Montana School Choice Options

The Students with Special Needs Equal Opportunity Act (HB 393, 2023) created an education savings account for students with disabilities. It is a reimbursement program run by the Office of Public Instruction (OPI). The amount in each account comes from the student funding formula and varies slightly by district. OPI keeps 5% for administration (OPI: Education Savings Account).

In December 2025, a district court ruled in Montana Quality Education Coalition and Disability Rights Montana v. State of Montana. A stay then let OPI keep processing approved reimbursements and payments through June 30, 2026 (OPI announcement on the stay; OPI: ESA).

The State and the bill’s sponsor appealed. The case is Montana Supreme Court No. DA 26-0179. The State filed its reply brief on October 16, 2026, asking the Court to reverse the ruling and lift the injunction (State reply brief, DA 26-0179). As of our last review, the Court had not ruled. Contact OPI to confirm whether the program is accepting applications or paying reimbursements before you rely on it.

A qualified student must be a Montana resident identified as a “child with a disability” under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and be between 5 and 19 on September 10. The student must not be in a Department of Corrections school program or the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind. The student also must have been counted for public school funding the previous year, have been enrolled in certain other listed programs, or be eligible to enter kindergarten (OPI: ESA).

Homeschool status: The law does not require ESA students to enroll in a private or online school (MCA 20-7-1704). However, a child who was homeschooled last year and was not counted for public school funding generally will not meet the prior-year requirement, unless the child is entering kindergarten or was in another listed program (OPI: ESA).

Parents must sign a contract with OPI. It releases the resident district from all duties to educate the child, including providing a free appropriate public education and an IEP (OPI: ESA).

OPI lists two application windows each year: May 1 to June 1 and November 1 to December 1. The online application is posted on the ESA page, and paper applications are available on request (OPI: ESA). Because of the court case, confirm with OPI that a window is actually open.

Account money may reimburse qualified school tuition, fees, textbooks, and materials; online and distance programs; curriculum and supplemental materials; tutoring; educational therapies from licensed or certified providers; assessments and entrance exams; public school classes and activities; college tuition and fees; up to $50 a year in consumable supplies; related transportation; cooperative educational program fees; and other expenses OPI approves (MCA 20-7-1704). Account funds may not be refunded, rebated, or shared with a parent or student.

Families pay first and then submit receipts to OPI for reimbursement, using the reimbursement form on the ESA page (OPI: ESA). A parent may re-enroll the child in public school at any time, which ends ESA participation.

The Montana Office of Public Instruction runs the ESA. Its ESA page has the parent handbook, FAQ documents, the list of allowable reimbursements, and the reimbursement form (OPI: Education Savings Account).

Taxpayers who donate to an approved student scholarship organization (SSO) may claim a nonrefundable credit equal to the donation, up to $200,000, with a three-year carryforward (MCA 15-30-3111; Montana Department of Revenue). The statewide cap was $7.2 million for 2026, and the Education Donations Portal showed it fully claimed (Department of Revenue guide; Education Donations Portal).

Homeschoolers do not qualify. Scholarships go only to a “qualified education provider,” which by law is not a public school and is not a home school (MCA 15-30-3102). Each SSO runs its own application process.

Activities: A school district or athletic association may not bar a home school student who meets Montana’s home school requirements from extracurricular activities in the resident district solely because the student is not enrolled. The student follows the same standards as full-time students. The parent-educator attests to academic eligibility in writing, and the principal verifies it without testing the student (MCA 20-5-112).

Part-time enrollment: Trustees must admit a qualifying home school child as a part-time enrollee at the parent’s request (MCA 20-5-101).

Montana appears on the IRS list of states that have elected to take part in the federal scholarship tax credit for 2027, as of October 22, 2026 (IRS: FSTC Participating States). That credit is for donations to scholarship granting organizations. It is not a direct payment to homeschool parents.

See our Montana Homeschool Laws page for notice, records, and other legal requirements.

• Montana Office of Public Instruction: Education Savings Account; OPI announcement of the stay (December 2025)
• Montana Supreme Court No. DA 26-0179, State reply brief (October 16, 2026)
• Montana Department of Revenue: Student Scholarship Organization Credit; Tax Credits for Qualified Education Contributions; Education Donations Portal
• Montana Code Annotated 20-7-1704, 15-30-3102, 15-30-3111, 20-5-112, 20-5-101
• IRS: Federal Scholarship Tax Credit Participating States (as of October 22, 2026)

Last reviewed: November 11, 2026