A federal district court approved a settlement dictating that Montana students with individualized education programs are eligible for public education up to the age of 22. 

In the Aug. 13 settlement between Disability Rights Montana and the state, the Montana Office of Public Instruction must offer students with disabilities access to public education past the age of 18. 

A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals case in Hawaii from 2013 established a parallel precedent. Most states maintain a similar policy. 

Montana federal Judge Dana Christensen approved the settlement, which mandates that the Montana Office of Public Instruction offer re-enrollment to students with individualized education plans who graduated without a diploma in the spring of 2025. The special enrollment period ends 30 days after a family is notified. A student with disabilities currently enrolled in school who planned to graduate without a diploma at 18 is now eligible to continue their education. 

“The OPI will continue working with local school districts to ensure that every student exits high school prepared to succeed,” OPI spokesperson McKenna Gregg said in an email to Montana Free Press on Monday.

Advocates had previously tried a legislative approach. In 2021, Rep. Fred Anderson, R-Great Falls, passed a bill providing extra funding for schools with students ages 18-20 with individual education plans. 

“They need a little extra time. Two years is all we’re asking for,” then-Rep. Sue Vinton, R-Billings, said during the House floor debate in 2021. “These are years spent with their teachers learning how to go to the grocery store, how to behave in public, how to do some life skills.” 

A limited number of schools adopted the policy. Disability Rights Montana filed the civil suit earlier this year.