Judge grants stay in ongoing Montana ESA case

On December 8, 2025, a Lewis and Clark County judge ordered the Montana Office of Public Instruction to stop administering the Students with Special Needs Education Savings Account (ESA) Program, which allows parents of eligible students with disabilities to receive funds for approved educational expenses.

The state was ordered to pause the program based on a technicality. Insufficient appropriation language left the program without a funding mechanism, and as such, the program was deemed unconstitutional.

Families of special needs students participating in the program were faced with the uncertainty of entering the new year without an education plan. Families relying on ESA funds to secure tuition, therapies, or curriculum were faced with potential disruptions to education placements.

Motions filed by the State of Montana, however, resulted in the judge postponing the effect of his decision and allowing the ESA program to continue through the remainder of the 2025-2026 school year. This stay was issued on December 17, 2025.

Of the stay ruling, Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Susie Hedalen said, “The stay provides important stability and continuity for participating families and ensures that students, particularly those with special education needs, can continue receiving the educational services that best meet their individual needs without disruption.”

However, this legal challenge is far from over. While state officials were celebrating the blanket stay, attorneys representing Disability Rights Montana and Montana Quality Education Coalition, the plaintiffs in the case, were busy filing arguments against it.

Briefs filed by the plaintiffs argue that the stay was prematurely issued and too broad. They favor halting the program and paying only agreed-upon outstanding reimbursements. There is no justification for the harm that action would cause the families currently in the ESA program.

The Montana Quality Education Coalition should remember that a quality education isn’t necessarily a public-school education. There is no justification for neglecting the rights of special education students who are thriving in their non-public school setting.

The legal challenges are not over, and the state has indicated it intends to appeal the original court decision regarding the funding issue. A judicial stay creates an urgent need for convening a special session to cure the appropriation defect.