Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 20 > Chapter 3 - Elected Officials

• Adult education: means the instruction of persons 16 years of age or older who are not regularly enrolled, full-time pupils for the purposes of ANB computation and the provision of advanced opportunities to qualified pupils pursuant to Title 20, chapter 7, part 15. See Montana Code 20-7-701
• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• ANB: means the average number of regularly enrolled, full-time pupils physically attending a school of the district or an offsite instructional setting or receiving remote instruction from the public schools of a district. See Montana Code 20-1-101
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• BASE: means base amount for school equity. See Montana Code 20-9-306
• BASE aid: means :

  (a)direct state aid for 44. See Montana Code 20-9-306

• BASE funding program: means the state program for the equitable distribution of the state's share of the cost of Montana's basic system of public elementary schools and high schools, through county equalization aid as provided in 20-9-331 and 20-9-333 and state equalization aid as provided in 20-9-343, in support of the BASE budgets of districts and special education allowable cost payments as provided in 20-9-321. See Montana Code 20-9-306
• 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
• Board of regents: means the board of regents of higher education created by Article X, section 9, subsection (2), of the Montana constitution and 2-15-1505. See Montana Code 20-1-101
• budgeted fund: means any fund for which a budget must be adopted in order to expend money from the fund. See Montana Code 20-9-201
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• County superintendent: means the county government official who is the school officer of the county. See Montana Code 20-1-101
• Customary: means according to usage. See Montana Code 1-1-206
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Direct state aid: means 44. See Montana Code 20-9-306
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• 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
• District superintendent: means a person who holds a valid class 3 Montana teacher certificate with a superintendent's endorsement that has been issued by the superintendent of public instruction under the provisions of this title and the policies adopted by the board of public education and who has been employed by a district as a district superintendent. See Montana Code 20-1-101
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Educational program: means a set of educational offerings designed to meet the program area standards contained in the accreditation standards. See Montana Code 20-1-101
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
• 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.
• fund: means a separate detailed account of receipts and expenditures for a specific purpose as authorized by law or by the superintendent of public instruction under the provisions of subsection (2). See Montana Code 20-9-201
• 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.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• multidistrict cooperative: means a public entity created by two or more school districts executing a multidistrict agreement under this section or any school district or other public entity participating in an interlocal cooperative agreement under the provisions of Title 20, chapter 9, part 7, as either a coordinating or a cooperating agency. See Montana Code 20-3-363
• Oath: includes an affirmation or declaration. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• 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.
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Principal: means a person who holds a valid class 3 Montana teacher certificate with an applicable principal's endorsement that has been issued by the superintendent of public instruction under the provisions of this title and the policies adopted by the board of public education and who has been employed by a district as a principal. See Montana Code 20-1-101
• Printing: means the act of reproducing a design on a surface by any process. See Montana Code 1-1-203
• Proficiency: means a measure of competence that is demonstrated through application in a performance assessment. See Montana Code 20-7-1601
• Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• 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
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative business.
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Remote instruction: means pupil instruction that occurs through virtual learning processes incorporating distance and online learning methods that best prepare pupils to meet desired learning outcomes as authorized in 20-7-118. 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

• School election: means a regular school election or any election conducted by a district or community college district for authorizing taxation, authorizing the issuance of bonds by an elementary, high school, or K-12 district, or accepting or rejecting any proposition that may be presented to the electorate for decision in accordance with the provisions of this title. See Montana Code 20-1-101
• School food services: means a service of providing food for the pupils of a district on a nonprofit basis and includes any food service financially assisted through funds or commodities provided by the United States government. See Montana Code 20-1-101
• school in the district: means an accredited school operated by the district that is located within the boundaries of the district operating the school. See Montana Code 20-1-101
• 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
• System: means the Montana university system. See Montana Code 20-1-101
• Teacher: means a person, except a district superintendent, who holds a valid Montana teacher certificate that has been issued by the superintendent of public instruction under the provisions of this title and the policies adopted by the board of public education and who is employed by a district as a member of its instructional, supervisory, or administrative staff. See Montana Code 20-1-101
• Textbook: means a book, digital resource, or manual used as a principal source of study material for a given class or group of students. See Montana Code 20-1-101
• Textbook dealer: means a party, company, corporation, or other organization selling, offering to sell, or offering for adoption textbooks to districts in the state. See Montana Code 20-1-101
• Traffic education: means instruction in motor vehicle, bicycle, pedestrian, and school bus traffic laws or motorcycle laws, in the acceptance of personal responsibility on the public highways, in the causes and consequences of traffic accidents, and in the skills necessary for the safe operation of bicycles and motor vehicles or motorcycles. See Montana Code 20-7-501
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• 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

• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• trustee election: means the election for school board members held on the day established in 20-20-105(1). See Montana Code 20-1-101
• Trustees: means the governing board of a district. See Montana Code 20-1-101
• University: means the university of Montana-Missoula. See Montana Code 20-1-101