School Finance October 2026 Current

Montana Office of Public Instruction sent this bulletin at 09/15/2026 01:31 PM MDT

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

Upcoming Due Dates

Deadline	Topic	Contact
October 1^st	County Superintendents must electronically authorize Individual Contracts (TR4)	Elsie Workman (406) 444-2463
October 5^th	Fall Student Count	Andrea Mohammadi (406) 444-1960
October 7^th	County Mill Approval – Form FP9	Andrea Mohammadi (406) 444-1960
December 10^th	TFS Changes Deadline	Donell Rosenthal (406) 444-3249

State School Payments

FY2027 – September (2026) State School payments are posted here: State School Payments.

FY2027 – October (2026) State School payments are scheduled for distribution on October 27, 2026.

The October 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.

FY2027 State School Payment Schedule is posted here: FY27 Final Payments Schedule

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

State School Entitlements

The State School Funding Entitlement Reports for FY2027 are posted at the following link:

State School Payments-Entitlements

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

Requests for Changes to the TFS - Due Dec 10^th

The following steps must be completed.

Step 1: On a photocopy of the originally submitted TFS printout:

Cross out the amount to be revised.
Legibly write or type in the revised amount above or beside the original amount or submit a detailed excel worksheet. • In MAEFAIRS run the ESSA School Code Allocation Report. Access that by Views-> ESSA -> ESSA School Code Allocation. If the fund that you are wanting to change is split by school code, please attach a copy of the adjustments made there as well.
Requestor must sign and date EACH page.
Send the request and form for changes to:

Montana Office of Public Instruction Attn: Donell Rosenthal PO Box 202501

Helena, MT 59620-2501 or Email: OPISchoolFinance@mt.gov

Requests for changes can be mailed or scanned and emailed. All completed requests must be received by the OPI no later than December 10^th. ARM 10.10.504.

Step 2: Email a copy of the corrected TFS to the county superintendent with an explanation of the changes requested.

Step 3: After changes have been completed by the OPI, verify that changes have been made accurately and send confirmation to the OPI.

If you have questions, please contact Donell Rosenthal (406) 444-3249.

Compensation Expenditure Reporting and Terms of Employment – Due December 10, 2026

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.

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, 2025, through June 30, 2026, 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 2025-2026 school year into Infinite Campus by June 30, 2026, to finalize the 2026 fiscal year end process. If you do not have access to Infinite Campus or are having troubles 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.

All personnel information for all staff members/contractors employed during the 2025-2026 school year must be entered into the Infinite Campus system. Employee Certification is necessary for the completion of the Compensation Expenditure reporting in the MAEFAIRS system. All employed individuals must be certified through the Infinite Campus system.

Compensation Expenditure Reporting Instructions can be found on the School Finance Accounting webpage under Other Materials.

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

FP9 – County Mill setting – Due October 7, 2026

Please have all mill setting (FP9) forms received by the county returned to Andrea Mohammadi on or before October 7, 2026.

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

Active Expenditure String Tool

A spreadsheet of active expenditure strings is available on the School Finance website. All open MAEFAIRS expenditure strings that have been used since 2017 are available for review. Expenditure strings can be filtered or enter your string to determine if the coding string is valid.

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

In District Special Education Permissive Tuition Levy

The Special Education Permissive Tuition Levy spreadsheet for FY2027 has been updated and posted to the OPI Webpage at the following location: Tuition and Attendance (mt.gov).

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

Day Treatment (FP15) Reimbursement

Districts with students who attended private, non-sectarian day-treatment programs in the 25-26 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 from 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. FP15 Forms can be found on the OPI website.

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

Bus Driver Background Checks

Per HB 745, all current and new school bus drivers who will have contact with students are required to complete a fingerprint-based background check. This applies to any transportation staff who may be alone with, or responsible for, students during routes and activity trips. This requirement is intended to help protect students and reduce potential liability for districts.

If you have questions, please contact Elsie Workman at (406) 444-2463.

Annual Driving Records

Annual driving records must be performed on all drivers to ensure compliance with School Bus Driver Qualifications in 20-10-103, MCA and ARM 10.64.201. Driving Records information can be requested through the Montana Department of Justice.

If you have questions, please contact Elsie Workman at (406) 444-2463.

Bus Driver Certificate TR-35

All school bus drivers 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 which 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 Elsie Workman at (406) 444-2463.

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 20-10-148, MCA.

The analysis must detail the costs associated with the purchase and operation of the school bus compared to the costs associated with 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), MCA 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 Elsie Workman at (406) 444-2463

Emergency School Closures

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 law, 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 1 school day each year for unforeseen emergencies that are 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 in the school’s District’s BASE aid.

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

Please send notices to OPISchoolFinance@mt.gov.

Audit - School District Compliance Supplement

The 2025 Compliance Supplement is available on the LGSB website under the Audit & Financial Review Resources drop-down box. The changes from the 2023 and 2025 legislative sessions have been highlighted for ease of identifying the updates. We have a link on our School Finance Auditing tab that links to the Past and Current School District Compliance Supplements.

If you have questions, please contact Amanda Zigan at (406) 444-3583 or email us at OPIAuditReports@mt.gov.

FY2027 Special Education Cooperative Reports

The Office of Public Instruction (OPI) posted the FY2027 Special Education Allowable Cost Funding Cooperative reports.

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

FY2026 Audit Letter

The annual letter to auditors and it’s supporting Enrollment Schedule can be found on the OPI website on the School Finance Auditing page. This letter provides general information for the fiscal year 2026 regarding issues affecting Montana School District audits and special items the OPI would like auditors to review for compliance with statute and administrative rule.

If you have questions, please contact Amanda Zigan at 406-444-3583 or email us at OPIAuditReports@mt.gov.

October 5, 2026 – Fall Student Count Due

The official fall count day is Monday, October 5, 2026. You may import data once Aggregate Hours are entered in Infinite Campus and Certified. Uncertified data will not be allowed to be imported into MAEFAIRS.

To access MAEFAIRS, please log into the OPI Secure Portal.

The MAEFAIRS web application will be ready for Fall Student Count for ANB importing from Infinite Campus by October 5^th. Please review the Student Count for ANB Instructions FY2027 prior to reporting student counts.

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

School Year 2027-2028 Changes

PERSONNEL CHANGES in the Directory of Montana Schools: Changes to Trustee, board chair, clerk/business manager, superintendent, or principal must be changed in OPI Contacts. Instructions for how to make these changes are found here: Instructions.

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

Updating School Contact Information with OPI

District Clerks are responsible for keeping their district’s contact information up to date. Pursuant 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 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 Authorized Representative for OPI and E-Grants updates. The instructions on how to update your schools’ information can be found in our OPI Contacts 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:

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

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

Sending Confidential Information

When sending confidential information to the OPI, the best method is to use the Montana File Transfer Service (FTS). You can find the link to Montana FTS on the School Finance home page, however, there are two requirements for the use of Montana FTS:

The recipient must be a state employee.
The file must be sent to an individual (not a group email).

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

If you have questions, please email us at OPISchoolFinance@mt.gov.

OPI Current Webpage

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.