OPI staff lay out budget model, enrollment assumptions and Impact Aid role during Section E hearing

Helmed by Chair Beattie, the Section E joint subcommittee heard a final formal budget presentation for the Office of Public Instruction (OPI) that focused on the agency—s budget model, enrollment assumptions, Impact Aid duties and recent work to reduce district data-collection burden.

The presentation, led by Mr. Taylor, an OPI staff member, and Nicole Hall, who identified herself as head of the education data collection team at OPI, explained how the agency builds its base-aid request using an EPP (executive planning process) worksheet, taxable-value inputs, enrollment projections, and statutory CPI math tied to section 20-9-3-26. The package of materials shown to the committee included the Mayfair data extracts, the EPP worksheet and other Excel-based models that OPI uses to estimate General Fund and retirement GTB (guaranteed tax base) needs.

Why it matters: OPI said the calculations feed Montana—s single largest statewide budget item and inform the governor—s House Bill 2 request. Small changes in enrollment, taxable value or statutory parameters can change state aid needs and local property-tax burdens, committee members were told.

OPI staff described the modeling workflow and the inputs the agency updates as new data becomes available. Mr. Taylor showed a working Excel model that pulls Mayfair—s trustee/budget data, Department of Revenue taxable values and fall/spring enrollment collections from Infinite Campus. He said the model can toggle statutory inflation, enrollment-growth assumptions and taxable-value changes so analysts can trace how bills or valuation shifts change statewide distributions. "This is the tool," Mr. Taylor said of the spreadsheet the agency uses to develop its request.

On enrollment, OPI said it loads the most recent fall collection and applies survival ratios and live-birth series to project future counts. Because statewide enrollment has been declining and projections showed variability, OPI said it elected to hold enrollment flat for the upcoming biennium rather than assume continued declines; that choice was one reason staff said an earlier request for a roughly 3% increase per year was defensible under current assumptions.

On CPI and statute, the presenters pointed committee members to the statutory CPI calculation in section 20-9-3-26 and demonstrated the three-year compounded-growth calculation OPI uses to set the inflation factor applied to per-student and per-component rates.

Data consolidation and reporting: Nicole Hall described a recent consolidation of CTE (career and technical education) course and student reporting. She said OPI now collects course, roster, teacher and demographic data in a single data system so districts no longer enter parallel records in the old TEAMS system and multiple CTE systems. "I want my teachers teaching, not putting data into an information system," Hall said, explaining the agency—s priority to reduce the reporting burden and its work with vendor partners PowerSchool and Infinite Campus.

Impact Aid and OPI—s role drew sustained questioning from Senator Windiboy, who sought clarity on how Impact Aid dollars flow to districts, oversight and whether the OPI position that supports Impact Aid work is justified. OPI staff said there is a staff function that assists districts with Impact Aid enrollment counts, local contribution rates and pre-filled federal application data; the position is funded from the OPI general fund and the duties are not limited to Impact Aid alone. Staff also said OPI does not receive Impact Aid funds to cover that staff work and instead provides reporting and technical support to districts and the federal program. Committee members asked for follow-up: Chair Beattie suggested a staff walk-through with Senator Windiboy and a specific district to show available expenditure and revenue information. OPI staff said about "60 legal entities" receive Impact Aid, a figure the presenter gave during Q&A.

Significant enrollment increase and HB36: Mr. Taylor said the model includes a standard assumption for the significant-enrollment-increase (SEI) pool; the working value in the spreadsheet was $3.5 million (the model—s current input), which staff acknowledged may be high given the current flat-enrollment assumption. The committee also heard that OPI distributed approximately $1,100,000 in FY 2024 under the new statutory distribution created in House Bill 36.

Charter schools and the model: OPI described a new tab that incorporates charter school districts and charter schools into the a-and-b (A/B) calculations. Staff said the tool contains "formula magic" to ensure basic-entitlement calculations apply correctly in the charter—s inaugural year and again in year two, and that the model will be updated as the Board of Public Education approves new charters.

Retirement GTB and taxable-value sensitivity: The presentation included a retirement GTB model and a demonstration of how changes in taxable valuation affect county and district GTB payments. Mr. Taylor showed toggles that simulate taxable-value changes tied to bills under consideration and how those shifts ripple into GTB multipliers and local property-tax burdens.

Requests and follow-up: Committee members requested copies of the spreadsheets used in the presentation, OPI FTE (staffing) history from 2018 to present, the number of Impact Aid schools and the amounts distributed, and confirmation of whether updated teacher-licensure analyses are available online. Mr. Taylor and OPI staff said they would provide the requested datasets (staff noted some files are large and that staff assistance may be helpful when legislators open the models).

No formal actions or votes were recorded during the session. The hearing concluded with an appeal from OPI staff for patience and support as the agency implements new data systems and goes through a staffing transition; Mr. Taylor described the agency as being in a period of rebirth and asked lawmakers to consider that context while legislation and the decennial study proceed.

Closing: The committee recessed for additional questions and directed OPI to follow up on the spreadsheet and data requests; Chair Beattie said the committee expects further discussion during work on House Bill 2 and other session activity.