Montana Code 20-5-102. Compulsory enrollment and excuses
20-5-102. Compulsory enrollment and excuses. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), any parent, guardian, or other person who is responsible for the care of any child who is 7 years of age or older prior to the first day of school in any school fiscal year shall cause the child to be instructed in the program prescribed by the board of public education pursuant to 20-7-111 until the later of the following dates:
Terms Used In Montana Code 20-5-102
- Board of public education: means the board created by Article X, section 9, subsection (3), of the Montana constitution and 2-15-1507. See Montana Code 20-1-101
- 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
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- 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.
- Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- 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
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- 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
(a)the child’s 16th birthday; or
(b)the date of completion of the work of the 8th grade.
(2)A parent, guardian, or other person shall enroll the child in the school assigned by the trustees of the district within the first week of the school term or when the parent, guardian, or person establishes residence in the district unless the child is:
(a)enrolled in a school of another district or state under any of the tuition provisions of this title;
(b)provided with supervised correspondence study or supervised home study under the transportation provisions of this title;
(c)excused from compulsory school attendance upon a determination by a district judge that attendance is not in the best interest of the child;
(d)excused by the board of trustees upon a determination that attendance by a child who has attained the age of 16 is not in the best interest of the child and the school; or
(e)enrolled in a nonpublic or home school that complies with the provisions of 20-5-109. For the purposes of this subsection (2)(e), a home school is the instruction by a parent of the parent’s child, stepchild, or ward in the parent’s residence and a nonpublic school includes a parochial, church, religious, or private school. A child enrolled in a nonpublic or home school may enroll on a part-time basis in a public school.