Board amends policy language to permit reasonable fees for some MDTA elective courses

The Manhattan Public Schools Board voted Feb. 10 to revise district procedure language to allow the district to charge reasonable fees for elective courses taken through the Montana Digital Academy (MDTA).

Staff told trustees that the district received a bill of about $3,000 for MDTA coursework this spring and that district leaders want to discourage students from taking in-district elective courses online when in-person sections exist. The proposed change removes a prohibition that previously prevented charging electives taken through MDTA from counting toward certain staffing calculations; the intention is to allow the district to charge a fee for elective MDTA courses while continuing to pay for classes required for graduation or for credit recovery.

A trustee framed the revision as a narrowly targeted change: "The recommendation is to change to remove the word 'not' in that language," the chair said during the motion discussion. Trustees discussed the district’s current practice of paying for required MDTA dual-enrollment courses and credit recovery, and clarified that the policy change would preserve free access for required graduation courses while allowing fees for non-required electives.

The board approved the recommendation to amend the procedure language. Staff noted the fee policy could be revisited and would depend on how MDTA bills are structured in future years; the board also discussed equity considerations and the district’s stated commitment to cover MDTA costs when courses are needed for graduation or credit recovery.

Next steps: the procedure change will be implemented in district policy language, and staff will monitor MDTA billing going forward.