20-8-102. Objects and purposes -- assistance to programs -- tracking sensory impaired children -- fee. (1) The Montana school for the deaf and blind is a residential and day school for children and adolescents who are deaf or blind or whose hearing or sight is so defective that they cannot be successfully taught and are unable to receive a sufficient or proper education in the public schools of the state.

(2) The school shall serve as a consultative resource for parents of hearing impaired and visually impaired children not yet enrolled in an educational program and for public schools of the state where hearing impaired or visually impaired children are enrolled. The school upon request shall ensure that services and programs for hearing impaired or visually impaired children are appropriate and sufficient. The school may provide assistance to the programs that the school determines is needed. The school may collect a reasonable fee for the assistance from the public school or other responsible agency receiving the assistance.

(3) The school shall establish a system for tracking a child identified as hearing impaired or visually impaired from the time of impairment identification through the child's exit from intervention or educational services.

(4) The object and purpose of the school are to furnish and provide, by the use of specialized methods and systems, an education for the hearing impaired and visually impaired children of this state that is commensurate with the education provided to nonhandicapped children in the public schools and that will enable children being served by the school to become independent and self-sustaining citizens.