Appropriations subcommittee approves a slate of Office of Public Instruction budget packages including digital academy funding and summer EBT match

Helena — The Joint Appropriations Subcommittee on Education voted to adopt a wide set of budget actions for the Office of Public Instruction (OPI) affecting both state- and local-level programs for the 2027 biennium.

The committee, chaired by Chair Beattie and led in floor motions by Vice Chair Fuller, approved ongoing general‑fund and restricted appropriations, federal grant authority increases, and program-specific requests including continued funding for the Montana Digital Academy, a state match for the new summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) school-food program, and adjustments to teacher-licensure budget authority.

The decisions build on the executive budget and a set of superintendent and agency requests the committee considered in an executive-action session. Julia (Office of Public Instruction staff) described the Montana Digital Academy request as “a request for ongoing general fund for the digital academy clearing house, in order to maintain its operations,” noting it had previously been funded one time only.

Why it matters: the package funds ongoing operations for statewide digital learning supports, continues funding for assessments and database modernization work, provides state matching for a new summer EBT benefit that supplies grocery purchasing support to eligible families when school is out, and makes multiple adjustments to K‑12 aid and facility funds that affect school districts statewide. Several items are designated as restricted, biennial or one‑time appropriations, and some are contingent on companion bills referenced by the sponsors.

Major items approved or discussed

- Montana Digital Academy (DP606, DP621, DP622): committee approved continued operational funding and an AI-focused “Frontier Learning Lab” request designated restricted and one time only; Mr. Neifer (Montana Digital Academy representative) described the lab as a center to help schools adopt edge technologies and to pool purchasing to lower licensing costs for small and rural districts.

- School foods / summer EBT (DP609, DP930): Julia explained the state match supports implementation of the federal permanent Summer EBT program; the committee adopted the state match appropriation. Diane Wilcutt (OPI staff) confirmed the federal grant authority items are pass-through funds to local education agencies and said programmatic federal reports are available on request: “These are entirely funds that pass through to local education agencies.”

- Teacher licensure adjustments (DP617): the committee adopted technical budget changes reflecting House Bill 403’s redirecting of licensure fees to a state special revenue account for the OPI licensure system; OPI staff and the CFO discussed a follow-up amendment to reconcile the dollar amounts.

- Database modernization (DP623): the committee approved a placeholder amount designated restricted and one time only; members were told the $1 million figure is provisional and likely to be revised by full appropriations as the superintendent refines the remaining contract costs.

- K–12 base aid and local program inflation (DP904, DP905, DP906, DP907, DP909 and related): the committee adopted multiple local‑education decision packages including inflationary increases for base aid, at‑risk payments, major maintenance aid and other enrollment‑related adjustments.

- Workforce innovation grants moved to Department of Labor & Industry (DP915): the committee adopted a transfer of the Workforce Innovation Grant program (adult basic education/HiSET suite) from OPI to the Department of Labor & Industry; sponsors said DLI will administer the grants and match using a special‑revenue account rather than general fund.

- School safety, cell‑phone policy and related DPs (DP916, DP928/929): the committee considered competing proposals for a “cell phone free schools” appropriation and a pair of alternative DPs that would reserve a portion of funds for professional development and media literacy training. The committee initially voted down the Keogh alternatives (DP928/DP929), later approved the executive DP 916 (cell phone free schools) as presented.

Votes at a glance (selected decision packages and outcomes)

- Adopt line items, state-level activities program (House Bill 2 OPI administration lines): adopted (motion carried). - DP604 — increase federal grant authority (state level): adopted. - DP605 — federal personal services authority (state level): adopted. - DP606 — Montana Digital Academy subscription: adopted; Julia described it as continuation of a COVID-era modernization project. - DP607 — MACIE (Montana Advisory Council on Indian Education) meeting costs: adopted; staff said the council meets eight times a year with roughly 20–25 members. - DP608 — PowerSchool subscription (OPI database project ongoing costs): adopted; sponsors said further DP will follow for implementation completion. - DP609 / DP930 — school foods match / school lunch funding (summer EBT and elimination of reduced‑price co-pay): adopted; sponsor described eliminating reduced‑price co‑pays to boost participation and relieve district administrative burden. - DP611 — high school assessment funding (designated restricted, one time only): adopted. - DP617 — teacher licensure funding transfer to state special revenue (per HB403): adopted; committee directed OPI CFO and staff to reconcile figures for full appropriations. - DP618 — revised mathematics content standards funding (coordination language tied to HB462): adopted. - DP619 / DP620 — additional OPI positions (five and two positions): both adopted to address overtime and IT/data modernization workload; OPI legislative liaison Katie Bluggett said overtime and comp time equate to at least five FTE. - DP621 / DP622 — MTDA Frontier Learning Lab and inflationary increase for MTDA: DP621 adopted contingent on companion bill language; DP622 adopted. - DP623 — database modernization (placeholder $1M/year restricted, one time only): adopted with expectation of amendment in full appropriations. - DP904–DP911 and multiple DP9xx local education actions (base aid inflation, at‑risk, major maintenance, transformational learning payments, tuition adjustments, in‑state treatment payments, increased federal grant authority): adopted (multiple motions carried). - DP915 — move Workforce Innovation grants to Department of Labor & Industry: adopted; committee asked for transition details and reports on administration. - DP916 — cell phone free schools (executive DP): adopted after alternate proposal failed. - DP920 / DP921 / DP933 etc. — multiple scepter/95‑mill and debt service adjustments to align revenues and statute (House Bill 587 Scepter Act): adopted.

What the committee asked for next

Committee members repeatedly asked OPI for follow-up details on several items before full appropriations: a finalized dollar amount for the database modernization completion, reconciled teacher‑licensure dollar figures after the transfer to state special revenue, and programmatic reports for federal grants (Diane Wilcutt was asked to provide the reports to Julia for distribution to committee members). The committee also invited OPI and OCHE representation for tomorrow’s executive action on the Historical Society and higher‑education related items.

Who spoke (selected)

Chair Beattie (chair), Vice Chair Fuller (vice chair), Representative Matthews, Representative Barker, Representative Keogh, Representative Kiel, Representative Matthews, Senator Wendy Boy (senator), Senator Regier, Senator Gere (proxy votes recorded at several points), Katie Bluggett (OPI legislative liaison), Diane Wilcutt (OPI staff), Julia (OPI staff), Mr. Neifer (Montana Digital Academy representative), Miss Hall (budget office/OPI staff), CFO (OPI). Direct quotes in this article are drawn only from those speakers.

Ending note: the subcommittee completed executive action on a large block of OPI decision packages and will see amendments and placeholder numbers carried into full appropriations; several items approved here were designated restricted or contingent on companion bills, and committee members asked for OPI to provide clarifying reports and final cost estimates ahead of the House Appropriations hearing.