How is the cost of pupil transportation funded in Montana what costs can be paid using the transportation fund?
Q: How is the cost of pupil transportation funded in Montana? A: The state and county share "on-schedule costs" to provide funding for parent mileage contracts and a mileage reimbursement for bus routes. Additional funding is provided through a district transportation fund levy. The levy is non ...
- Bus Depreciation Fund
If your school owns a school bus or bus used to transport kids for athletics or activities, you should be familiar with the Bus Depreciation Fund. Q: What is the Bus Depreciation Fund for? A: If your district owns a bus, this fund allows you to levy taxes to accumulate a portion of the cos ...
- Nonresident/Out-of-District Transportation
Question: Which school district is responsible for transporting a student who attends outside his district of residence? Answer: Usually the district where the student attends will transport him. If the resident district signs an attendance agreement, even if tuition is not an obligation of the ...
- Busing-3 Mile Rule
Question: What are the guidelines of the "3 Mile Rule"? Answer: MCA 20-10-101(2)(c)(i) states “resides at least 3 miles, over the shortest practical route, from the nearest operating public elementary school…” This information is used to determine if a student is eligible to ...
- Bus Drivers First-Aid
Q: Are bus drivers required to have CPR training? A: No, state law does not require CPR training to be certified for driving a school bus. BUT, it's a very good idea for a school district to set policy requiring CPR for bus drivers, and many schools do. Q: What is the first aid requirement ...
- Attendance Centers
Q: What is an attendance center? A: An attendance center is a location where students regularly attend school at a location other than the regular school building. The attendance center is effectively part of a specified school of the district. Attendance centers are not specifically defined ...
- Election Judges-Training
Q: What is required for the training of election judges? A: School district election judges must meet the requirements of 13-4-203, MCA. The Secretary of State’s office suggests several options to help school districts meet this requirement: Use election judges already trained and c ...
- Using the General Fund Operating Reserve:
Question: Under what conditions can a district use money from their General Fund Operating Reserves? Answer: Operating reserves provide limited financial cushion for 2 purposes: To ensure the school district has enough cash to pay the district’s obligations between July 1 and the re ...
- Transfer Between Funds
What are the general requirements for transferring cash and/or budget authority between funds? Question: What cash and budget transfers are specifically allowed under school laws? Answer: The following transfers may be made by Board action, without specific hearings: 1. General Fund (01) can ...
- Hiring Practices
Question: Is a school district required to advertise a position opening? Answer: There is no state or federal law prohibiting hiring without advertisement of the position. However, the best practice is to have a written hiring policy that states the district will always advertise openings, and ...
- Full-Time Kindergarten One-Time-Only Payment for Start-up Costs for Full-Time Kindergarten
Question: How do I apply for the one-time-only start up costs for implementing FTK? Answer: When OPI receives a signed copy of the PAA-3 Form, Section 6 from the schoold district, the OTO payment for kindergarten start-up costs will be calculated. It is estimated that this payment will be appro ...
- Guarateed Tax Base (GTB)
What is Guaranteed Tax Base? The Guaranteed Tax Base Aid program (GTB), is a state program related to school funding in Montana. The statutes covering GTB are MCA 20-9-366 through 369. The program subsidizes district general fund BASE budget mills and county retirement mills. GTB subsidies ...
- Isolation Status
Q: What is isolation status? A: State law (MCA 20-9-302 and 303) requires that an elementary district operating a school with fewer than 10 ANB (usually 8 or fewer full time students) for 2 consecutive years must apply for isolation status – and be approved as an isolated sc ...
- Enrollment Counts and ANB
Q: What is "ANB"? A: ANB is Average Number Belonging, which is a student count used for state funding purposes. Q: Will the school lose ANB if students are absent on the official enrollment count date? For example, assume a flu epidemic keeps the students out of school on the count data. A: N ...
- Elections--Posting Notices
Q: Can an ad be posted in the legal section of the newspaper to post the notice of election? A: According to the Secretary of State's Office, there is nothing that would prevent a school district from posting the notice of election in the legal section of the paper. In other words, a ...
- Consolidation/Annexation
Q: What is a consolidation? A: Consolidation results in one new district in place of two or more districts that consolidate. (MCA 20-6-203) Elem -- Two or more elementary districts in one county may consolidate to organize an elementary district. (MCA 20-6-208) Elem – Any two or mo ...
- Closure of Funds
Debt Service Fund MCA 20-9-443: When the bonds are paid off, the money in the debt service fund may be transferred into the Building Reserve Fund (61), Technology Fund (28), or General Fund (01), providing the subsequent use of the money is limited to construction, equipping, or enlargin ...
- Cancellation of Warrants
Q: When can a school district cancel a warrant? A: MCA 20-9-223 allows cancellation of a warrant outstanding (unredeemed) after 1 year. However, the obligation represented by the warrant continues for 8 years under MCA 27-2-202. Q: When can a school district issue a replacemen ...
- Building Reserve Fund
Q: What is the last date to hold an election on the Building Reserve Fund? A: Section 20-9-502, MCA, covers the fund but does not state an election deadline. The election must be held before the budget is set (2nd Monday in August). Q: Must the school district hold any e ...
- Budgets and Budget Limits
Q: Can a district avoid a budget overdraft by paying after 6/30 for goods and services received by 6/30? A: No. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) require that goods and services received by 6/30 must be charged to the budget of the year ended 6/30, regardless of when the cash is p ...
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