A Utah-based online learning program could help boost enrollment numbers for rural Montana public school districts by bridging the gap between homeschool families and public education.

Founded in 2008 by former Republican Utah state Sen. Rob Muhlestein, Harmony Educational Services offers a path for homeschool students to enroll in their local school district while maintaining control of their own learning experience.

The online learning program has entered contracts with 12 Montana school districts since 2023. Seven of those school districts, including Plains, Noxon and Ronan, entered contracts this year. 

Families who sign up for the program can opt for online asynchronous or off-line courses, and a mentor from Harmony Educational Services oversees each student’s learning progress, said program representative Colby Sharpe. 

Three tracks offer different experiences with the program.  

Track one is a fully online option, where the student learns at home. Track two is a hybrid option, where students can take a mix of online course work and in-person extracurriculars on campus. Track three is for students who want a high school diploma through a public high school or for special education students. The school district dictates the classes a student can take and requires them to come to campus, with some online course work options available.  

Corvallis School District was the first to pilot the program, signing a three-year agreement that started in September 2023. Four more school districts – Darby, St. Ignatius, Stevensville and Florence-Carlton – entered partnerships with the program in 2024. Darby School District was the only one to opt for a year-by-year agreement, instead of a three-year agreement.  

Since April this year, seven more school districts have partnered with the program, including Woodman, Ronan, Plains, Noxon Public Schools, Lone Rock, East Helena and Victor Public Schools. Noxon Public Schools was the only district to opt for a year-by-year agreement this year. All the others signed a three-year contract.  

THE GOAL of the program is to increase annual enrollment numbers, according to a contract recently signed with Plains School District. Montana allocates funding to public school districts based on the number of enrolled pupils over a 3-year average, so an increase in enrollment means an increase in state funding to that school district.  

Harmony takes on full responsibility of seeking out and recruiting students to participate in the program, with an aim of up to 250 students for the district. 

A mentor is assigned to each family to monitor the student’s academic progress, make sure they’re on top of their course work and completing their assessments. According to the contract, periodic reports of the student’s progress, attendance, formative grades and academic testing is the responsibility of Harmony, not the school district. Tracking the student’s attendance is also Harmony’s responsibility. 

The school district pays a flat rate per student per year for the program, Sharpe said. It’s $2,800 per student in grades K-8 and $2,900 per student in grades 9-12 if a staff member from the school district oversees the program, a position referred to in the contract as the teacher of record.  

This person reviews and approves student educational plans and progress reports, as well as assigns final grades. If the district utilizes a staff member from Harmony to be the teacher of record, then the rate goes up to $3,100 and $3,200, respectively, Sharpe said. 

Families receive a cut of $1,800 to pay for educational courses provided through vendors contracted with Harmony Educational Services and educational materials.  

The funds are monitored through an online portal and allocated through a pre-approval process. Materials purchased with these funds are considered property of the school district, Sharpe said, and remain with it after the student leaves the program.  

“There’s really no downside,” said Plains School District board chair Lana Dicken. “We only pay if we have a student enroll.” 

ENROLLMENT at Montana public schools declined by nearly 2,000 students between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years, according to data from the Montana Office of Public Instruction. In the 2024-25 school year, enrollment decreased by another 4,006 students, roughly double the loss from the previous year.  

This is a stark contrast to pre-pandemic numbers. From 2011 to 2020, Montana’s public school enrollment saw an average annual increase of approximately 832 students across the state. 

Sanders County, which houses two of the school districts that recently partnered with Harmony, saw its lowest public enrollment numbers in the 2024-25 school year since state data was first collected in 2009, with 1,312 students. This is a 9% drop from the 2009-10 school year, which had 1,447 students. 

“This is a way to sort of be a little bit more flexible and not turn into a relic,” Dicken said. "Bridging that gap between home school and public school ... it’s kind of like bringing two worlds together.” 

The idea to partner with Harmony Educational Services was brought to the school board by a local community member during one of its meetings, who heard about it through a neighboring district. The person who mentioned the program is a Plains resident who graduated from the school district and is actively interested in its public schools, Dicken said.  

She added that the school board was never pressured by Harmony to sign a contract. 

Board members approved a motion to partner with the program during their July 15 special board meeting, and the contract was signed on July 24. High school principal Heidii Fettinger was selected to act as teacher of record, Dicken said. 

Plains School District Superintendent Kathleen Walsh said the district is committed to its public education and partnering with the community’s home school population.  

“The district has been involved in other quality online learning services, but the Harmony Educational Services provide greater options and support for both the traditional school and the home school families,” Walsh said in an email to the Daily Inter Lake. 

Dicken reached out to Corvallis Superintendent Pete Joseph, since his district is about to enter its third year with the program. Joseph spoke highly of Harmony, she recalled, which gave Plains School District officials the confidence to move forward with it.  

JOSEPH CAME across Harmony Educational Services two years ago in his search for companies to provide digital coursework for a potential charter school. In 2023, the Montana Legislature passed House Bill 549, which allowed school districts to establish public charter schools. 

The rural school district in Ravalli County was facing low enrollment and a looming deficit as Covid funds started to run out, the superintendent said. He figured an online charter school might be a good way to reach families who taught their students at home. 

A contract with Harmoney Educational Services took effect in September 2023, and Joseph said roughly 50 students enrolled. In the following year, Corvallis was approved for its charter school status, and RISE Charter School launched in September 2024.  

Two different hybrid charter academies operate under RISE, Distance Learning Academy and Pathway Learning Academy. Harmony is one of several online providers that provides digital course work for the two charter schools.  

Joseph said nearly 250 students enrolled with Harmony in 2024, and there are 315 students ready to enroll in the district’s third year with the online program. He confirmed that the district plans on renewing its contract with Harmony Educational Services, with details still yet to be discussed.  

“Harmony has been an incredible tool to help support and provide accountability for our K-12 school system,” Joseph said. “Harmony has allowed our RISE Charter and Distance Learning Academy the flexibility to meet the needs of every student and had provided a bridge to parents who have been disengaged with public education for decades.” 

Reporter Hannah Shields can be reached at 758-4439 or [email protected].