X.9 Boards of Education
1972 Montana Constitution
(Contained in Article X - Education and Public Lands)
Section 9. BOARDS OF EDUCATION. (1) There is a state board of education composed of the board of regents of higher education and the board of public education. It is responsible for long-range planning, and for coordinating and evaluating policies and programs for the state’s educational systems. It shall submit unified budget requests. A tie vote at any meeting may be broken by the governor, who is an ex officio member of each component board.
(2) (a) The government and control of the Montana university system is vested in a board of regents of higher education which shall have full power, responsibility, and authority to supervise, coordinate, manage and control the Montana university system and shall supervise and coordinate other public educational institutions assigned by law. (b) The board consists of seven members appointed by the governor, and confirmed by the senate, to overlapping terms, as provided by law. The governor and superintendent of public instruction are ex officio non-voting members of the board. (c) The board shall appoint a commissioner of higher education and prescribe his term and duties. (d) The funds and appropriations under the control of the board of regents are subject to the same audit provisions as are all other state funds.
(3) (a) There is a board of public education to exercise general supervision over the public school system and such other public educational institutions as may be assigned by law. Other duties of the board shall be provided by law. (b) The board consists of seven members appointed by the governor, and confirmed by the senate, to overlapping terms as provided by law. The governor, commissioner of higher education and state superintendent of public instruction shall be ex officio non-voting members of the board.
History
[History includes the sources, drafting, and ratification of the provision.]
Sources
[Sources include preceding constitutions including Montana 1884, Montana 1889, other state constitutions and other textual sources of the provision.]
1884 Montana Constitution (proposed)
(Contained in Article IX - Education)
Sec. 11. The Legislative Assembly may provide for the election of all school officers, including Regents of the University, at separate elections from those at which other State or county officers are voted for.
Sec. 12. At the first general election provided for by law there shall be elected by the qualified electors of the State, nine Regents of the University, who shall at their first meeting be so classified by lot that three shall hold officer for two years, three for four years, and three for six years: and every two years thereafter there shall be elected three Regents, whose term of office shall be six years, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution. The Regents so elected, and their successors, shall constitute a body corporate to be known by the name and style of "The Regents of the University of Montana." Such Regents shall receive no salary, but shall be allowed all actual and necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of their official duties.
Sec. 13. The Regents of the University shall, as soon as practicable and they may deem necessary, elect a President of the University, who shall hold his office for the term of four years, unless before that time he be removed for cause. He shall be ex-officio a member of the board, with the privilege of speaking but not voting, except in case of a tie. He shall preside at the meeting of the board, and be the principal executive officer of the University, and a member of the faculty thereof.
Sec. 14. The board of Regents shall have, under such regulation and restriction as may be prescribed by law, the general supervision of the University, and the control, direction, and disposition of the lands and moneys granted to the State for University purposes by the General Government, not inconsistent with the terms of the grant; and of all grants, gifts, devises, and bequests or appropriations from the General Government, the State, or from any other source whatever, for the exclusive use and benefit of the University of Montana; and said board shall further provide for the safe and profitable investment of all funds, derived from whatever source, intended for the permanent endowment of said University, under such regulations and restrictions as may be prescribed by law, the State being guarantor against the loss or diversion of any part thereof.
1889 Montana Constitution
(Contained in Article XI - Education)
Sec. 11. The general control and supervision of the state university and the various other state educational institutions shall be vested in a state board of education, whose powers and duties shall be prescribed and regulated by law. The said board shall consist of eleven members, the governor, state superintendent of public instruction, and attorney general, being members ex-officio; the other eight members thereof shall be appointed by the governor; subject to the confirmation of the senate, under the regulations and restrictions and restrictions to be provided by law.
Amendments from 1889 -1971
1969 - An amendment proposed by the legislature to create a separate appointive board of education and a separate board of regents for the University System never reached the ballot because the Supreme Court ruled that constitutional amendments had to be signed by the governor. Montana Constitutional Convention Memorandums: Constitutional Amendments 1889-1971, Education pg. 2 (1971)
Comment From the Legislative Council Report
COMMENT to Section 11: One of the six constitutions used for comparative purposes provides for a board of regents, one provides for an appointive board of education, and one provides for an elective board of education. One of the three (Michigan) makes the governor a nonvoting ex officio member. The Council concludes that this section should be repealed and replaced by a statute if necessary. Montana Constitutional Convention Occasional Papers: Legislative Council Report on the Montana Constitution, Chapter XII: Article XI - Education, pg. 54-55 (1971)
Comparison With Other States
COMMENT: The provisions of Section 11 were taken generally from Section 12, 13 and 14 of the 1884 Constitution.
In 1959 an amendment would have made the board of education appointive by the governor with the confirmation of the Senate and would have excluded the governor, superintendent of public instruction, and attorney general from said board, was rejected. This amendment did not appear on the ballot; it was declared unconstitutional in State ex. rel. Livingston v. Murray, decided July 21, 1960.
ALASKA: The University of Alaska shall be governed by a board of regents. The regents shall be appointed by the governor, subject to confirmation of a majority of the members of the legislature in joint session. The board shall, in accordance with law, formulate policy and appoint the president of the university. He shall be the executive officer of the board (Section 3, Article VII).
HAWAII: There shall be a board of education, the members of which shall be nominated and, by which the advice and consent of the senate, appointed by the governor from panels submitted by local school advisory councils to be established by law... (Part of Section 2, Article IX).
MICHIGAN: The state board of education shall consist of eight members who shall be nominated by party conventions and elected at large for terms of eight years as prescribed by law. The governor shall fill any vacancy by appointment for the unexpired term. The governor shall be ex-officio member of the state board of education without the right to vote. (Section 3, Article VIII).
NEW JERSEY: No comparable section in Article VIII.
PUERTO RICO: No comparable section in Article II.
MODEL STATE CONSTITUTION: No comparable section in Article IX.Montana Constitutional Convention Occasional Papers: Comparison of the Montana Constitution with the Constitutions of Selected Other States, Article XI pg. 11 (1971).
Constitutional Provisions Proposed by Constitution Revision Commission Subcommittees
Section Transferred: The general control and supervision of the state university and the various other state educational institutions shall be vested in a state board of education, whose powers and duties shall be prescribed and regulated by law. The said board shall consist of eleven members, the governor, state superintendent of public instruction, and attorney general, being members ex-officio; the other eight members thereof shall be appointed by the governor; subject to the confirmation of the senate, under the regulations and restrictions to be provided by law. [Article XI, Section 11]
Comment: The subcommittee deferred making a recommendation on this section until it could be harmonized with the recommendations of the executive and legislative subcommittee. See comment to proposed Section 8 of the Executive Article for recommendations. Montana Constitutional Convention Occasional Papers: Constitutional Provisions Proposed by Constitution Revision Commission Subcommittee, Education pg. 185-184 (1971).
Drafting
[Drafting includes the original delegate proposals, committee reports, floor debates, and votes during the Convention on the provision. For referred and initiated amendments, include the legislative process (for referred amendments), ballot statements, and votes.]
Ratification
[Ratification includes official and unofficial and unofficial voter guides, commentary, and contemporaneous reporting about the provision.]