Bill > HB557

This bill revises Montana's education laws regarding Pupil-Instruction-Related (PIR) days and teacher organization meetings, focusing on limiting the use of state-supported professional development time. The legislation restricts PIR days to activities strictly devoted to improving instructional quality and aligned with the Board of Public Education's standards, explicitly prohibiting attendance at state meetings of teacher organizations during these days. Currently, schools can have up to 7 PIR days per year, with at least 3 days dedicated to professional development and inservice training. The bill removes the previous mandate that school districts must close for annual teacher organization meetings, changing it to a permissive option for trustees. The bill's rationale, as stated in the preamble, suggests that recent professional development opportunities have included political activities and "unnecessarily divisive partisan content," thereby justifying the more stringent limitations on how these instructional days can be used. The changes will take effect on July 1, 2025, and aim to ensure that PIR days are focused primarily on educational improvement rather than organizational or potentially political activities.

Education, Government Affairs

https://bills.legmt.gov/#/laws/bill/2/LC0384