(Helena) Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen announced that families have begun filling out the application for the Education Savings Account (ESA), which the Montana Legislature passed through The Students with Special Needs Equal Opportunity Act.
The Office of Public Instruction says there are two application windows, May 1st through June 1st, and November 2024 to December 2024. They also say data submitted to the OPI is secure and will only be used to verify eligibility.
OPI says they’ve developed A Parent Handbook to provide more information about the program, click here to view.
Information required on application:
• Student name, address, and birth date
• Parent contact information
• Proof of address
• Montana school attended the previous year
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) determination through an evaluation report, IEP, or private service plan
In order to qualify:
• students must be identified as having special needs under the IDEA definition of a “child with disabilities,”; and
• In the current school year:
o is identified as a “child with a disability” under the IDEA, 20 U.S.C. 1400, et seq.; and
o is between the ages of 5 and 19 on September 10, 2024;
• is not currently enrolled in a school operating for the purpose of providing educational services to youth in the Department of Corrections commitment programs or in the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind; and
o was counted during the previous school year for purposes of school district ANB funding; or
o was enrolled during the previous school year in one of these programs; or
o is eligible to enter a kindergarten program pursuant to 20-7-117, MCA.
