Montana Code 20-9-236. Transfer of funds — improvements to school safety and security
20-9-236. Transfer of funds — improvements to school safety and security. (1) A school district that has certified to the office of public instruction a current school safety plan or emergency operations plan pursuant to 20-1-401 may transfer state or local revenue from any budgeted or nonbudgeted fund, other than the debt service fund or retirement fund, to its building reserve fund in an amount not to exceed the school district’s estimated costs of improvements to school and student safety and security as follows:
Terms Used In Montana Code 20-9-236
- Budget authority: Authority provided by law to enter into obligations that will result in outlays of Federal funds. Budget authority may be classified by the period of availability (one-year, multiyear, no-year), by the timing of congressional action (current or permanent), or by the manner of determining the amount available (definite or indefinite).
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Trustees: means the governing board of a district. See Montana Code 20-1-101
(a)planning for improvements to and maintenance of school and student safety, including but not limited to the cost of staffing for or services provided by architects, engineers, school resource officers, counselors, and other staff or consultants assisting the district with improvements to school and student safety and security;
(b)programs and training for school employees, students, parents, and community members approved by the trustees to support school and student safety and security, including but not limited to active shooter training, threat assessment practices pursuant to 20-1-401(3)(b), and restorative justice;
(c)installing or updating locking mechanisms and ingress and egress systems at public school access points, including but not limited to systems for exterior egress doors and interior passageways and rooms, using contemporary technologies;
(d)installing or updating bullet-resistant windows and barriers; and
(e)installing or updating emergency response systems using contemporary technologies.
(2)Any transfers made pursuant to subsection (1) are not considered expenditures to be applied against budget authority. Any revenue transfers that are not encumbered for expenditures in compliance with subsection (1) within 2 full school fiscal years after the funds are transferred must be transferred back to the originating fund from which the revenue was transferred.
(3)The intent of this section is to increase the flexibility and efficiency of school districts without an increase in local taxes. In furtherance of this intent, if transfers of funds are made from any school district fund supported by a nonvoted levy, the district may not increase its nonvoted levy for the purpose of restoring the transferred funds.