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Bill would let Community Choice Charter Commission seek federal and public grants to support start-up charter schools
Summary
SB 177 would allow the Community Choice Charter School Commission to seek and receive public funds, including federal Charter Schools Program (CSP) grants, so it can administer grants and support startup costs for community choice schools; proponents said Montana is missing federal opportunities, opponents warned of fiscal and constitutional risks.
Senator Sue Vinton opened Senate Bill 177, which would authorize the Community Choice Charter School Commission to seek and receive public funding — including federal grants — to support commission operations and to subgrant planning and start-up funds to community choice charter schools.
Trish Scheiber, chair of the commission, testified the commission was designed to raise private funds for operations but is currently ineligible to apply for certain federal CSP grants because existing law restricts it from receiving public funds; SB 177 would remove that restriction so the commission could apply for and administer federal grants and pass funds to new schools.
Proponents described demand for charter-style choice schools and cited examples of large CSP awards in other states: "West Virginia... was awarded $12,000,000 in 2023" and "Idaho just received 25,000,000," testimony said. They also said the commission has raised roughly $325,000 in private funds and projects an annual operations budget in the low hundreds of thousands if grant administration responsibilities grow.
The League of Women Voters (Joy Kohl) testified in opposition, arguing SB 177 "allows for the Community Choice School Commission to seek and receive public funding whether federal or state" and warned of constitutional concerns that public funds could be diverted from the general fund and of equity and accountability risks for nonpublic schools; she also noted there was no fiscal note attached to the bill in committee testimony.
Committee members asked about the absence of a fiscal note, how much CSP funding might be available to Montana and how commission budgets and subgranting would work. Commission witnesses said federal CSP allocations are national and state eligibility is to be determined; they described the commission’s recent private fundraising, a $300,000 grant, and a projected operating budget of roughly $150,000–$200,000.
Sponsor Sue Vinton closed by reiterating the bill applies to the commission’s authority to seek funds and is not intended to divert existing K–12 funding; the hearing closed with proponents urging support and opponents expressing constitutional and fiscal concerns.
