Montana

• State Governor: Greg Gianforte

• State Superintendent of Public Instruction: Susan Hedalen

• State School Board Members

For the school year 2019-2020, the Montana Office of Public Instruction reports that there were 403 school districts and 826 public schools in the state. Montana has 149,181 public school students and 15,961 licensed K-12 staff and paraprofessionals.

Montana is one of the few states without public charter schools, but it does have limited open enrollment policies—meaning children can attend a traditional public school outside of their assigned district. In Montana, school districts can set their own open enrollment policies, but schools are required to have open enrollment if the child lives too far away from the assigned school.

Montana also offers private schooling, with over 110 schools in the state. Private schools often offer religious education or focus on a special curriculum or teaching methodology. Montana’s first private school choice program, which began in 2015, offers scholarship funding to help families with private school tuition. As for other school options in the state, there’s homeschooling (parents are required to notify the state), online school, and learning pods.

References:

https://nativereportsgems.opi.mt.gov/ReportServer_GEMSNative/Pages/ReportViewer.aspx?/ESSA+Re