Title 20, Title 20

(1) In accordance with a placement made by persons determining an individualized education program for a child with a disability, the trustees of a district may arrange for the attendance of the child in a special education program offered outside of the state of Montana. (2) Exc…

Whenever a child is attending a state-funded institution in Montana, the resident district or county is not required to pay tuition to the state institution for the child, but whenever at the recommendation of institution officials the child attends classes conducted by a school …

(1) For the purpose of determining the allowable cost payment amount for special education as defined in 20-9-321, the following allowable costs and reports must be reviewed by the superintendent of public instruction for the purposes of determining the amount of the allowable co…

(1) It is the intent of the legislature that eligible children receiving inpatient treatment of a serious emotional disturbance at in-state qualifying facilities be provided with an appropriate educational opportunity in a cost-effective manner. The legislature further intends th…

For the purposes of 20-7-435 and this section, the following definitions apply: (1) "Appropriate educational opportunity" means: (a) for an eligible child without a disability: (i) if provided by a nonpublic school, an education program provided in accordance with the requirement…

Any district providing special education services for children under 6 years of age is eligible for financial assistance in accordance with 20-7-431 and for transportation reimbursement in accordance with Title 20, chapters 7 and 10, and rules adopted by the superintendent of pub…

(1) A school district may contract with one or more other school districts to establish a cooperative to perform any or all education administrative services, activities, and undertakings that the school district entering into the contract is authorized by law to perform. The coo…

The contract authorized in 20-7-451 may include all necessary and proper matters but must specify the following: (1) its duration, which may not be less than 3 years for purposes of providing special education services; (2) the precise organization, composition, and nature of the…

Prior to commencement of its performance, a full service education cooperative contract made pursuant to 20-7-451, 20-7-452, and 20-7-454 through 20-7-456 must be: (1) submitted to the superintendent of public instruction who has final approval authority pursuant to the policies …

A school district entering into a full service education cooperative contract pursuant to 20-7-451, 20-7-452, and 20-7-454 through 20-7-456 may appropriate funds for and may sell, lease, or otherwise give or supply to the administrative officer, management board, or joint board c…

(1) Teachers who have tenure rights with a district and are employed by a cooperative of which their district is a member do not lose their tenure with the district. (2) Nontenured teachers employed by a cooperative acquire tenure with a cooperative in the same manner as prescrib…

(1) The superintendent of public instruction shall pay directly to a special education cooperative the special education allowable cost payments determined pursuant to 20-9-321. (2) A school district that elects to participate in a cooperative for special education purposes shall…

(1) A school district or institution that provides education to a child with a disability shall adopt procedures to assign an individual to act as a surrogate parent for a child with a disability whenever the parents or guardian cannot be identified or, after reasonable efforts, …

A person assigned as a surrogate parent shall represent the child with a disability in all decisionmaking processes concerning the child's education by: (1) becoming thoroughly acquainted with the child's history and other information contained in school and other pertinent files…

(1) A person appointed as a surrogate parent is exempt from liability for any act or omission performed by the person in the capacity as a surrogate parent except an act or omission that is found to have been committed in a grossly negligent or malicious manner. (2) A surrogate p…

(1) This section may be cited as the "Montana Dyslexia Screening and Intervention Act". (2) For the purposes of this section, "dyslexia" means a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin and characterized by difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition …

Sections 20-7-470 through 20-7-475 may be cited as the "Blind Persons' Literacy Rights and Education Act".

As used in 20-7-470 through 20-7-475, unless the context requires otherwise, the following definitions apply: (1) "Blind or visually impaired child" means an individual who is eligible for special education services and who: (a) has a visual acuity of 20/70 or less in the better …

The individualized education program for each blind or visually impaired child must be provided in accordance with the requirements of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. 1400, et seq.

Instruction in Braille reading and writing must be provided in accordance with the requirements of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. 1400, et seq.

The Montana school for the deaf and blind shall establish a Braille electronic equipment loan program that may be used by a school district to provide Braille equipment as specified in a student's individualized education program. The equipment must be loaned on a temporary basis…

The board of public education shall establish standards to ensure that individuals who provide Braille instruction are appropriately trained and supervised.

The term "emotional disability" may be used in place of the term "emotional disturbance" as defined in 34 CFR 300.8(c)(4), as that term relates to the provision of special education services, when used in the Montana Code Annotated or the Administrative Rules of Montana.

As used in this title, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following definitions apply: (1) "Teacher of traffic education" means an instructor approved by the superintendent of public instruction to teach traffic education. (2) "Traffic education" means instructio…

The superintendent of public instruction shall: (1) develop, administer, and supervise a program of instruction in traffic education; (2) establish basic course requirements in instruction for traffic education; (3) establish the qualifications for a teacher of traffic education;…

(1) The trustees of any district operating a junior high school or high school may establish and maintain a traffic education course. The traffic education course shall be: (a) for students who are 15 years old or older or will have reached their 15th birthday within 6 months of …

(1) There is a traffic education account in the treasury of the state of Montana. (2) When a county is required to transmit fees directly to the department of revenue, the gross proceeds, including the portion of the fees to be credited to the traffic education account, must be t…

(1) Subject to the provisions of subsection (2), the superintendent of public instruction shall annually order the distribution of all money in the traffic education account to the districts conducting approved traffic education courses. The distribution of the traffic education …

The trustees of any district maintaining a traffic education course shall establish a special nonbudgeted fund with the county treasurer for traffic education. All nontax receipts for traffic education must be deposited in the district's traffic education fund. The expenditure of…

(1) The trustees of each district shall provide free textbooks to the public school pupils of the district. The trustees shall purchase such textbooks at the expense of the district and loan them to such pupils free of charge, subject to the textbook damage policy of the trustees…

(1) Textbooks must be selected by the district superintendent or by the school principal if there is no district superintendent. The selections are subject to the approval of the trustees. In districts not employing a district superintendent or principal, the trustees shall selec…

Textbooks selected and adopted by districts shall be obtained from a licensed textbook dealer.

(1) Textbook dealers must be licensed to sell textbooks by the superintendent of public instruction. To obtain a license, a textbook dealer shall first file with the superintendent of public instruction the dealer's written agreement to: (a) guarantee that textbooks must be suppl…

(1) A district or county superintendent shall notify the superintendent of public instruction whenever it is ascertained that a licensed textbook dealer is: (a) offering to sell textbooks at a higher price than the listed uniform sales price filed with the superintendent of publi…

A textbook dealer who sells or offers for sale or adoption a textbook to any district or county superintendent without first obtaining a textbook license from the superintendent of public instruction shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Upon conviction of the misdemeanor, the person…

At any time a licensed textbook dealer enters into any understanding, agreement, or combination to control textbook prices or otherwise restrict competition in the sale of textbooks, the dealer shall forfeit the dealer's surety bond and license. The attorney general shall institu…

(1) A textbook dealer or the dealer's agent may not offer any emolument or other inducement to any trustee or school employee to influence the selection, adoption, or purchase of textbooks. (2) A trustee, county superintendent, or school employee may not accept any emolument or o…

As used in this title, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following definitions apply: (1) "Adult basic education" means instruction in basic skills, such as reading, writing, arithmetic, and other skills required to function in society, offered to persons 16 yea…

The trustees of a district or a community college district created prior to January 1, 2021, may establish and operate an adult education program at any time of the day when facilities and personnel are available. An adult education program may provide both basic and secondary ge…

The trustees shall adopt such policies as are necessary for the supervision and administration of adult education when a program is established in the district.

The trustees of a district or a community college district created prior to January 1, 2021, may charge tuition for instruction and charge fees for the use of equipment and materials. The amount of the tuition and fees must be determined on a per-course basis or on the basis of t…

(1) A separate adult education fund must be established when an adult education program is operated by a district or a community college district created prior to January 1, 2021. The financial administration of the fund must comply with the budgeting, financing, and expenditure …

Affirming that reading, writing, and other basic educational skills are vital for all citizens in modern society, the legislature declares that it is the continuing policy of Montana to encourage adult basic education programs that will develop the full educational potential of e…

At the end of each school fiscal year, the trustees of a school district that operates an adult education program may designate the portion of the adult education end-of-the-year fund balance that is to be earmarked as operating reserve for the purpose of paying, whenever a cash …

(1) (a) Subject to 15-10-420, the governing body of a county may, in its discretion, establish a fund and levy a tax on the taxable value of all taxable property in the county for the support of county literacy programs that give first priority to providing direct instruction to …

(1) Any city or town, including any board of park commissioners, may expend funds from the band fund and the park fund of the city or town for the purpose of operating a program of public recreation and playgrounds and for this purpose may acquire, equip, and maintain land, build…