Mont. Admin. r. 10.55.604 - VARIANCES TO STANDARDS
(1) A local board
of trustees may apply to the Board of Public Education through the
Superintendent of Public Instruction to implement a variance to an assurance
standard or a section of assurance standards, excluding standards stating
statutory criteria, standards pertaining to educator licensure or endorsement,
and content standards as defined by the Board of Public Education and provided
in guidance from the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
(a) In its application, the local board of
trustees shall outline how and why its proposed variance would be workable,
educationally sound, and designed to meet or exceed results under established
standards and, where applicable, aligned with program standards under ARM
10.55.1101 through 10.55.2201.
(b)
In its application, the school district shall provide evidence through official
minutes of the board of trustees that local school community stakeholders were
involved in the consideration and development of the proposed variance to an
assurance standard or a section of assurance standards. Stakeholder groups
include trustees, administrators, teachers, classified school staff, families,
community members, and students as applicable. A district shall provide
evidence it adopted its application for variance at an official, properly
noticed meeting of its board of trustees.
(c) An application for variance to an
assurance standard or a section of assurance standards is due in writing to the
Superintendent of Public Instruction no later than the second Monday in October
for the current academic year.
(d)
Upon receipt, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall refer applications
for variance to an assurance standard or a section of assurance standards to a
pre-appointed review board. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall
facilitate and provide organizational support for the meetings of the review
board.
(i) The review board shall consist of
the following, appointed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and
approved by the Board of Public Education: one trustee, one district
superintendent, one high school principal, one elementary principal, two high
school teachers, two elementary school teachers, one tribal council
representative, and one family or community representative.
(ii) The review board members shall serve
five-year terms with no limit to the number of terms any one person may serve.
Terms shall be staggered where half of all positions shall be filled every
three years prior to the first meeting of the review board in the third
year.
(e) The review
board shall review all applications and use a uniform rubric, made available to
districts in advance of applying to implement a variance to an assurance
standard or a section of assurance standards. The uniform rubric will ensure
consistent and high-quality applications from school districts across
Montana.
(f) The review board shall
provide its recommendations to the Superintendent of Public Instruction with a
recommendation for approval, modification, or rejection of the review board's
recommendation within 60 calendar days of the review board being referred an
application.
(g) The Superintendent
of Public Instruction shall provide the Board of Public Education with a
recommendation for approval, modification, or rejection of the review board's
recommendation.
(h) If the
Superintendent of Public Instruction or review board finds an application to be
preliminarily deficient, the superintendent shall advise the applicant school
district why that application is not ready for consideration. The applicant
district shall have the opportunity to change its application as suggested or
submit it as originally proposed.
(2) The Board of Public Education shall
approve or deny proposed variances to an assurance standard or a section of
assurance standards. If the board denies a proposed variance to an assurance
standard or a section of assurance standards, it shall remit in writing to the
applicant school district why it has done so.
(3) If the Board of Public Education approves
a proposed variance to an assurance standard or a section of assurance
standards, it shall initially do so for no more than two years pending ongoing
review of the implementation by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction.
(4) Following the
second year of implementation of a variance to an assurance standard or a
section of assurance standards, the school district shall provide evidence to
the Superintendent of Public Instruction that the methods selected by the
district implement, meet, or exceed results that could have been achieved under
established standards.
(5) If the
Superintendent of Public Instruction finds the variance is workable and
educationally sound, the Superintendent shall report findings and recommend
continued approval to the Board of Public Education.
(6) If the Board of Public Education concurs
with the Superintendent's recommendation, it may renew the variance for no more
than three years.
(7) The Board of
Public Education may subsequently renew the variance provided the district
continues to show how the variance meets or exceeds established
standards.
(8) If the
Superintendent of Public Instruction finds the variance to an assurance
standard or a section of assurance standards is not working as intended or does
not meet or exceed results that could be achieved under established standards,
the superintendent shall recommend to the Board of Public Education that the
variance be revoked.
(9) If the
Board of Public Education accepts the Superintendent's recommendation to revoke
a variance, the board's decision is final.
(10) A school district may discontinue an
approved variance at any time. If it does so, it shall promptly notify the
Superintendent of Public Instruction in writing.
Notes
AUTH: Mont. Const. Art. X, sec. 9, 20-2-114, 20-2-121, 20-7-101, MCA; IMP: Mont. Const. Art. X, sec. 9, 20-2-121, 20-3-106, 20-7-101, MCA
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