Montana Code 20-7-1709. Montana special needs equal opportunity education savings account — funding and administration
20-7-1709. Montana special needs equal opportunity education savings account — funding and administration. (1) Following receipt of a signed contract pursuant to 20-7-1705, the superintendent of public instruction shall notify the resident school district of the qualifying student’s participation in the program and the amount calculated by dividing the student’s ESA student amount by 10.
Terms Used In Montana Code 20-7-1709
- account: means an account within the trust established in 20-7-1710 in which a payment under 20-7-1709 is deposited on behalf of a qualified student for the purpose of reimbursement for the purchase of allowable educational resources pursuant to 20-7-1704 for qualified students. See Montana Code 20-7-1703
- ANB: means the average number of regularly enrolled, full-time pupils physically attending a school of the district or an offsite instructional setting or receiving remote instruction from the public schools of a district. See Montana Code 20-1-101
- BASE: means base amount for school equity. See Montana Code 20-9-306
- BASE aid: means :
(a)direct state aid for 44. See Montana Code 20-9-306
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- district: means the territory, regardless of county boundaries, organized under the provisions of this title to provide public educational services under the jurisdiction of the trustees prescribed by this title. See Montana Code 20-6-101
- ESA student amount: means the sum of:
(a)the data-for-achievement payment rate under 20-9-306;
(b)the Indian education for all payment rate under 20-9-306;
(c)the per-ANB amounts of the instructional block grant and related services block grant under 20-9-321; and
(d)the applicable per-ANB maximum rate established in 20-9-306 for the student multiplied by the ratio of adopted general fund budget to maximum general fund budget in the prior year, rounded to the nearest one hundredth and not to exceed 1. See Montana Code 20-7-1703
- fund: means a separate detailed account of receipts and expenditures for a specific purpose as authorized by law or by the superintendent of public instruction under the provisions of subsection (2). See Montana Code 20-9-201
- Program: means the Montana special needs equal opportunity education savings account program established in 20-7-1702. See Montana Code 20-7-1703
- Resident school district: means the school district in which a student resides. See Montana Code 20-7-1703
- school: means an institution for the teaching of children that is established and maintained under the laws of the state of Montana at public expense. See Montana Code 20-6-501
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Superintendent of public instruction: means that state government official designated as a member of the executive branch by the Montana constitution. See Montana Code 20-1-101
(2)Beginning with the next distribution of BASE aid payments pursuant to 20-9-344 for the months of August through May, the resident school district shall remit to the office of public instruction the amount calculated in subsection (1) for each participating student by no later than the 10th of the month following the BASE aid distribution.
(3)The money remitted under subsection (2):
(a)must be from the district’s general fund;
(b)may not include revenue from the guarantee account described in 20-9-622; and
(c)must be accounted for under rules adopted by the superintendent of public instruction.
(4)The superintendent of public instruction shall account for the money remitted under subsection (2) as follows:
(a)95% of the money must be deposited in accounts within the special needs equal opportunity education savings trust established in 20-7-1710 to be used only for reimbursing parents for the purchase of allowable educational resources pursuant to 20-7-1704; and
(b)5% of the money must be deposited in the office of public instruction special needs equal opportunity ESA administration account established in subsection (7).
(5)The office of public instruction shall ensure that the participating student is included in the resident school district’s ANB calculation pursuant to 20-9-311 in any year that the student remains otherwise eligible for inclusion and participates in the program. No other school district may count the student for ANB purposes. The participating student is not considered to be enrolled in the resident school district.
(6)The office of public instruction shall administer the individual student accounts pursuant to subsection (4)(a) so that:
(a)reimbursements are made promptly to parents for the purchase of allowable educational resources for a participating student pursuant to 20-7-1704; and
(b)on a student’s 24th birthday, the student’s account is closed and any remaining funds in the student’s account are returned to the guarantee account described in 20-9-622.
(7)(a) There is an office of public instruction special needs equal opportunity ESA administration account within the state special revenue fund created in 17-2-102 consisting of 5% of the money remitted to the office of public instruction pursuant to subsection (2).
(b)Funds in the office of public instruction special needs equal opportunity ESA administration account are statutorily appropriated, as provided in 17-7-502, to the office of public instruction and must be used for the costs of administering the program.