**** 69th Legislature 2025 HB 557.1 - 1 - Authorized Print Version β HB 557 1 HOUSE BILL NO. 557 2 INTRODUCED BY J. ETCHART, L. SCHUBERT, M. VINTON, S. KELLY, K. LOVE, G. OVERSTREET, T. 3 SHARP, E. BYRNE, R. GREGG, L. BENNETT, T. MILLETT, D. ZOLNIKOV, D. EMRICH, J. FULLER, C. 4 HINKLE, R. MARSHALL, A. REGIER, S. VANCE, M. REGIER, S. VINTON, C. GLIMM, B. LER, J. 5 SCHILLINGER, G. OBLANDER, K. ZOLNIKOV, L. DEMING, F. NAVE, T. FALK, P. FIELDER, G. HERTZ, G. 6 KMETZ, D. LENZ, T. MCGILLVRAY, B. MITCHELL, G. PARRY, K. SEEKINS-CROWE, J. TREBAS, Z. WIRTH, 7 B. BEARD, S. ESSMANN, J. DARLING, V. MOORE 8 9 A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: βAN ACT REVISING EDUCATION LAWS TO LIMIT THE STATE 10 PROMOTION OF TEACHER ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS OF TEACHER ORGANIZATIONS; PROHIBITING 11 PUPIL-INSTRUCTION-RELATED DAYS FROM BEING USED FOR ATTENDING STATE MEETINGS OF 12 TEACHER ORGANIZATIONS; REMOVING THE MANDATE THAT TRUSTEES CLOSE SCHOOLS FOR THE 13 ANNUAL MEETINGS OF TEACHER ORGANIZATIONS; AMENDING SECTIONS 20-1-304 AND 20-4-304, 14 MCA; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.β 15 16 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA: 17 18 Section 20-1-304, MCA, is amended to read: 19 "20-1-304. A pupil-instruction-related day is a day of teacher activities 20 devoted to improving the quality of instruction. The activities may include but are not limited to inservice 21 training, attending state meetings of teacher organizations, and conducting parent conferences. The activities 22 may not include attending state meetings of teacher organizations. A maximum of 7 pupil-instruction-related 23 days may be conducted during a school year, with a minimum of 3 of the days for instructional and professional 24 development meetings or other appropriate inservice training, if the days are planned in accordance with the 25 policy adopted by the board of public education. The days may not be included as a part of the required 26 minimum aggregate hours of pupil instruction." 27 28 Section 20-4-304, MCA, is amended to read: **** 69th Legislature 2025 HB 557.1 - 2 - Authorized Print Version β HB 557 1 "20-4-304. The trustees of 2 a school district shall close the schools of the district for the annual instructional and professional development 3 meetings of teachers' organizations. A teacher may attend instructional and professional development meetings 4 without loss of salary or attend other appropriate inservice training that may be prescribed by the trustees 5 without loss of salary. If a teacher does not attend, the teacher may not be paid." 6 7 NEW SECTION. Section 3. [This act] is effective July 1, 2025. 8 - END -