Montana Code Annotated 2023

TITLE 20. EDUCATION

CHAPTER 3. ELECTED OFFICIALS

Part 2. County Superintendent of Schools

Powers And Duties

20-3-205. Powers and duties. (1) The county superintendent has general supervision of the schools of the county within the limitations prescribed by this title and shall perform the following duties or acts:

(a) determine, establish, and reestablish trustee nominating districts in accordance with the provisions of 20-3-352, 20-3-353, and 20-3-354;

(b) administer and file the oaths of members of the boards of trustees of the districts in the county in accordance with the provisions of 20-3-307;

(c) register the teacher or specialist certificates or emergency authorization of employment of any person employed in the county as a teacher, specialist, principal, or district superintendent in accordance with the provisions of 20-4-202;

(d) file a copy of the audit report for a district in accordance with the provisions of 20-9-203;

(e) classify districts in accordance with the provisions of 20-6-201 and 20-6-301;

(f) keep a transcript of the district boundaries of the county;

(g) fulfill all responsibilities assigned under the provisions of this title regulating the organization, alteration, or abandonment of districts;

(h) act on any unification proposition and, if approved, establish additional trustee nominating districts in accordance with 20-6-312 and 20-6-313;

(i) estimate the average number belonging (ANB) of an opening school in accordance with the provisions of 20-6-502, 20-6-503, 20-6-504, or 20-6-506;

(j) process and, when required, act on school isolation applications in accordance with the provisions of 20-9-302;

(k) complete the budgets, compute the budgeted revenue and tax levies, file final budgets and budget amendments, and fulfill other responsibilities assigned under the provisions of this title;

(l) monthly, unless otherwise provided by law, order the county treasurer to apportion state money, county school money, and any other school money subject to apportionment in accordance with the provisions of 20-9-212, 20-9-347, 20-10-145, or 20-10-146;

(m) act on any request to transfer average number belonging (ANB) in accordance with the provisions of 20-9-313(1)(c);

(n) calculate the estimated budgeted general fund sources of revenue in accordance with the general fund revenue provisions of the general fund part of this title;

(o) compute the revenue and compute the district and county levy requirements for each fund included in each district's final budget and report the computations to the board of county commissioners in accordance with the provisions of the general fund, transportation, bonds, and other school funds parts of this title;

(p) file and forward bus driver certifications, transportation contracts, and state transportation reimbursement claims in accordance with the provisions of 20-10-103, 20-10-143, or 20-10-145;

(q) for districts that do not employ a district superintendent or principal, recommend library book and textbook selections in accordance with the provisions of 20-7-204 or 20-7-602;

(r) notify the superintendent of public instruction of a textbook dealer's activities when required under the provisions of 20-7-605 and otherwise comply with the textbook dealer provisions of this title;

(s) act on district requests to allocate federal money for indigent children for school food services in accordance with the provisions of 20-10-205;

(t) perform any other duty prescribed from time to time by this title, any other act of the legislature, the policies of the board of public education, the policies of the board of regents relating to community college districts, or the rules of the superintendent of public instruction;

(u) administer the oath of office to trustees without the receipt of pay for administering the oath;

(v) keep a record of official acts, preserve all reports submitted to the superintendent under the provisions of this title, preserve all books and instructional equipment or supplies, keep all documents applicable to the administration of the office, and surrender all records, books, supplies, and equipment to the next superintendent;

(w) within 90 days after the close of the school fiscal year, publish an annual report in the county newspaper stating the following financial information for the school fiscal year just ended for each district of the county:

(i) the total of the cash balances of all funds maintained by the district at the beginning of the year;

(ii) the total receipts that were realized in each fund maintained by the district;

(iii) the total expenditures that were made from each fund maintained by the district; and

(iv) the total of the cash balances of all funds maintained by the district at the end of the school fiscal year; and

(x) hold meetings for the members of the trustees from time to time at which matters for the good of the districts must be discussed.

(2) (a) When a district in one county annexes a district in another county, the county superintendent of the county where the annexing district is located shall perform the duties required by this section.

(b) When two or more districts in more than one county consolidate, the duties required by this section must be performed by the county superintendent designated in the same manner as other county officials in 20-9-202.

History: (1) thru (22)En. 75-5805 by Sec. 23, Ch. 5, L. 1971; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 266, L. 1977; Sec. 75-5805, R.C.M. 1947; (23) thru (26)En. 75-5807 by Sec. 25, Ch. 5, L. 1971; Sec. 75-5807, R.C.M. 1947; R.C.M. 1947, 75-5805, 75-5807; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 269, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 15, Ch. 392, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 511, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 317, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 35, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 8, Ch. 11, Sp. L. June 1989; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 767, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 563, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 48, Ch. 633, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 22, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 101, Ch. 584, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 220, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 237, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 151, L. 2003; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 463, L. 2005; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 510, L. 2005; amd. Sec. 10, Ch. 1, Sp. L. May 2007; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 152, L. 2011.