Montana Code 20-10-121. Duty of trustees to provide transportation — types of transportation — bus riding time limitation
20-10-121. Duty of trustees to provide transportation — types of transportation — bus riding time limitation. (1) The trustees of a district may furnish transportation to an eligible transportee who attends a school of the district or has been granted permission to attend a school outside of the district. Whenever the trustees of a district provide transportation for an eligible transportee, the trustees shall provide all eligible transportees of the district with transportation. The trustees shall furnish transportation when directed to do so by the county transportation committee and when that direction is upheld by the superintendent of public instruction.
Terms Used In Montana Code 20-10-121
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- district: means the territory, regardless of county boundaries, organized under the provisions of this title to provide public educational services under the jurisdiction of the trustees prescribed by this title. See Montana Code 20-6-101
- Eligible transportee: means a public school pupil who:
(a)is 5 years of age or older and has not reached the age of 21 on or before September 10 of the current school year or who is a preschool child with a disability between the ages of 3 and 6;
(b)is a resident of the state of Montana;
(c)regardless of district and county boundaries:
(i)resides at least 3 miles, over the shortest practical route, from the nearest operating public elementary school or public high school, whichever the case may be; or
(ii)has transportation identified as a related service in an individualized education program as developed and implemented in accordance with the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 20 U. See Montana Code 20-10-101
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Individual transportation: means transportation by which a district is relieved of actually conveying a pupil. See Montana Code 20-10-101
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Pupil: means an individual who is admitted by the board of trustees pursuant to 20-5-101 and who is enrolled in a school established and maintained under the laws of the state at public expense. See Montana Code 20-1-101
- school: means an institution for the teaching of children that is established and maintained under the laws of the state of Montana at public expense. See Montana Code 20-6-501
- School bus: means , except as provided in subsection (5)(b), any motor vehicle that complies with the bus standards established by the board of public education as verified by the department of justice's semiannual inspection of school buses and the superintendent of public instruction and:
(i)is owned by a district or other public agency and operated for the transportation of pupils to or from school or owned by a carrier under contract with a district or public agency to provide transportation of pupils to or from school; or
(ii)is district-owned, is designed to carry 10 or fewer passengers, has an overall safety rating of five stars from the national highway traffic safety administration at the time of purchase, and is insured in accordance with minimum coverage requirements set forth in 20-10-109. See Montana Code 20-10-101
- Superintendent of public instruction: means that state government official designated as a member of the executive branch by the Montana constitution. See Montana Code 20-1-101
- Transportation: means :
(a)a district's conveyance of a pupil by a school bus between the pupil's legal residence or an officially designated bus stop and the school designated by the trustees for the pupil's attendance; or
(b)individual transportation. See Montana Code 20-10-101
- Trustees: means the governing board of a district. See Montana Code 20-1-101
(2)The tendering of a contract to the parent or guardian under which the district would pay the parent or guardian for individually transporting the pupil or pupils fulfills the district’s obligation to furnish transportation for an eligible transportee. The parent or guardian of an eligible transportee may provide transportation or arrange for transportation for the parent’s or guardian’s child at the parent’s or guardian’s own expense to any district willing to accept the child.
(3)The type of transportation provided by a district may be:
(a)by a school bus; or
(b)by individual transportation:
(i)paying the parent or guardian for individually transporting the pupil;
(ii)paying board and room reimbursements;
(iii)providing supervised correspondence study; or
(iv)providing supervised home study.
(4)When the parent or guardian of an elementary pupil consents to a trip of over 1 hour, the trustees may require the eligible transportee to ride a school bus for more than 1 hour each trip.