Montana Code 20-5-106. Truancy
20-5-106. Truancy. (1) For the purposes of this part “truant” or “truancy” means the persistent nonattendance without excuse, as defined by district policy, for all or any part of a school day equivalent to the length of one class period of a child required to attend a school under 20-5-103.
Terms Used In Montana Code 20-5-106
- 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
- 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.
- Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
- 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.
- 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
- Uphold: The decision of an appellate court not to reverse a lower court decision.
(2)If an attendance officer discovers a child is truant, the attendance officer may make a reasonable effort to notify the parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the care of the child that the continued truancy of the child may result in the prosecution of the parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the care of the child under the provisions of this section. If the child is discovered to be truant after the attendance officer has made a reasonable effort to notify the parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the care of the child, the attendance officer may require that the parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the care of the child and the child meet with an individual designated by the school district to formulate a truancy plan to address and resolve the truancy. If the parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the care of the child fails to meet with the designated individual or fails to uphold the responsibilities under the provisions of the truancy plan, the attendance officer may refer the matter to the prosecuting attorney in a court of competent jurisdiction for a determination regarding whether to prosecute the parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the care of the child.
(3)(a) If convicted, the person shall be fined not more than $100, ordered to perform up to 20 hours of community service, or required to give bond in the penal sum of $100, with sureties, conditioned on the person’s agreement to cooperate with the district in implementing the truancy plan provided for in subsection (2) for the remainder of the current school term.
(b)If a person fails to comply with an order of the court issued under subsection (3)(a), the person may be imprisoned in the county jail for a term of not more than 3 days.
(4)(a) If the child is discovered by the attendance officer to be truant on 9 or more days or 54 or more parts of a day in 1 school year, the child may be referred to youth court as habitually truant under Title 41, chapter 5.
(b)Following a referral to youth court under subsection (4)(a), an attendance officer shall inform the youth court of any subsequent truancies by the child, and the youth court may find the child to be a youth in need of intervention as defined in 41-5-103 and make any of the dispositions provided in 41-5-1512.