10.10.301B    OUT-OF-DISTRICT ATTENDANCE AGREEMENTS

(1) For purposes of this rule:

(a) a child's guardian means an adult who is responsible for the child and has the reciprocal rights, duties and responsibilities with the child and whose status is created and defined by law;

(b) placement by a court of competent jurisdiction includes federal and state district courts, tribal courts, and youth courts established pursuant to Title 41, chapter 5, MCA; and

(c) for the purpose of this rule placement by a "state agency" includes placement by tribal agencies, the Department of Corrections or the Department of Public Health and Human Services. Placement by a state agency does not include placement by a private or not-for-profit entity under contract with the Department of Corrections or the Department of Public Health and Human Services.

(2) Out-of-district attendance agreements must establish the charges, if any, for both tuition and transportation, and the parties who will be responsible for payment. Tuition charges must comply with ARM 10.10.301.

(3) Discretionary out-of-district agreements must be signed by the student's parent or guardian who initiates the request, a responsible official of the receiving district, and an official of the resident district, if the resident district is to be responsible for tuition or transportation costs.

(a) The resident district is not obligated for the tuition or transportation costs if it has not agreed to the out-of-district attendance. However, it may agree to pay one of the costs without agreeing to pay the other.

(b) If the resident district has not agreed to allow the out-of-district attendance, the receiving district may allow the student to attend, and the parent or guardian may be charged for tuition and transportation costs.

(4) Pursuant to 20-5-321, MCA, the resident district and the receiving district must accept the request for the student to attend out-of-district if the mandatory conditions set out in 20-5-321, MCA, are present, unless:

(a) accreditation of the receiving district would be adversely affected; or

(b) the student is a student without disabilities who is a legal resident of a school district outside the state of Montana.

(5) The exceptions in (4) do not apply if the student is a pupil with disabilities who lives in the district where he wishes to attend. If the student is a pupil with disabilities who lives in the district of attendance, the district of attendance must accept the request for out-of-district attendance, regardless of the legal residence of the student.

(6) For purposes of 20-5-321(1)(a), MCA, "transportation" shall include, but not be limited to, the offering or provision of:

(a) bus service;

(b) an individual transportation contract; or

(c) room and board reasonably near the school.

(7) Statutes in effect for the student's year of attendance govern the conditions of the attendance agreement.

(8) When the state is obligated to pay tuition or transportation costs for a student placed under provisions of 20-5-321(1)(d) and (e), MCA, the trustees of the district of attendance shall send a completed copy of the student's attendance agreement to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for approval. The agreement must be submitted by December 31 following the school year of attendance to be eligible for approval.

(9) When the district is obligated to pay tuition or transportation costs for out-of-district attendance agreements, the tuition will be paid from the district's tuition fund, and the transportation costs will be paid from the district's transportation fund. A district may pay tuition and transportation charges in the student's year of attendance or, if the obligation occurs after the district's budget is adopted, in the ensuing year.

(10) The state shall be responsible for tuition and may be charged transportation costs as established under 20-5-323, MCA, for a child who has been placed outside the child's resident district by a court or by a state agency or for a child placed outside the child's resident district in a foster care or group home licensed by the state.

(11) The state's tuition and related transportation obligation shall be paid to the eligible receiving district by the Superintendent of Public Instruction in the year following the year of attendance.

(12) Tuition payments made for a child placed outside the child's resident district by a court or state agency must be supported by a properly completed out-of-district attendance agreement signed by both the receiving district and by an authorized representative of the placing court or state agency. Attendance agreements for students placed in state licensed group homes by parents, guardians, or representatives of state licensed group homes must be signed by the receiving district and by a parent or legal guardian or an authorized representative of a state licensed group home on behalf of the parent or legal guardian. 

History: 20-5-323, 20-9-102, MCA; IMP, 20-5-320, 20-5-321, 20-5-322, 20-5-323, 20-5-324, MCA; NEW, 1994 MAR p. 1824, Eff. 7/8/94; AMD, 1996 MAR p. 2168, Eff. 8/9/96; AMD, 2002 MAR p. 1662, Eff. 6/14/02; AMD, 2006 MAR p. 3070, Eff. 12/22/06; AMD, 2010 MAR p. 1990, Eff. 9/10/10; AMD, 2016 MAR p. 880, Eff. 5/21/16.