State of Montana Newsroom
Superintendent Arntzen Submits CARES Act Funding and School Year-End Flexibility Requests to the Governor’s Office
Superintendent Arntzen Submits CARES Act Funding and School Year-End Flexibility Requests to the Governor’s Office
April 9, 2020
HELENA— Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen has submitted two requests to the Governor’s office to address funding from the federal CARES Act as well as to request flexibility for local schools as they prepare for the end of the school year.
The federal CARES Act will appropriate $8.8 million to Montana through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund which is intended to provide funds to institutions most impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. This is in addition to the $41 million that will be allocated through the OPI out to Montana schools.
Every elementary and high school district will already be receiving at least $10,000 out of the $41 million. Superintendent Arntzen is requesting that the $8.8 million be held in reserve until the state can fully understand where the greatest impacts to education will be, as the state COVID-19 outbreak has not yet peaked.
The second request is that local districts have flexibility in finishing the academic year if the school closure directives are not extended. Superintendent Arntzen is requesting that districts have the option to continue operating under their remote learning plans that have already been approved or a mix of remote learning with a partial return to school, without penalty to the district.
“Montana must spend our precious federal resources in a way that will have the greatest impact on all Montana students,” Superintendent Arntzen said Thursday. “Likewise, we must ensure that our local school leaders have flexibility as they prepare to end this school year and open those school doors for their students in the fall.”
###
CONTACT: Dylan Klapmeier
Director of Communications, Montana Office of Public Instruction
406-444-3559