People talk about school boards like they run everything. They don't. Click any layer below to see who decides what, from the U.S. Constitution down to your kid's classroom.
14 layers · sourced from federal & Montana law, court rulings, and the BSD7 policy library
Last verified: · sources linked on this page
A school board sits in the middle of a stack, operating within federal and state law from above, and delegating downward through policy to the people who do the actual work.
This map covers every layer of that stack for Bozeman School District 7. The layers above the board are things trustees cannot change. The board itself is where elected authority lives. The layers below are where the board delegates execution through policy. And at the top, above all of it: the students the whole stack is for.
Click a layer to open it.
What it’s all for
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The board operates within
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Where elected authority lives
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Board delegates downward through policy
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Students Above the board The board Below the board
The whole thing
Students
Every layer on this map, from the U.S. Constitution down to a single classroom decision, exists for the students at the top of it.
The district’s mission
“Bozeman Public Schools exists to ensure high-level learning for all students.” It comes from the district’s Long-Range Strategic Plan and is printed in every board meeting packet. The board chair reads it aloud to open each meeting, and it’s printed on the back of the trustees’ nameplates.
Student representatives report to the board near the start of each regular meeting, as agenda item 2.1. It’s the one standing slot where students speak to the trustees directly.
The Constitution doesn't mention schools. But several amendments still shape what BSD7 and every other board in America can do. These aren't optional. They override state law, board decisions, and whatever a town might prefer.
First Amendment
Students retain free speech rights at school (with limits). The board cannot establish or endorse religion, and cannot retaliate against speech it dislikes. This is the basis for student expression cases, religious neutrality in curriculum, and limits on book removals.
The board cannot promote, endorse, or appear to endorse any religion. This applies to graduation prayers, classroom religious displays, and curriculum that favors creationism or intelligent design. Tested repeatedly in federal court.
No student can be denied equal access to public education based on race, national origin, or other protected characteristics. This is the foundation for desegregation, language access, and equal treatment of undocumented students.
Students facing suspension or expulsion have a right to notice and a hearing. The board cannot remove a student without process, no matter how disruptive the behavior.
Congress has attached conditions to federal education funding that BSD7 accepts. Refusing the money is theoretically possible but practically isn't. These laws function as mandates.
Title IX (1972)
Prohibits sex-based discrimination in any federally funded education program, including athletics, sexual harassment and pregnancy. BSD7 must have a Title IX coordinator and grievance procedures. The rules in force are the 2020 federal regulations: a 2024 rule that extended Title IX to gender identity was struck down nationwide on January 9, 2025 (Tennessee v. Cardona). In June 2026 the Supreme Court read “sex” in Title IX as biological sex, in a case about school sports (West Virginia v. B.P.J.).
Guarantees a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to every child with a disability. Requires individualized education programs (IEPs), least restrictive environment, and procedural safeguards. This drives BSD7's special education staffing, budgets, and legal exposure.
Broader than IDEA. Covers any student with a disability that substantially limits a major life activity, even if they don't qualify for an IEP. BSD7 must provide accommodations (504 plans) and cannot exclude students from programs based on disability.
Governs who can access student records. Parents (and students over 18) have the right to inspect and correct records. The district cannot release personally identifiable information without consent, with narrow exceptions. Shapes BSD7's records policies and data practices.
Requires parental consent before students are surveyed on sensitive topics (political beliefs, sexual behavior, religion, etc.). Gives parents the right to inspect instructional materials. Directly relevant to BSD7's survey and curriculum review policies.
Replaced No Child Left Behind. Requires annual testing in reading and math (grades 3-8 and once in high school), public reporting of results disaggregated by subgroup, and accountability plans. Montana implements this through the Statewide Performance Assessment (MontCAS).
Requires BSD7 to identify homeless students, remove enrollment barriers, provide transportation to school of origin, and appoint a homeless liaison. Students cannot be segregated or stigmatized based on housing status.
If BSD7 allows any non-curriculum student clubs, it must allow all of them, including religious clubs, political clubs, and GSA-type organizations. The board cannot selectively deny access based on the viewpoint of the group.
Prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in federally funded programs. Requires meaningful access for English learners. This is the legal foundation for BSD7's ELL services.
Supreme Court and federal court rulings have set real limits on what a school board can do. BSD7 has to follow them, same as every other district. Not suggestions. Law.
Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)
“Students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate.” Schools can restrict speech only when it causes substantial disruption or invades the rights of others. BSD7 cannot punish student expression just because it's uncomfortable.
A plurality of the Supreme Court said school boards may not remove library books simply because they dislike the ideas in them, or use their discretion “in a narrowly partisan or political manner.” A plurality opinion does not bind lower courts the way a majority does, and courts now disagree: the Fifth Circuit rejected that approach in 2025 (Little v. Llano County), and the Supreme Court declined to review that case in December 2025. Relevant to any BSD7 book challenge.
Intelligent design is religious doctrine, not science. A school board that mandates teaching it violates the First Amendment. While a district court decision, it is the most thorough judicial analysis of this question and has not been overturned.
Undocumented children have the right to free public education. BSD7 cannot require proof of immigration status as a condition of enrollment, and cannot use enrollment data to identify undocumented families.
Title VII's ban on sex discrimination in employment covers sexual orientation and gender identity, and it applies to BSD7 as an employer. Whether the same reasoning reaches students under Title IX split the lower courts. The 2024 federal rule that applied it to schools was vacated in 2025, and in 2026 the Supreme Court read Title IX's “sex” as biological sex for athletics (West Virginia v. B.P.J.).
Montana's constitution is unusually strong on education. Article X doesn't just permit public education. It mandates it and explicitly grants authority to local trustees.
Article X, Section 1: Educational goals and duties
“It is the goal of the people to establish a system of education which will develop the full educational potential of each person. Equality of educational opportunity is guaranteed to each person of the state.” This is the constitutional floor. BSD7 must meet it.
“The supervision and control of schools in each school district shall be vested in a board of trustees.” This is the constitutional source of the BSD7 board's authority. The legislature can set frameworks, but cannot strip trustees of supervisory control. This is what makes Montana school boards powerful relative to other states.
Montana has an explicit constitutional right of privacy, stronger than the federal implied right. This limits BSD7's ability to collect, share, or mandate disclosure of personal information about students and families.
The Montana legislature sets the framework BSD7 operates within. Some of these laws are longstanding; others are recent and politically charged. Several are in legal flux.
SB 99: Human sexuality instruction notification (2021)
Requires schools to notify parents before any instruction related to human sexuality and allow opt-out. Defines “human sexuality” broadly. BSD7 must build notification procedures into health curriculum delivery.
Allows school districts to participate in a statewide insurance trust. Potentially changes how BSD7 manages employee health insurance costs, one of the largest budget line items.
School funding formula (Title 20, Chapter 9)
Montana's guaranteed tax base formula determines BSD7's base funding per student (ANB). The board can levy additional mills up to permitted limits, but the formula caps total revenue. Inflationary adjustments are set by the legislature, not the board.
Montana law limits girls' and women's school teams to students born female. HB 112 (2021) still applies to K-12 schools; the Montana Supreme Court struck it down in 2024 only as applied to universities. HB 300 (2025, in effect October 1, 2025) makes it discrimination to let a student born male compete on a girls' team or use girls' locker rooms, in K-12 and college. In June 2026 the Supreme Court held that Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause allow states to separate teams by biological sex (West Virginia v. B.P.J.).
The state sets minimum certification requirements for teachers and administrators. BSD7 cannot hire uncertified teachers for positions that require certification, and must verify credentials through the Montana Office of Public Instruction.
The state sets minimum credit requirements for high school graduation. BSD7 can add to these requirements but cannot reduce them. This shapes Bozeman High and Gallatin High's course offerings and scheduling.
School employees are mandatory reporters of suspected child abuse or neglect. This is not optional and not a board policy decision. It's state law. BSD7's role is to train staff and ensure compliance.
All BSD7 board meetings must be open to the public, with limited exceptions for personnel, litigation, and student discipline. Meeting agendas must be posted in advance. The board cannot deliberate or take action in closed session except where specifically authorized.
Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (2020) held that Montana could not exclude religious schools from its tax-credit scholarship program. Further school choice legislation could redirect public funds away from BSD7.
The board operates within
State agencies and associations
Montana's laws don't enforce themselves. A handful of state offices set standards, interpret the rules, and sometimes tell BSD7 directly what it has to do.
Office of Public Instruction (OPI)
Montana's state education agency, headed by the elected Superintendent of Public Instruction. Administers federal funds, manages teacher certification, oversees accreditation standards, and collects performance data. OPI doesn't tell BSD7 what to teach, but it sets the framework for accountability.
A constitutionally created body (Article X, Section 9) that adopts administrative rules for K-12 education. Sets accreditation standards (ARM 10.55), which define minimum requirements for school programs, staffing ratios, and facilities. BSD7 must maintain accreditation.
Governs interscholastic athletics and activities. Sets eligibility rules, transfer rules, and competition classifications. BSD7 voluntarily participates but is bound by MHSA rules once enrolled. The board doesn't control athletic eligibility. MHSA does.
Sets local health requirements that affect school operations: immunization verification, communicable disease protocols, food service inspections, and indoor air quality. During public health emergencies, health department orders can override normal school operations.
Not a regulatory body but deeply influential. Provides model policy templates (which BSD7 has adopted extensively), legal guidance, training, and legislative advocacy. Many BSD7 policies track MTSBA templates closely.
State Auditor's Office / Commissioner of Securities and Insurance
Regulates insurance products available to school districts. Relevant to employee benefits, liability coverage, and the HB 332 insurance trust option.
Where elected authority lives
BSD7 Board of Trustees
This is the layer where elected authority sits. Eight trustees, elected by the voters of Bozeman School District 7. The board's job is governance: setting direction through policy, hiring the superintendent, approving budgets, and overseeing how the district performs. The board does not manage day-to-day operations.
What the board does not doRun schools day to day, manage buildings, or direct staff. It does vote on teacher contracts, textbook adoptions and student expulsions, usually on the superintendent's recommendation. The rest is delegated through policy to the superintendent.
Board delegates through policy
BSD7 district policy library
When the BSD7 board votes on a rule, it lands in the district policy library. That library is nine numbered series (1000 through 9000) covering everything from board meeting rules to bus routes. Staff have to follow what's in it.
Many of these policies closely track MTSBA model templates, but the board has the authority to modify, add, or remove policies at any time through a public adoption process.
Browse all nine policy series, 361 policies plus 216 forms and procedures, searchable and sorted, in the standalone policy explorer.
The board hires the superintendent, who answers directly to the board and runs BSD7 day to day. The superintendent builds a team to handle specific areas like curriculum, HR, and buildings.
The board sets policy; the superintendent decides how to implement it. This boundary is the most important structural feature of school governance, and the one most frequently misunderstood.
Superintendent delegates to
Central office departments
Between the superintendent and the schools sits Bozeman School District 7's central office. They handle the decisions that have to be the same across every BSD7 school: curriculum, hiring, budgets, the tech every school runs on. Everyone in central office answers to the superintendent.
Curriculum and instruction
Selects instructional materials, designs curriculum scope and sequence, manages professional development, and coordinates state assessment compliance. Implements policies in the 2000 series.
Business services
Manages district finances, payroll, purchasing, and budget preparation. Implements policies in the 7000 series. Prepares the budget the board ultimately approves.
Human resources
Handles recruitment, hiring, employee relations, contract management, and personnel records. Implements policies in the 5000 series. The board approves personnel actions but HR does the work.
Special education
Manages IEP development, 504 plans, related services, and IDEA compliance. The highest-stakes compliance area in the district. Errors here generate lawsuits. Implements federal law through district process.
Student health and wellness
Coordinates school nursing, mental health services, crisis response, and wellness programs. Implements policies in the 3000 series related to student welfare.
Technology
Manages network infrastructure, student devices, data systems, and cybersecurity. Implements the technology acceptable use and data privacy policies.
Facilities and maintenance
Maintains buildings, manages construction projects, handles safety inspections, and plans capital improvements. Implements policies in the 9000 series.
Transportation
Plans bus routes, manages the fleet, handles McKinney-Vento transportation, and ensures safety compliance. Implements policies in the 8000 series.
Food services
Runs school meal programs, manages USDA compliance, handles free/reduced lunch eligibility, and oversees kitchen operations. Implements policies in the 8000 series.
Central office delegates to
Building level
This is where policy meets students. Building-level staff implement the systems that central office designs within the framework that board policy sets within the framework that state and federal law set. The board is four layers removed from a classroom decision.
Leadership
Principals: building CEOs; manage staff, enforce policy, set school culture
Nurses: health screening, medication administration, emergency care
Paraprofessionals: classroom support, special education aides, one-on-one assistance
Support staff: office, custodial, food service, bus drivers
Where it all lands
Individual decisions
At the bottom of the stack are the specific decisions that people care about. Each one is governed by layers of authority above it. When someone asks “why did the school do X?” the answer is usually somewhere in this stack.
Book challenges
Governed by First Amendment (Pico), board policy on instructional materials, and the librarian's professional judgment. The board sets the review process; it doesn't pick the books.
Student discipline
Governed by Fourteenth Amendment due process, IDEA protections for students with disabilities, board discipline policy, and building-level discretion. Expulsion requires board action; suspension is an administrative decision.
Classroom content
Governed by state standards, board-adopted curriculum, SB 99 notification requirements, and teacher professional judgment. Teachers have latitude within the adopted curriculum but cannot freelance outside it.
Counseling and mental health
Governed by FERPA, Montana privacy law, mandatory reporting statutes, and board student welfare policies. Counselors make professional judgments within these guardrails.
Accommodations and IEPs
Governed by IDEA, Section 504, and district special education procedures. These are legally binding documents. The school must provide what the IEP says. Individual decisions are made by IEP teams, not the board.
Hiring
Governed by state certification requirements, board personnel policies, collective bargaining agreements, and anti-discrimination law. The board approves hires but doesn't conduct interviews or select candidates.
Where it all begins
Parents and community
Every layer above this one (the laws, the policies, the staff, the decisions) exists to support what happens here. Parents and caregivers provide what no school can: a safe, consistent, loving home for their student. That's the foundation everything else is built on.
The community's role doesn't stop at the household. Neighbors, employers, nonprofits, coaches, faith communities, and volunteers all shape the environment kids grow up in. The school system is one part of that ecosystem, not the whole thing.
What parents and families do
Provide a safe, stable home. Make sure kids show up rested, fed, and ready to learn. Stay involved: read with your kids, attend conferences, ask questions. Model the behavior you want your children to carry into the world.
What the community does
Vote in school board elections. Show up to board meetings. Volunteer in classrooms. Support organizations like Thrive that work with Bozeman students and families.
Want to see what schools do?
The services catalog lists every program, service, and job BSD7 performs today, with the historical context for how each one came to be a school's responsibility.