Homeschooling in Montana

You tell

County superintendent of schools

By

Each school fiscal year

which runs from the start of July to the end of June; the statute sets no particular day

Who reviews it

The county superintendent, on request only

If you skip it

If the home school does not meet the conditions in MCA 20-5-109 (notify the county superintendent in each school fiscal year, keep attendance records and make them available to the county superintendent on request, provide at least the minimum hours of instruction, and provide an organized course of study in the subjects required of public schools), its students do not qualify for the exemption from compulsory enrollment. The child must then be enrolled in the school the local district assigns, unless another exception in MCA 20-5-102 applies. If the child does not attend, the truancy law can apply: an attendance officer may tell the parent that continued truancy may lead to prosecution, may require the parent and child to meet with someone the district names to make a truancy plan, and may refer a parent who does not meet or does not keep to the plan to the prosecuting attorney, who decides whether to prosecute. If convicted, the parent is fined up to $100, ordered to do up to 20 hours of community service, or required to give a $100 bond to cooperate with the district on the truancy plan for the rest of the school term, and can be jailed for up to 3 days for not obeying that order. A child truant on 9 or more days, or 54 or more parts of a day, in one school year may be referred to youth court.