Title 20, Title 20

The trustees of a district may provide supervised correspondence study for a pupil when it is impossible for the pupil to attend a school because of the isolation of the pupil's residence or the pupil's mental or physical incapacity. Supervision of the correspondence course must …

(1) The trustees of an elementary district shall establish or make available a kindergarten program capable of accommodating, at a minimum, all the children in the district who will be 5 years old on or before September 10 of the school year for which the program is to be conduct…

(1) A school district may provide remote instruction, including the provision of services through electronic means. A district shall comply with any rules adopted by the board of public education that specify standards for remote instruction. The provision of remote instruction b…

(1) Each public high school in the state is encouraged to administer to each student, except as provided in subsection (2), at least once during a student's high school career, a United States civics test administered by the United States citizenship and immigration services to p…

(1) (a) A parent, guardian, or other person who is responsible for the care of a child may refuse to allow the child to attend or withdraw the child from human sexuality instruction. The withdrawal or refusal to attend is an excused absence pursuant to 20-5-103. (b) A school may …

(1) There is a Montana digital academy at a unit of the Montana university system. The purpose of the Montana digital academy is to enhance the state's system of education and support the development of the full educational potential of each person consistent with the provisions …

(1) (a) In addition to any amount appropriated to the Montana digital academy by the legislature, beginning July 1, 2016, school districts enrolling students at the digital academy shall pay to the digital academy any supplemental fee established by the digital academy that is re…

(1) There is a Montana digital academy clearinghouse. The purpose of the clearinghouse is to provide additional choice and flexibility to build local capacity for serving pupils with remote instruction courses, models, and materials. (2) The Montana digital academy staff shall de…

(1) The legislature finds that protecting youth athletes from serious injury is a compelling state interest. The purpose of 20-7-1301 through 20-7-1304 is to prevent permanent injury and death to youth athletes in the state of Montana. To further this interest, the legislature fi…

As used in 20-7-1301 through 20-7-1304, the following definitions apply: (1) "Concussion" means an injury to the brain arising from blunt trauma, an acceleration force, or a deceleration force, which may include one of the following observed or self-reported conditions attributab…

(1) Each school district, nonpublic school, or youth athletic organization in this state offering organized youth athletic activities shall adopt policies and procedures to inform coaches, officials, youth athletes, and parents or guardians of the nature and risk of brain injurie…

(1) An athletic trainer, coach, or official shall remove a youth athlete from participation in any organized youth athletic activity at the time the youth athlete exhibits signs, symptoms, or behaviors consistent with a concussion. (2) A youth athlete who has been removed from pa…

(Temporary) Short title. Sections 20-7-1305 through 20-7-1307 may be cited as the "Save Women's Sports Act". (Void on occurrence of contingency--sec. 6, Ch. 405, L. 2021.)

(Temporary) Designation of athletic teams. (1) Interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic teams or sports that are sponsored by a public elementary or high school, a public institution of higher education, or any school or institution whose students or teams c…

(Temporary) Cause of action. (1) A student who is deprived of an athletic opportunity or who suffers any direct or indirect harm as a result of a violation of 20-7-1305 through 20-7-1307 may bring a cause of action for injunctive relief, damages, and any other relief available un…

The superintendent of public instruction shall issue, in accordance with the policies of the board of public education, appropriate documentation certifying that an eligible applicant has satisfied requirements for equivalency of completion of secondary education. Equivalency of …

(1) This section may be cited as the "Suicide Awareness and Prevention Training Act". (2) The office of public instruction shall provide guidance and technical assistance to Montana schools on youth suicide awareness and prevention training materials. All training materials offer…

(1) The office of public instruction is encouraged to develop and maintain model school district policies and procedures for child sexual abuse awareness, prevention, response, and reporting. (2) The office of public instruction shall make any model policies and procedures develo…

(1) The office of public instruction shall, in consultation with school districts, the department of public health and human services, the American heart association, and the American red cross, provide guidance and technical support and make available a program of study to Monta…

(1) The office of public instruction shall undertake activities to educate Montanans about and prevent child sex trafficking and human trafficking. Activities may include but are not limited to: (a) reviewing best practices for preventing child sex trafficking and human trafficki…

(1) The office of public instruction shall create and maintain an electronic directory photograph repository to store directory photographs of individual students. Any directory photographs that are collected and stored pursuant to this section may be used for the sole purpose of…

The trustees of a district are encouraged to establish and maintain a firearms safety education course. The trustees may adopt a course of instruction developed by the department of fish, wildlife, and parks, a law enforcement agency, or a firearms association as its firearms saf…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a person who is an officer, trustee, employee, agent, or contractor of a school, school district, county superintendent of schools, or the state superintendent of public instruction and who knows or has probable cause to believe that a cu…

A person who purposely or knowingly assists a current or former school employee, contractor, or agent in obtaining employment in violation of 20-7-1321 is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined in an amount not to exceed $1,000 or be imprisoned in the county jail for a term n…

Sections 20-7-1323 through 20-7-1326 may be cited as the "Montana Pupil Online Personal Information Protection Act".

As used in 20-7-1323 through 20-7-1326, the following definitions apply: (1) "De-identified information" means information that cannot be used to identify an individual pupil. (2) "K-12 online application" means an internet website, online service, cloud computing service, online…

(1) An operator may not knowingly engage in any of the following activities with respect to the operator's K-12 online application: (a) (i) engage in targeted advertising on the operator's K-12 online application; or (ii) target advertising on any other site, service, or applicat…

(1) A school district may, pursuant to a policy adopted by its trustees, enter into a contract with a third party to: (a) provide services, including cloud-based services, for the digital storage, management, and retrieval of pupil records; or (b) provide digital educational soft…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (4), the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America must be recited in all public schools of the state and may be followed by a moment of silence. (2) The recitation required in subsection (1) must be conducted at the beg…

(1) The legislature finds and declares pursuant to Article X, section 1, of the Montana constitution that an appropriate means of fulfilling the people's goal of developing the full educational potential of each person is to allow a pupil who experiences an educational disruption…

(1) The board of trustees may appoint an independent contractor or a school district employee to be certified as a school marshal. The appointed employee must be a full-time employee of the district. (2) A school marshal may be: (a) employed full-time as a school marshal; or (b) …

(1) A school marshal may act only as necessary to prevent or stop the commission of an offense that threatens serious bodily injury or death of persons on public school property. (2) Pursuant to 45-8-361, with the consent of the trustees, a school marshal may possess, carry, and …

(1) To implement a school marshal program, the trustees shall: (a) ensure that a school district employee who is appointed as a school marshal satisfies the qualifications required under 20-7-1335; and (b) adopt a written school marshal program policy as required under 20-7-1336(…

The trustees shall submit the school marshal's name, date of birth, and address of the school marshal's place of employment to: (1) the Montana public safety officer standards and training council; and (2) all applicable law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction and emergency re…

(1) The purposes of this section are to: (a) support, adopt, and implement a cardiac emergency response plan in schools that integrates evidence-based core elements in accordance with the American heart association guidelines or other nationally recognized, evidence-based standar…

(1) The access provided to recruiters for the United States armed forces by a public high school must be equal to the access granted to other recruiting groups and organizations. The access must include any directory information that may be released about students pursuant to the…

(1) A library that receives any form of funding from the state may not allow a sexually oriented performance as defined in 45-8-117 on its premises. (2) A school or library that receives any form of funding from the state may not allow a sexually oriented performance or drag stor…

(1) The legislature finds that: (a) the utilization of education and workforce data holds great promise for developing the full educational potential of Montanans and in maximizing the effectiveness of state investments in education and workforce systems; and (b) a systems approa…

As used in this part, the following definitions apply: (1) "Board" means the education and workforce data governing board established in 20-7-138. (2) "Contributing agencies" means the following state agencies that gather and maintain education and workforce data, serve on the bo…

(1) There is an education and workforce data governing board. The board is administratively attached to the department of administration as provided in 2-15-121. (2) The board is comprised of five voting members: (a) the director of the department of administration or the directo…

This part may be cited as the "Cultural Integrity Commitment Act".

(1) The legislature finds that: (a) language in the form of spoken, written, or sign language is foundational to cultural integrity; (b) Montana tribal languages are in a time of crisis through the loss of native speakers, writers, and signers; (c) achievement gaps persist for In…

As used in this part, the following definitions apply: (1) "Eligible district" means a school district encompassing or adjacent to an Indian reservation or a school district that includes one or more schools with an Indian population of 10% or greater. (2) "Immersion program" mea…

(1) School districts are encouraged to create Indian language immersion programs and in doing so: (a) collaborate with other school districts, the Montana digital academy, tribal governments, and tribal colleges; (b) utilize materials produced in the Montana Indian language prese…

This part may be cited as the "Montana Advanced Opportunity Act".

(1) The purposes of this part are to: (a) expand personalized career and technical education opportunities for middle school and high school pupils; (b) reduce out-of-pocket costs for pupils and families in support of a pupil's postsecondary success; (c) empower pupils to activel…