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Bill would expand grants for middle‑school career and technical education to reach more schools
Summary
Representative Eric Tillman told the committee House Bill 357 would create or expand a grant program to support middle‑school CTE programs; sponsors seek to grow a $60,000 pilot into a larger program (amendment to $240,000 was discussed) to reach roughly 60 schools.
Representative Eric Tillman introduced House Bill 357 to establish a grant program administered by OPI to expand career and technical education (CTE) into middle schools across Montana.
Tillman said three current funding streams support CTE at the secondary level (federal Perkins funds, the state vocational education fund, and local district funds) but that middle schools lack a funding mechanism. He said OPI currently uses about $60,000 in Perkins funding to support up to roughly 12 schools and that an amendment approved in the House increased the proposed appropriation to $240,000 to leverage federal dollars and broaden reach toward roughly 60 schools.
Proponents included MFPE (Kim Popham), the Montana Contractors Association (David Smith), the Montana Chamber of Commerce (Sheridan Hoyer), Montana Farm Bureau Federation (Nicole Rolfe), state building trades (representative), Montana Stock Growers Association (Ellie Brighton), 0 to 5 Montana (Caitlin Jensen), and others. Witnesses argued that earlier exposure to CTE provides hands‑on learning, increases workforce readiness, and can be particularly valuable in rural communities. The Montana Contractors Association cited acute workforce shortages in construction and said middle‑school CTE programs help build pipelines to apprenticeships.
Rachel Prevost (Montana Farmers Union) testified remotely in support and described personal benefits from CTE classes. Committee members asked technical funding questions and confirmed the House amendment to expand the appropriation; Representative Tillman said the program is targeted at programs with less than $15,000 in local funding and that the bill aims to seed and scale middle‑school programming.
The committee closed the hearing; no further action is recorded in the transcript provided.
