House Bill No. [insert bill number] aims to revise education laws in Montana by limiting the circumstances under which teachers can attend meetings of teacher organizations. The bill specifies that teacher attendance at these meetings must be authorized and solely focused on professional development that improves the quality of instruction and aligns with the standards set by the Board of Public Education. It removes the previous prohibition on using pupil-instruction-related days for attending state meetings of teacher organizations and eliminates the mandate for school trustees to close schools for these annual meetings.

Additionally, the bill amends existing sections of the Montana Code Annotated (MCA) to clarify that while a maximum of seven pupil-instruction-related days can be conducted in a school year, at least three of these days must be dedicated to instructional and professional development activities. The trustees of a school district now have the discretion to close schools for annual instructional and professional development meetings of teachers' organizations that meet the new requirements. The act 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(10): 20-1-304, 20-4-304
HB0557_2(11): 20-1-304, 20-4-304
HB0557_2(12): 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