Montana school drill law

What drills does Montana require, and how often?

Montana statute says disaster drills must be conducted regularly, and that there must be at least eight disaster drills a year in a school. Each district's board of trustees must identify the local hazards in its district and build drills for them into its school safety plan or emergency operations plan. A Board of Public Education rule also requires each district's plan to include regularly conducted disaster drills that address those hazards.

The statute sets the number of drills and their varied timing, but names no drill type: it does not list lockdown, active threat, severe weather, earthquake, shelter-in-place or reunification drills.

How do the fire code and bus rules fit in?

Montana's State Fire Prevention and Investigation Section adopts the 2024 International Fire Code by rule, with Montana amendments. Under the 2024 International Fire Code, as Montana adopts it in ARM 23.12.601, at least four of the eight yearly drills in a school must be fire exit drills. That rule says required evacuation drills follow the intervals in the statute, MCA 20-1-402. The rule was last amended effective September 26, 2026. Under the 2024 International Fire Code that ARM 23.12.601 adopts, lockdown drills follow the school's approved lockdown plan and cannot replace the required fire and evacuation drills. The Board of Public Education adopted the 2022 Montana school bus standards by rule. Under those standards, school bus evacuation drills must be held at least twice per school year and must include all students, whether or not they ride the bus. The first bus evacuation drill must be held within the first two weeks of school, and the second within the first week of the second semester. The same standards recommend that drivers give evacuation instruction (a drill, or at least verbal instructions) before each trip. This is a recommendation, not a requirement.

Are there timing rules?

Drills must be held at different hours of the day or evening, so students and staff can't tell a drill from a real disaster. A drill signal must sound on the disaster alarm system, not on the bell system used to dismiss classes. Under the 2024 International Fire Code, which Montana adopts in ARM 23.12.601, a school's first emergency evacuation drill of the year must be held within 10 days of the start of classes.

Which schools are covered?

Montana's charter school law makes public charter schools subject to Title 20, which includes the drill statutes, except where the charter school part says otherwise. The fire code's school drill rules apply to any building used by six or more persons at a time for education through 12th grade (Group E, the fire code's term for school buildings). That definition turns on how the building is used, not on whether the school is public or private. The list of what a nonpublic (private) school must do so its students are exempt from compulsory enrollment, MCA 20-5-109(1), includes no drill requirement. That list alone does not settle whether the eight-drill statute reaches private schools.

Do drills have to be logged or reported?

The trustees must review the school safety plan or emergency operations plan at least once a year. They must certify to the Office of Public Instruction each year that the plan has been reviewed. This certification covers the plan, not the drills. MCA 20-1-402, the eight-drill section, sets no requirement to log, report or certify drills.

Do parents have to be told before a drill?

The Board of Public Education rule that lists what a district's school safety plan must include requires no parent notice of drills.

Do local officials take part?

School authorities must cooperate with the local authorities having jurisdiction when conducting disaster drills. Office of Public Instruction guidance encourages schools to involve first responders and local and tribal law enforcement in drill trainings. This is guidance, not a requirement.

What about students' wellbeing?

MCA 20-1-402 sets no limits on drill content for students' wellbeing, such as simulated gunfire, role-played attackers or opt-outs. Office of Public Instruction guidance advises schools to weigh the value of including students in certain disaster drills against the potential harm. This is guidance, not a requirement.

What has changed recently?

MCA 20-1-402, the eight-drill section, was amended in 2013. HJ 53 (2025) is a resolution requesting an interim study on school safety, with the final results to be reported to the 70th Legislature. PD 0007 is an unofficial interim draft (as of June 11, 2026) that would amend the drill statutes (MCA 20-1-401, -402, -404 and -407). It is not an introduced bill and is not law; it changes nothing today. The Education Interim Committee has requested a 2027 bill draft, LC 543, "Establish the Montana safe schools center". Its last action, on October 15, 2026, is "Draft in Edit": it is still being drafted and has not been introduced. The Board of Public Education has proposed amending the school bus standards rule (MAR Notice 2026-177.1, October 16, 2026). It is not yet adopted: the hearing is November 10, 2026 and comments are due November 13, 2026. The board's posted redline of the proposed standards keeps the bus evacuation drill rule unchanged: at least twice per school year, including all students.