Current through Register Vol. 18, September 20, 2024
(1) In accordance
with the quarterly distribution schedule established in
20-9-310(4)(a),
MCA, the Office of Public Instruction shall allocate the excess oil and natural
gas production taxes to school districts directly impacted by oil and natural
gas production in the following manner:
(a)
50% to school districts in Zone 1;
(b) 37.5% to school districts in Zone 2;
and
(c) 12.5% to school districts
in Zone 3.
(2) The
Office of Public Instruction will distribute the revenues allocated to
operating school districts in Zone 1 as follows:
(a) 5% for efforts to recruit and retain
qualified educators and staff;
(b)
60% for the daily operations of school districts that have not yet reached the
limit on the amount of oil and natural gas production taxes that a district may
retain under
20-9-310,
MCA; and
(c) 35% for infrastructure
projects in school districts that have applied for and been granted funds under
this program.
(3) The
funding in (2)(a) will be distributed quarterly to individual school districts
based on the number of quality educators in the district compared to the total
number of quality educators in the school districts in Zone 1.
(a) The district may expend funds received
under (2)(a) for recruitment efforts, moving expenses, hiring bonuses, travel,
student loan repayment, housing, or other initiatives to recruit and retain
qualified staff.
(b) All school
districts in Zone 1 will receive a distribution under (2)(a) regardless of
whether the district has reached the maximum amount of oil and natural gas
production taxes that it may retain under
20-9-310,
MCA.
(c) The number of quality
educators for a district will be the same number that is used for the
distribution of the quality educator payment for the current school
year.
(4) The funding
for daily operations in (2)(b) will be distributed quarterly to individual
school districts based on the number of quality educators in the district
compared to the number of quality educators in the school districts in Zone 1.
(a) A district is eligible for funding for
daily operations under (2)(b) until the district reaches the maximum amount of
oil and natural gas production taxes that it may retain under
20-9-310,
MCA.
(b) Once a district receives
the maximum amount of oil and natural gas production taxes it may retain under
20-9-310,
MCA, additional allocations during the school year will be distributed among
the remaining districts that have not reached their maximum amount.
(c) The number of quality educators for a
district will be the same number that is used for the distribution of the
quality educator payment for the current school year.
(5) The funding for infrastructure in (2)(c)
will be distributed through an annual grant process.
(a) All school districts in Zone 1 are
eligible to apply individually or in conjunction with other school districts in
Zone 1.
(b) Priority will be given
to school districts with urgent and serious public health and safety issues,
deferred maintenance, and proposals to enhance educational opportunities. The
applicant will describe:
(i) the challenges
facing the district in terms of student demographics, school environment,
student achievement, human resources and instruction, facilities and resources
and/or economic resources as a result of oil and natural gas production;
and
(ii) how the proposal addresses
the challenges faced by the district.
(c) A school district must deposit the
infrastructure grant monies into the miscellaneous program fund.
(d) Grant funds awarded to a school district
under this section do not count against the maximum amount of oil and natural
gas production taxes that it may retain under
20-9-310,
MCA.
(6) A nine-member
committee composed of one representative from each of the seven counties in
Zone 1, a representative from the Office of Public Instruction, and a
representative from the Office of Budget and Program Planning (OBPP) will
determine which projects are funded.
(a)
Committee members will be appointed by April 1 of each year.
(b) The president of the northeast region of
the Montana Association of School Superintendents will appoint the committee
members from Richland, Roosevelt, Sheridan, and Wibaux counties and report the
names of committee members to the Office of Public Instruction.
(c) The president of the southeast region of
the Montana Association of School Superintendents will appoint the committee
members from Carter, Dawson, and Fallon counties and report the names of
committee members to the Office of Public Instruction.
(d) The Superintendent of Public Instruction
will appoint the committee member from the Office of Public
Instruction.
(e) The director of
the OBPP will appoint the representative from OBPP.
(f) The committee will elect a chairperson at
its first meeting.
(g) The
committee will develop by-laws and a process and timeline for evaluating grant
applications.
(7) Grant
applications will be submitted to the Office of Public Instruction on an annual
basis.
(a) The OPI will make the application
format available no later than January 15. The application window will be at
least 90 days.
(b) The Office of
Public Instruction will distribute the submitted applications to committee
members and convene the first meeting of the committee. The chairperson of the
committee will convene subsequent meetings.
(c) The committee will award the grants by
June 1. The OPI will distribute the funding for the current school year to the
grantees by June 30.
(8)
The Office of Public Instruction will distribute quarterly the revenues
allocated to school districts in Zone 2 and Zone 3 in the following manner:
(a) There is a school unit payment to each
school district based upon the calculated number of school units within the
school district.
(b) Each operating
school district must receive a payment for at least one school unit.
(c) A district with current year ANB greater
than the applicable number described in ARM 10.11.101(4) must receive an
additional unit or units, which is calculated by dividing the current year ANB
by the appropriate number of ANB in ARM 10.11.101(4) and rounding that number
up to the nearest tenth.
(d) The
Office of Public Instruction will determine the amount of excess oil and
natural gas production taxes allocated to each operating district in Zones 2
and 3 as follows:
(i) determine the school
unit payment by dividing the amount of revenue available for distribution in
the zone by the number of school units for the operating school districts in
the zone; and
(ii) multiply the
number of school units for an operating district by the school unit payment to
determine the amount to be distributed to the district.
(9) Except as provided in (5)(d),
a school district must deposit any excess oil and natural gas production taxes
received by the district in a budgeted fund of the district and record the
revenue as oil and natural gas production taxes. The monies may be used in
accordance with the purpose of the fund into which the monies are
deposited.
AUTH:
20-9-310,
MCA; IMP:
20-9-310,
20-9-517,
20-9-518,
20-9-519,
MCA
