20-6-504. Opening of a junior high school. (1) The trustees of any elementary district and the trustees of the high school district in which such elementary district is located may open a junior high school when such opening has been approved by the superintendent of public instruction; except that when the high school district operates a county high school, the opening of a junior high school shall be approved under the provisions of 20-6-505.

Terms Used In Montana Code 20-6-504

  • 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
  • BASE: means base amount for school equity. See Montana Code 20-9-306
  • County superintendent: means the county government official who is the school officer of the county. 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.
  • 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
  • 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
  • Trustees: means the governing board of a district. See Montana Code 20-1-101

(2)When the trustees of such districts resolve to open a junior high school, they shall jointly apply to the superintendent of public instruction for approval to open such school by June 1 before the school fiscal year in which they intend to open the junior high school. The application shall contain such information as is required under 20-6-503 for an application to open a high school.

(3)The superintendent of public instruction shall investigate the application for the opening of a junior high school and shall approve or disapprove the opening of the junior high school before the fourth Monday of June preceding the first year of intended operation. If the opening is approved, the trustees of the elementary district and the high school district may jointly open such school.

(4)Whenever the opening of a junior high school is approved for the ensuing school fiscal year, the county superintendent shall estimate the average number belonging (ANB) after investigating the probable enrollment for the junior high school. The ANB determined by the county superintendent shall be used for budgeting and BASE funding program purposes during the ensuing school fiscal year.