December-Current

Montana Office of Public Instruction sent this bulletin at 11/26/2025 12:00 PM MST

11/26/2025

The Current

Dear Colleagues,

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend filled with family and friends. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to serve each of you. As we enter this season of gratitude, I am thankful not only for the chance to lead OPI, but also to share in the incredible work that we, as education leaders, do together to support students and schools across Montana.

This past month has been both busy and productive for me and for our team at the Office of Public Instruction. Many of us were in Missoula participating in meetings with the Board of Regents, the Board of Public Education, the State Board of Education, and the Interim Education Committee. These gatherings provided meaningful opportunities to collaborate, share updates, and continue driving our statewide education priorities forward.

I also had the opportunity to join OPI staff in the Bitterroot Valley to visit Corvallis Public Schools’ RISE Charter School. Seeing their locally driven, innovative work firsthand was inspiring. Their efforts to personalize learning and prepare students for college and career pathways reflect the kind of Montana-grown solutions that make a real difference for our kids. While in the area, we met with K–12 and university leaders at the University of Montana to discuss ways to strengthen social and civic engagement among Montana’s youth.

Earlier in the month, my team and I traveled to Lewistown for an event hosted by the Montana Photonics and Quantum Alliance. This gathering gave students the chance to connect with local aerospace companies and explore high-skill, high-tech career opportunities available right here at home. It also showcased new internship pathways and reinforced an important message: Montana students can pursue world-class careers without leaving their communities.

In addition to these engagements, the Montana Office of Public Instruction released the statewide assessment results for the 2024–2025 school year. Official statewide data for mathematics, English language arts, and science are now accessible through the GEMS website. Both current and historical assessment data can be explored in detail through the GEMS Data Portal.

We understand that you might have concerns regarding the recent news from the U.S. Department of Education that programs within the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education will be co-administered with the U.S. Department of Labor through a new federal Interagency Agreement. I want to assure you that this new IAA will not impact local district policies, programs, or funding. Details are still being worked out by the federal government and I will continue providing information as I receive it. I will also continue to stay in touch with the Department and Congress to provide input on changes to federal programs. OPI continues to lead federal programs under OESE in the state and we believe the only impact will be that our federal contacts might simply be changed or expanded due to this new IAA.

Current OPI Openings

Associate Director SPED

School Nutrition Program Specialist

Student Safety & Wellness Specialist

Montana OPI Partnership: Free Level All Access

What Level All Offers

Comprehensive Content: 15,000+ short, engaging lessons on career pathways, college prep, apprenticeships, financial literacy, and workplace readiness.
Guided Journeys: Interactive, self-paced plans that help students explore goals, complete checklists, and track progress.
Educator Dashboards: Track student engagement, assign lessons, and access ready-made lesson plans and presentations.
Safe, Ad-Free Environment: FERPA-compliant and built to protect student privacy.

Join an Introductory Webinar

If your district would like a deeper walkthrough, please consider joining one of our statewide introductory webinars hosted by Level All: Click this link and select from one of several date and time options.

During these sessions, we’ll demonstrate how Level All can:

Support your school’s college and career readiness goals
Simplify educator workflows and organize your Educator Dashboards
Equip every student with tools to build their personalized postsecondary plan.

How to Get Started

Any Montana school can begin using Level All right away - no agreement required. Simply email montana@levelall.com to connect with the Level All team. From there, you can:

Join any of the introductory webinars (if convenient),
Schedule a quick demo to see how Level All works,
Or jump straight into implementation with our Success Team, who will help you configure your Educator Dashboard, roster students, and begin assigning content.

Questions or Help Getting Started?

Contact: montana@levelall.com or visit www.levelall.com for more details

We’re excited to make this available to every Montana student and educator.

Career & Technical Education

HB 357: Provide funding for middle school career and technical education

Representative Eric Tilleman
Effective Date: October 1, 2025
HB 357 revises educational laws to provide funding for career and technical

education in the middle grades by requiring the superintendent of public instruction

to adopt rules for the method of distribution, form of application, budget

procedures and accounting rules associated with the appropriated funds. HB 357

provides a $240,000 appropriation from the general fund to the OPI for FY 2027 for

this program. The legislature intends that the appropriation be considered part of

the ongoing base for the next legislative session.

HB 381: Provide for educational credit for students volunteering in long term care,

nursing home, home care, and child care settings

Representative Ed Buttrey
Effective Date: July 1, 2025
Summary: HB381 revises laws regarding student employment for high school credit

in public schools and non-public schools. Provides that students 16 years of age or

older may earn credit toward high school graduation through employment on a paid

or voluntary basis in certain care settings. These settings include a development

disabilities facility, long-term care facility, community residential facility,

congregate-care facility, residential care facility, school-age program, or childcare

facility. This bill also allows a public high school or nonpublic high school to impose

conditions and requirements on work performed to qualify for high school credit.

HB 449: Eliminate statutory reference to the adult basic education fund and its

distribution

Representative David Bedey
Effective Date: July 1, 2025.
Summary: HB 449 repeals section 20-7-712, MCA. This program is being moved to

the Depart of Labor.

HB 631: Revise student online protection laws related to postsecondary opportunities

Representative Curtis Schomer
Effective Date: May 1, 2025
Summary: HB631 amends the definition of “K-12 school purposes” to establish that

the term does not include courses that are provided for the purpose of

postsecondary credit or work-based learning courses provided by a work-based

learning partner pursuant to 20-7-1510.

HB 721: Revise laws relating to apprenticeship programs

Representative Curtis Schomer
Effective Date: October 1, 2025
Summary: HB721 revises laws related to registered apprenticeship program. The bill

revises duties of the Department of Labor and Industry for the registered

apprenticeship program and revises allowable credit for prior training or experience.

It also clarifies voluntary participation of employers in the registered apprenticeship

program.

HB 823: Revise laws relating to the state plan committee

Representative Brad Barker
Effective Date: October 1, 2025
Summary: HB823 revises the state plan committee for career and technical

education. The bill adds members to the state plan committee, authorizing the

Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry to appoint members to the

state plan committee. It amends the meeting requirements of the state plan

committee and requires the state plan committee to coordinate with the

Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act state plan in

the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act combined state plan.

Additional Information

Achievement in Montana (AIM)

Assessment

Career, Technical and Adult Education

Coordinated School Health

Gifted and Talented

Indian Education for All

Montana Autism Education Project

Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)

School Finance

School Nutrition

Special Education

Standards, Instruction & Professional Learning

Traffic Education

Transformational Learning & Advanced Opportunities

Tribal Relations & Resiliency

Outside Opportunities

Western National Parks 2025 Grants & Scholarships for Educators

WNP Grants

WNP Flyer

Questions? Contact:

McKenna Gregg, Communications Director

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.