House Bill No. [insert bill number] aims to revise education laws in Montana by limiting the attendance of authorized teachers at meetings of teacher organizations to professional development that is specifically focused on improving the quality of instruction and aligned with the standards set by the Board of Public Education. The bill removes the previous mandate that required pupil-instruction-related days to be used for attending state meetings of teacher organizations and prohibits the use of these days for political activities or divisive partisan content. Additionally, it amends existing laws to clarify that pupil-instruction-related days can include activities such as preparing for parent conferences and conducting end-of-term records days.

Furthermore, the bill modifies the responsibilities of school district trustees regarding the closure of schools for annual instructional and professional development meetings of teachers' organizations. While the previous law mandated that schools be closed for these meetings, the new language allows trustees the discretion to close schools only for those meetings that meet the specified requirements. The bill is set to take effect on July 1, 2025.

Statutes affected:
LC Text: 20-1-304, 20-4-304
HB0557_1(1): 20-1-304, 20-4-304
HB0557_1(2): 20-1-304, 20-4-304
HB0557_1(3): 20-1-304, 20-4-304
HB0557_1(4): 20-1-304, 20-4-304
HB0557_1(5): 20-1-304, 20-4-304
HB0557_1: 20-1-304, 20-4-304
HB0557_2(1): 20-1-304, 20-4-304
HB0557_2(2): 20-1-304, 20-4-304
HB0557_2(3): 20-1-304, 20-4-304
HB0557_2(4): 20-1-304, 20-4-304
HB0557_2(5): 20-1-304, 20-4-304
HB0557_2(6): 20-1-304, 20-4-304
HB0557_2(7): 20-1-304, 20-4-304
HB0557_2(8): 20-1-304, 20-4-304
HB0557_2(9): 20-1-304, 20-4-304
HB0557_2: 20-1-304, 20-4-304