School Finance Compass September 2024

Upcoming Due Dates

State School Payments

The August State School payments for FY2025 are posted at the following link: State School Payments. 

The FY2025 September State School Payments are scheduled for distribution on September 25, 2024. The September payments will include Direct State Aid, Quality Educator Component, At Risk Component, Indian Education for All, Student Achievement GAP, Data for Achievement and Special Education. 

If you have questions regarding payments, please contact Cori Opie at (406) 444-3533.

State School Entitlements

The State School Funding Entitlement Reports for FY2025 are posted at the following link: State School Payments>Entitlements

If you have questions, please contact: Cori Opie at (406) 444-3533.

FY2025 Budget Reporting

To access the Budget Instructions, go to:

School Finance> Budgets> Budget Spreadsheet &Guidance> Budget Instructions

A checklist is provided on Page 5 of the instructions.

Once you have successfully completed the TFS, follow the steps below to access the Budget:

1. Click on the data entry Tab
2. Hover your cursor down to the Budget (another menu box will slide open), and Choose Step 1: Taxable Valuation.
3. Highlight your district or click on the Select All Districts button.

Once you complete each step, you may move on to the other Budget steps.

FY2025 Budget reports are to the county superintendent within 3 days after the budget adoption meeting 20-9-131, MCA.

School districts must submit both TFS and Budget Reports electronically to the Office of Public Instruction no later than September 15, 2024.

Other helpful links include:

Budget Timeline

Historical TFS – Reference for past years TFS reports

TRS Employee Reports – Teachers Retirement Net Pension Liability

PERS Employee Reports – Public Employees Retirement Net Pension Liability

ESSER Consolidated Guidance – Accounting Guidance for ESSER TFS Reporting

ESSER Expense and Revenue Comparison – ESSER Revenue and Expenditure Report by year

Preliminary Budget Data Reports – Preliminary Budget Data Sheets (PBDS)

If you have questions, please contact Autumn Belmont at (406) 444-9852, Andrea Mohammadi at (406) 444-1960, Laci Novark at (406) 444-4401, or Barb Quinn at (406) 444-3249.

ESSA PPE Reporting – Due September 15^th with TFS Submission

The Federal 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 requirements. District compliance is essential for Federal compliance. The federal law requires all districts to report expenditures by School Code (SC), regardless of enrollment, number of school buildings, or location.

The OPI has limited authority to make changes in the district’s financial records after the Trustees’ Financial Summary (TFS) report has been approved by the Board of Trustees and County Superintendent of Schools.  All expenditures, including mandatory ESSA entries, are the responsibility of the district. The allowable circumstances in which the OPI can make changes to the TFS are prescribed in ARM 10.10.504.

All Local Education Agencies (LEAs) report per-pupil expenditure data at the school or LEA level, including allocations of district-wide expenditures to the school level. Expenditures are disaggregated by the source of (revenues) funds (state, local, and federal). School-level expenditure reporting is submitted to the OPI in MAEFAIRS, which publishes the information in the Montana Report Card as mandated by ESSA reporting requirements.

LEAs with only one designated SC are the only LEAs that do not have to allocate expenditures. If the LEA is designated as the Prime Agency for expenditures in the School Food Service Fund (12), Miscellaneous Programs Fund (15), and the Interlocal Agreement Fund (82) those expenditures will be reported separately in the TFS. The TFS data entry will allocate the expenditure to the appropriate entity or LEA.

If you have questions, please contact: Andrea Mohammadi at (406) 444-1960 or Laci Novark at (406) 444-4401.

Compensation Expenditure Reporting and Terms Of Employment – Due December

Compensation Expenditure Reporting collects data used to determine each district’s payment information pertaining to salaries paid to district employees each fiscal year. Compensation Expenditure Reporting is a multi-step process of entering and certifying data in Infinite Campus and then submitting the data in MAEFAIRS. The process is to assist schools with their responsibility to be transparent with the use of public funds in accordance with section 20-7-104, MCA.

End of Year Personnel Collection: Infinite Campus Reporting – Due June 30^th

The End of Year Personnel (Compensation Expenditure) Collection replaces the Compensation Expenditure Terms of Employment (TOE) in AIM. All district staff employed from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, must be included in this collection of data and be certified through entry into Infinite Campus. Only employees certified through Infinite Campus will be available for selection in the MAEFAIRS Compensation Expenditure Report submission. Districts are required to enter all staff employed in the 2023-2024 school year into Infinite Campus by June 30, 2024, to finalize the 2024 fiscal year-end process. If you do not have access to Infinite Campus or are having trouble logging in, please contact opiaimhelp@mt.gov. 

Fall Terms of Employment (TOE): Infinite Campus Certification – Due October 31^st

Infinite Campus Certification replaces the Compensation Expenditure TOE formerly in TEAMS.

[Type Membership: Personnel Reporting Data] - Enter personnel information for all staff members/contractors employed during the 2024-2025 school year.   Entering employee’s information into Infinite Campus ensures they are properly certified. Employee Certification is necessary for the completion of the Compensation Expenditure reporting in MAEFAIRS.  All employed individuals must be certified through Infinite Campus.

Compensation Expenditure: MAEFAIRS Reporting Submission – December 10th

Compensation Expenditure reports must be submitted by the December 10th deadline per ARM 10.10.504 for the previous fiscal year’s data. Data can be entered starting when MAEFAIRS opens and may be advantageous to complete at the same time as the Infinite Campus reporting in October.

If you have questions, please contact Andrea Mohammadi at (406) 444-1960 or Alivia Skeslien-Jenkins at (406) 444-1964.

School Data Error Correction Request Form – TFS Changes, ESSA Changes or Other Revisions Submitted To OPI

The Office of Public Instruction (OPI) has a form to be completed when changes are made to financial-related data. The School Data Error Correction Request form can be found on the School Finance website and at the above link.

Please complete the following actions:

• Fill out the form with the necessary information and the appropriate signatures.
• Submit the Request form and the changes to OPI – Requests for changes can be mailed or scanned and emailed. All completed requests must be received by the OPI no later than the December deadline (ARM 10.10.504). Changes can be made for:
  • Material revisions that do not impact fund balance of budget funds.
  • Revisions in balance sheet accounts provided no change occurs in the fund balance of budget funds.
  • ESSA reporting is due with the submission of the TFS. Only minor changes to ESSA Per Pupil expenditures will be allowed.
  • Please refer to the TFS instructions for additional information.
• The OPI will notify the school when the corrections are done. The school is responsible for verifying that changes have been made accurately and must send confirmation to the OPI.

If you have questions, please contact Barbara Quinn at (406) 444-3249.

Guidance for Out-of-District Placement (HB 203) for FY2025

The 2023 Legislature passed HB 203 which revised tuition and the attendance agreements. School Finance has published guidance for Out of District Attendance which is available on the Tuition webpage. Please see “Tuition Handbook”, this document has been updated.

If you have questions, please contact the OPI by emailing to opischoolfinance@mt.gov  or contact:

Andrea Mohammadi at (406) 444-1960 or by email at Andrea.Mohammadi@mt.gov

Tuition Forms – Complete and Entered into MAEFAIRS

Student Attendance Agreements should be completed upon enrollment in a school (20-5-322, MCA). Students who attend out-of-district schools as discretionary students (FP14.1), in foster care (FP14.2), or group home residents (FP14.2) should be entered into MAEFAIRS as soon as they are approved by the attending district. This allows resident districts to review their obligations or verify their status as resident districts – payments due in the ensuing year. Please make sure to enter these agreements in a timely manner and run the reports provided for resident districts in MAEFAIRS. Please see the forms located under Tuition and Attendance.

If you have questions, please contact Andrea Mohammadi at (406) 444-1960.

October 7, 2024 – Fall Student Count Due

The official fall count day is Monday, October 7, 2024. You may import data once Aggregate Hours are entered in Infinite Campus and Certified. Uncertified data will not be allowed to be imported to MAEFAIRS.

To access MAEFAIRS, CLICK HERE.

The MAEFAIRS web application is ready for Fall Student Count for ANB importing from Infinite Campus. The instructions may be found HERE.

If you have questions, please contact Andrea Mohammadi at (406) 444-1960.

Day Treatment (FP15) Reimbursement

Districts with students who attended private, non-sectarian day-treatment programs in the 2024-2025 school year under provisions of an individualized education program (IEP) should not have been included in the district’s ANB calculation. These students should be reported on an FP15 form. The OPI will reimburse the district for the portion of the ANB the resident district would have been eligible for if the student had been enrolled in the district on the count date.

If you have questions, please contact Andrea Mohammadi at (406) 444-1960.

In-State Facility Tuition Claims

Under section 20-9-435 MCA, resident districts will be responsible for a portion of the education costs for students in in-state treatment facilities contracted with the OPI. The currently contracted facilities are Aware, Intermountain, New Day, Shodair, and Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch. The state facility must invoice the resident district for any obligation for tuition by August 15^th.  Resident districts may run a report in MAEFAIRS at any time to see claims that have been submitted.  MAEFAIRS reports should not be viewed as actual bills from the facility, but rather as an opportunity to review submitted claims.  The report may be found in MAEFAIRS under Views>Tuition>State Facilities District of Residence.

If you have questions, please contact: Enly Kovis at (406) 444-1579, or Barbara Quinn at (406) 444-3249.

FY2025 County Reporting Forms

The Office of Public Instruction (OPI) has posted the FY2025 County reporting forms at the following link: County (mt.gov)

• County Treasurer Statement (FP6a)
• FY2025 Countywide School Funds (FP6b)
• Joint District Basic Data (FP8a)
• Joint District Tax Levy Summary (FP8b)

If you have questions, please contact Autumn Belmont at (406) 444-9852.

FP10a - County Transportation/Retirement Fund Mill Levy Calculation – Due September 15^th

The FP10a County Transportation/Retirement Fund Mill Levy Calculation is due to the Office of Public Instruction by September 15, 2024, for FY2025. The FP10a is submitted on the OPI County application through the OPI Secure Portal.

FP10a instructions can be found on OPI’s website, County.

If you have questions, please contact Alivia Skeslien-Jenkins at (406) 444-1964.

FP9 – County Mill setting – Due October 2, 2024

Please have all FP9s that have been sent to the county returned to Andrea Mohammadi at andrea.mohammadi@mt.gov on or before October 2, 2024.

If you have any questions email or call Andrea Mohammadi at 406-444-1960.

FY2025 Special Education Cooperative Reports

The Office of Public Instruction (OPI) has posted the FY2025 Special Education Allowable Cost Funding Cooperative Preliminary reports at the following link: State School Payments (mt.gov)

If you have questions, please contact Autumn Belmont at (406) 444-9852.

TEACH Act – Due December 1

Teach Act Certification: Infinite Campus Certification

Districts must complete an application for the TEACH Act funding to demonstrate:

• 2nd and 3rd class districts: Base pay equal to 10 times the QEC amount for the application year.
• 1st class districts: Base pay requirements above and base pay not less than 70% of average teacher pay.

Districts must identify educators in the first three years of the educator’s teaching career.

Important Reminder for Schools

Principals and Superintendents, please follow up with your teachers to ensure their licensing is up to date. All licensing and verifications must be complete by the December 1st deadline. This will impact your FY20xx+1 payment of QEC.

If you have questions, please contact OPISchoolFinance@mt.gov.

Transportation Budgets FY2025

School districts can use the Transportation Budgeting Spreadsheet to prepare the FY2025 On-Schedule reimbursement portion of the Transportation Budget.

The School Finance encourages school districts to take advantage of this tool created as a courtesy to accurately determine the proper budget and avoid a shortage of funds.

If you have questions or require assistance with this budgeting spreadsheet, please contact Donell Rosenthal at (406) 461-9316.

Passenger Vehicles-Vans

A district may use an 8-15 passenger vehicle/van only for school-sponsored functions or activities.

A district may not use a passenger vehicle for purposes of transporting students to or from school on a regular bus route. 20-10-129, MCA.

Passenger vehicles owned by the district are not eligible to be included in the calculations for the Bus Depreciation Reserve fund under 20-10-147, MCA. In addition, these vehicle types are not an allowable purchase from the Transportation Fund.

A “School Bus” pursuant to 20-10-101(5), MCA, is the only allowable form of transportation that may be used when transporting students to and from school.    Other vehicles that do not meet the definition of a “School Bus” will not be reimbursed by the state or county.

If you have questions, please contact Donell Rosenthal at (406) 461-9316.

Bus Driver Certificate TR35

All school bus drivers (including a Superintendent) must hold a valid Montana School Bus Driver Certificate (TR35) for a district to receive state reimbursement.

Qualifications for bus drivers are prescribed by 20-10-103, MCA, and by the Board of Public Education in ARM 10.64.201. The bus driver certificate forms are provided and must be maintained electronically in the Pupil Transportation System.

The Chair of the Board of Trustees must sign the certificate that is issued to a driver who is authorized and qualified to drive a school bus pursuant to all applicable rules, regulations, and laws. The district must retain a current copy of each bus driver’s certificate, provide a copy of the bus service contract, if applicable, and file a copy with the county superintendent. The bus driver is required to always carry a current and valid hard copy of the certificate while driving a school bus.

If you have questions, please contact Donell Rosenthal at (406) 461-9316.

Commercial Driver's License (CDL) Requirements

2022 Montana Bus Standards (Page71) states: Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) with a School Bus “S” and Passenger “P” endorsement is required when a person who drives a school bus, or who transports pre-primary, primary, or secondary school students for school-related activity trips, field trips, and operating on an approved route, in a commercial motor vehicle.

The “S” endorsement shall be required for any school bus, including 16 passengers or less, and 16 passengers and more.

If you have questions, please contact Donell Rosenthal at (406) 461-9316.

Type E School Bus Requirements

Before a type E school bus is purchased, the school is required to complete a cost analysis of a traditional type A – D school bus versus the type E school bus before acquiring this bus type. This cost analysis must be on file for review. MCA 20-10-148

The analysis must detailed. the costs associated with the purchase and operation of the school bus compared to the costs associated with the purchase or contract and operation of a school bus designed to carry more than 10 passengers.  The overall purpose of the cost analysis is to demonstrate that the purchase and operation of a school bus as defined in 20-10-101(4)(a)(ii) is the most cost-effective means of transporting eligible transportees on the bus route(s).  The Type E is required to have an overall safety rating of 5 Stars as per NHTSA.   These results must also be on file for review.

If you have questions, please contact Donell Rosenthal at (406) 461-9316.

In District Special Education Permissive Tuition Levy

The spreadsheet for FY2025 has been updated and posted to the OPI web page. The calculator for FY2025 is located on the website:  Tuition and Attendance (mt.gov).

If you have questions, please contact Andrea Mohammadi at (406) 444-1960 desk or email opischoolfinance@mt.gov.

Fiscal Year 2025 Election Calendar

Our new election calendar will be updated and posted on September 16, 2024, for FY2025. If you are running for a special election, please contact Andrea Mohammadi and we can assist with your calendar.

If you have questions, please contact Andrea Mohammadi at (406) 444-1960 or email opischoolfinance@mt.gov.

Audit Letter for FY2024 Audits

The annual letter to auditors can be found on the OPI website by clicking this Auditing link. The letter provides general information for FY2024 regarding issues affecting Montana school district audits and special items the OPI would like auditors to review for compliance with statute and administrative rules.

If you have questions, please contact us by email at opischoolfinance@mt.gov.

School Year 2024-2025 Changes

Changes to school names, grade ranges, non-operating, or attach/abandon (closing a district) with an effective date of July 1, 2025:  School districts with changes to operating status, grade level configurations, school/district name, etc., should contact the OPI as soon as possible.  Please send official notice of these change requests, on district letterhead, signed by the Authorized Representative, to the School Finance email at OPISchoolFinance@mt.gov.   

If you have questions, please contact Alivia Skeslien-Jenkins at (406) 444-1964 or Andrea Mohammadi at (406) 444-1960.

Emergency School Closures

School Closures are a local decision based on the needs of the community. Information on Emergency School Closures can be found on the School Finance Webpage. The document is titled “School District Closures – Unforeseen Emergencies.”

It is important to be familiar with the laws, but a couple of important reminders are as follows:

• Trustees should notify the County Superintendent of Schools and the OPI as soon as a school district closure has been declared.
• Trustees may close school for one school day each year for unforeseen emergencies that is not subject to a state funding reduction 20-9-806(2), MCA.
• If a school has an emergency closure for longer than the one-day exception, the Trustees may later adopt a resolution that a reasonable effort has been made to reschedule the pupil-instruction time lost. Not taking this action could result in a reduction to the schools District’s BASE aid.

Adherence to the statutes is necessary to prevent the reduction of state entitlement funding for the district.

Please send notice to the OPI at OPISchoolFinance@mt.gov or call Amanda Zigan at (406) 444-3096 or contact Alivia Skeslien-Jenkins at (406) 444-1964.

Updating School Contact Information with OPI

District Clerks are responsible for keeping their district’s contact information up to date. According to § 20-3-307, MCA, Trustee Contact information is required to be updated within 14 days following the qualification and oathtaking of a newly elected trustee or for the filling of a vacancy on the board (the county superintendent is responsible for providing information to the district clerk for the purpose of updating the Trustee Repository). Contact information also affects the Budget and TFS reports as well as how the AR for OPI and E-Grants updates. The instructions on how to update your schools’ information can be found at the following link: Instructions.

PERSONNEL CHANGES:  All school districts please go to the OPI website - Directory of Montana Schools - to verify your schools’ information.

Changes must be made by the Clerk in OPI Contacts for:

• Trustees (required by HB 811).
• Board chair.
• Clerk/business manager.
• Superintendent.
• Principal.

If you have questions, please contact us by email at CentralUpdates@mt.gov.

OPI Application Access Guides for NEW Clerks and Superintendents

The OPI has information for new:

• District Clerks
• District Superintendents
• County Superintendents

To assist in getting set up with their new roles, please see the documents located on the School Finance webpage.

For more information, please contact Amanda Zigan at (406) 444-3096 or contact us by email at opischoolfinance@mt.gov.

Sending confidential information

When sending confidential information to the OPI, there are two best methods to use:

• File Transfer Service (FTS). The link is on the school finance home page, however, there are two requirements for the use of FTS:
  • one of the parties must be a state employee, and
  • the other is the files must be sent to a person, not a group email.
• Fax to us at (406) 444-3924 and let us know that you have sent something.

Regular email is not a safe or recommended communication method for sending confidential or personally identifiable information.

If you have questions, please contact Amanda Zigan at (406) 444-3096 or contact us by email at opischoolfinance@mt.gov.

Active Expenditure String tool - New on the Website

A spreadsheet of active expenditure strings was added to the School Finance website. All open MAEFAIRS expenditure strings that have been used since 2017 are compiled. Expenditure strings can be filtered by open expenditure strings or enter your string to see if the string is valid or not.

If you have questions, please contact School Finance at OPISchoolFinance@mt.gov.

School Finance Updates to the OPI Website

Updated SPED Permissive Tuition Levy Calculator FY 2025 on the School Finance Tuition and Attendance page, on the Calculation Spreadsheets tab.

Updated ESSER Expense and Revenues Comparison Spreadsheet on the School Finance Accounting page, on the Guidance and Manuals tab, under Most Accessed.

Added Budget Presentation to the School Finance Webinars page, on the FY2025 Webinars Link.

Added Trustee Financial Summary (TFS) Presentation to the School Finance Webinars page, on the FY2025 Webinars Link.

Added ESSA Per Pupil PowerPoint Slide to the School Finance Webinars page, on the FY2025 Webinar Materials Link.

Added Legal Entity Changes Overview by Fiscal Year to the School Finance School Open, Close, or Change page, on the General tab.

Added OPI Compass button to the School Finance page, under Important School Finance News and Updates.

Updated TRS GASB 68 Employer Reports on the School Finance Accounting page, on the Other Accounting Resources tab.

Updated PERS GASB 68 Employer Reports on the School Finance Accounting page, on the Other Accounting Resources tab.

Updated IRS Announcements FAQs on the School Finance Accounting page, on the Other Accounting Resources tab.

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.