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Montana’s Homeschool Law
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
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:
(a)
birthday;
(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
he 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 (e),
instruction by a parent of his
child, stepchild, or ward in his residence
and a nonpublic school
includes a parochial, church,
religious, or private school.
20-5-103. Compulsory attendance 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 attend the school in which he is enrolled for the school term
and each school day
therein prescribed by the trustees of the district until the later of the
following dates:
(a) the child’s 16th birthday;
(b) the date of completion of the work of the 8th grade.
(2) The provisions of subsection (1) do not apply in the following
cases:
(a) The child has been excused under one of the conditions specified in
20-5-102 .
(b) The child is absent because of illness, bereavement, or other reason
prescribed by the
policies of the trustees.
(c) The child has been suspended or expelled under the provisions of
20-5-202 .
20-5-104. Attendance officer. In order to enforce the compulsory
attendance provisions
of this title, each district shall have at least one person serving as an
attendance officer
according to the following requirements:
(1) districts of the first and second class shall employ and appoint one
or more attendance
officers;
(2) districts of the third class may employ and appoint an attendance
officer or may appoint
a constable or other peace officer as an attendance officer; or
(3) the county superintendent shall be the attendance officer in
third-class districts that do not
appoint an attendance officer.
20-5-109. Nonpublic school requirements for compulsory enrollment
exemption. To
qualify its students for exemption from compulsory enrollment under
20-5-102 , a nonpublic
or
(1) shall maintain records on pupil attendance and disease immunization
and make the records
available to the county superintendent of schools on request;
(2) shall provide at least the minimum aggregate hours of pupil
instruction in accordance with
20-1-301 and 20-1-302 ;
(3) must be housed in a building that complies with applicable local
health and safety regulations;
(4) shall provide an organized course of study that includes instruction
in the subjects required of
public schools as a basic instructional program pursuant to 20-7-111 ;
and
(5) in the case of home schools, shall notify the county superintendent
of schools, of the county in
which the home school is located, in each school fiscal year of the
student’s attendance at the
school.
Administrative Rules:
ARM 10.55.901, 10.55.902 and 10.55.904 Basic instructional programs.
20-5-110. School district assessment for placement of a child who enrolls
from a
nonaccredited, nonpublic school. The trustees of a school district
shall:
(1) adopt a district policy on assessment for placement of any child who
enrolls in a school
of the district and whose previous place of instruction was a nonpublic
school that is not
accredited;
(2) include in the adopted policy the following provisions:
(a) the specific assessment for placement to be administered to any child
subject to the
provisions of subsection (1);
(b) a procedure for grade and program placement of the child based on
results of the
assessment for placement, including considerations for the age and
identified abilities of the
child; and
(c) a hearing process before the board of trustees of the district if the
parent or guardian of a
child is not in agreement with the placement of the child and requests a
hearing before the
board; and
(3) administer the adopted policy required in subsection (1) in a uniform
and fair manner.
Responsibilities and rights of parent who provides home school — rights
of
child in home school. Subject to the provisions of 20-5-109 , a parent
has the authority to
instruct his child, stepchild, or ward in a home school and is solely
responsible for:
(1) the educational philosophy of the home school;
(2) the selection of instructional materials, curriculum, and textbooks;
(3) the time, place, and method of instruction; and
(4) the evaluation of the home school instruction.
20-1-301. School fiscal year. (1) The school fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30. At least the minimum aggregate hours defined in subsection (2) must be conducted during each school fiscal year, except that 1050 aggregate hours of pupil instruction for graduating seniors may be sufficient or a minimum of 360 aggregate hours of pupil instruction must be conducted for a kindergarten program, as provided in 20-7-117.
(2)
(a) 720 hours for grades 1 through 3; and
(b) 1,080 hours for grades 4 through 12.
20-1-101. Definitions. [‘minimum aggregate hours defined’]
(9)(a)
(b) The term does not include lunch time and periods of unstructured recess.