bus inspections must be completed by the Highway Patrol and entered electronically in the Pupil Transportation System by January 31st.
Only school buses that pass inspection may be used to transport students and only school buses that pass inspection will receive state and county transportation reimbursement.
A school bus that fails to pass inspection will not be eligible for state and county reimbursement until the bus is re-inspected and approved by the inspecting officer. The school district is responsible for contacting the Montana Highway Patrol in a reasonable period of time, so inspections are performed before the due date.
If you have questions regarding bus inspections, please contact Donell Rosenthal at (406) 422-0320.
Education Donations Portal
The Education Donations Tax Credit was revised through HB279 and is managed by the Department of Revenue (DOR). Information regarding the changes can be found at this webpage. See the publication Tax Credits for Qualified Education Contribution Guide at the bottom of the webpage for instruction or this video recording provides further instructions.
The portal opened on December 15th for registration by districts. DOR recommends registering as soon as possible but definitely before December 30th.
The DOR contact for this program is Dona Losett 444-1991 dona.losett@mt.gov.
Spring Count for Student ANB
The official fall count day is Monday, February 7, 2022. You may import data once Aggregate Hours are entered in AIM (Infinite Campus), however you will not be able to submit to OPI prior to February 8. You may import as many times as necessary before submitting your final data. Student Count for ANB reports must be submitted to the MAEFAIRS system no later than February 11, 2022.
To access MAEFAIRS, CLICK HERE
Questions: For ANB questions or to correct submitted data, please contact: Nicole Thuotte, Financial 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 Programs 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 contact 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.
School Elections
Candidate filing for the May school trustee elections opened on December 9 and continues through March 24. The deadline for election resolutions is February 22 and must be sent to the county election administrator within 3 days of passage. Please contact your county for more information on the new requirements in SB 15 (2021) regarding disabled electors and the use of an electronic voter interface device in your election.
Candidates in first-class districts in counties with populations of 15,000 or more are required to file with the Commissioner of Political Practices. The following message from Jeff Mangan, Commissioner, was sent to districts required to report campaign finance activities:
As filing has opened for Montana's May 3, 2022 school elections, COPP Compliance Staff is reaching out with a reminder that certain candidates are required by law to register as a candidate with the COPP. Under 13-37-201 and 13-37-206, Mont. Code Ann., candidates for election to a school office in first class districts in counties with a population of 15,000 or more are required to register as a candidate with the COPP. This would be done by filing form C-1A, the Statement of Candidate. Actions that trigger the 5-day registration requirement include soliciting or receiving a campaign contribution, making a campaign expenditure, or filing as a candidate with the election administrator. Form C-1A must be filed electronically, using the Campaign Electronic Reporting System (CERS).
Additional information about filing form C-1A is available on the COPP's website here. Please feel free to contact COPP Compliance Specialists directly with questions or for additional information about accessing or utilizing the CERS system. We can be reached via telephone at (406) 444-2942 or via email at cpphelp@mt.gov or cppcompliance@mt.gov. Our website can be found at https://politicalpractices.mt.gov/ . The COPP routinely provides candidates updates and reminders as to required filings and responsibilities as a candidate.
Education resources and reporting calendars are available on the COPP website. A gentle reminder, all candidates not required to report must still follow all other campaign finance and practices laws (attribution, contribution limits, etc.).
The OPI, in coordination with MASBO, will again be conducting bi-weekly check-in meetings during the election season, starting with a demonstration of the electronic voter interface devices by Election Systems & Software (ES&S) on January 28:
- January 28 – ES&S Demonstration
- February 11 - Preparing for an Election
- February 25 – Mail Ballot Plans
- March 11 – General Q & A
- March 25 – Ballot Certification; Late Registration
- April 8 – Election Notices; Early Voting
- April 22 – Preparing for Election Day
- May 6 – Election Wrap Up
The Zoom link will be available on the MASBO website closer to the January 28 webinar date.
Questions: For Elections questions please contact: Nicole Thuotte, Financial Specialist, 406-444-4524.
Impact Aid
The US Department of Education has opened the Impact Aid Grant System (IAGS) for FY 2023 applications:
The Impact Aid section 7002 and section 7003 applications for Fiscal Year 2023 are now available online in the Impact Aid Grant System (IAGS). The application submission deadline for the Section 7002 and Section 7003 applications is 1/31/2022 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. We urge you to begin working on your application well before the deadline. Do not wait until the last minute. Log in to the Impact Aid Grant System [impactaid.ed.gov] to start your application. You will find the link to start your application on the Home page. We have a number of helpful tools available on our IAGS Training [iimpactaid.ed.gov] and Resources [iimpactaid.ed.gov] pages to help you submit your application. In particular, please review the Section 7002 Application Instructions [iimpactaid.ed.gov] and Section 7003 Application Instructions [iimpactaid.ed.gov]. If you need a refresher on IAGS account set up and how to complete an application, see our new slide deck, A Guide to Submitting a 7003 Application in the IAGS [iimpactaid.ed.gov]. Applications submitted after the deadline, but before 4/1/2022 incur a 10 percent payment reduction penalty. Don't let this happen to you!
Data sheets to assist with the completion of the application may be found here: Impact Aid
Questions: For Impact Aid questions please contact: Nicole Thuotte, Financial Specialist, 406-444-4524.
District Tuition Payments per 20-5-321 (1) (d) and (e) and (HB206) – REMINDER
Resident districts for children under the provisions of 20-5-321(1)(d) or (1)(e), MCA and HB 206 shall pay, by December 31st, at least one-half of any tuition and transportation obligations. The remaining obligation must be paid by June 15th. These payments are claims for student attendance in the 2020-21 school year.
For more information, see the guidance on the OPI website Tuition Guidance for Out-of-District Placement. This is in accordance with 20-5-324(3), MCA.
If you have questions regarding Tuition please contact: Nicole Thuotte, Financial Specialist, 406-444-4524.
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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