Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Charter Schools topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bill clarifies funding for stand-alone public charter school districts, fiscal note overestimate flagged
Summary
House Bill 28 clarifies funding for newly established independent public charter school districts and corrects an overestimate in the revised fiscal note; sponsors and proponents said no independent charter school district currently exists and the fiscal note assumes one in fiscal 2027.
Representative David Beatty opened the hearing on House Bill 28, which focuses on technical and funding clarifications for public charter schools and, specifically, independent public charter school districts. Beatty clarified that Montana law distinguishes between charter schools inside existing districts and "public charter school districts" that would operate as stand-alone entities and "are 100% funded by the state with no local contribution at all," he said.
Beatty told the committee that the revised fiscal note assumes approval of one independent public charter school district in fiscal 2027 and that the assumption drives an estimated per-A-and-B entitlement cost that he said is likely an overestimate. "We do not have a single public charter school district in existence today," Beatty said, and he called the last-page entry noting a large local-tax impact an error.
Proponents reiterated technical improvements in HB 28 and raised the same fiscal concern. One proponent told the committee the assumed $854,000 A and B entitlement in FY2027 was "unlikely to happen" because new schools typically open with limited grade spans and grow over time. Paul Taylor and other informational witnesses from the Office of Public Instruction were present to address fiscal-note questions.
Committee members asked clarifying questions; no opponents appeared at the hearing. The committee later listed House Bill 28 for concurrence during its executive-action session.
