Senate Bill No. 21
(By Senator Ross)
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[Introduced January 14, 2004; referred to the Committee on
Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §18-8-1, §18-8-4 and §18-8-7 of the
code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend and
reenact §18-28-2 and §18-28-3, all relating to extending the
compulsory period of school attendance to age eighteen.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-8-1, §18-8-4 and §18-8-7
of the code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that
§18-28-2 and §18-28-3
of said code be amended and reenacted, all to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 8. COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.
§18-8-1. Commencement and termination of compulsory school
attendance; exemptions.
(a) Compulsory school attendance shall begin with the school
year in which the sixth birthday is reached prior to the first day
of September or upon enrolling in a publicly supported kindergarten program and continue to the
sixteenth eighteenth birthday.
Exemption from the foregoing requirements of compulsory public
school attendance shall be made on behalf of any child for the
causes or conditions set forth in this section. Each cause or
condition set forth in this section
shall be is subject to
confirmation by the attendance authority of the county.
(b) A child
shall be is exempt from the compulsory school
attendance requirement set forth in subsection (a) of this section
if the requirements of this subsection, relating to instruction in
a private, parochial or other approved school, are met. The
instruction shall be in a school approved by the county board and
for a time equal to the instructional term set forth in section
forty-five, article five of this chapter. In all private,
parochial or other schools approved pursuant to this subsection it
shall be is the duty of the principal or other person in control,
upon the request of the county superintendent, to furnish to the
county board such information and records as may be required with
respect to attendance, instruction and progress of pupils enrolled
between the entrance age and
sixteen eighteen years.
(c) A child
shall be is exempt from the compulsory school
attendance requirement set forth in subsection (a) of this section
if the requirements of either subdivision (1) of this subsection or
subdivision (2) of this subsection, both relating to home
instruction, are met.
(1) The instruction shall be in the home of the child or
children or at some other place approved by the county board and
for a time equal to the instructional term set forth in section
forty-five, article five of this chapter. If the request for home
instruction is denied by the county board, good and reasonable
justification for the denial shall be furnished in writing to the
applicant by the county board. The instruction shall be conducted
by a person or persons who, in the judgment of the county
superintendent and county board, are qualified to give instruction
in subjects required to be taught in public elementary schools in
the state. The person or persons providing the instruction, upon
request of the county superintendent, shall furnish to the county
board information and records as may be required, from time to
time, with respect to attendance, instruction and progress of
pupils enrolled between the entrance age and
sixteen eighteen years
receiving the instruction. The state board shall develop
guidelines for the home schooling of special education students
including alternative assessment measures to assure that
satisfactory academic progress is achieved.
(2) The child meets the requirements set forth in this
subdivision:
Provided, That the county superintendent may seek
from the circuit court of the county an order denying home
instruction of the child. The order may be granted upon a showing
of clear and convincing evidence that the child will suffer neglect in the child's education or that there are other compelling reasons
to deny home instruction.
(A) Annually, the person or persons providing home instruction
shall present to the county superintendent or county board a notice
of intent to provide home instruction and the name, address, age
and grade level of any child of compulsory school age to be
instructed:
Provided, That if a child is enrolled in a public
school, notice of intent to provide home instruction shall be given
at least two weeks prior to withdrawing such child from public
school;
(B) The person or persons providing home instruction shall
submit satisfactory evidence of a high school diploma or
equivalent;
(C) The person or persons providing home instruction shall
outline a plan of instruction for the ensuing school year; and
(D) On or before the thirtieth day of June of each year the
person or persons providing home instruction shall obtain an
academic assessment of the child for the previous school year and
submit the results to the county superintendent. When the academic
assessment takes place outside of a public school, the parent or
legal guardian shall pay the cost. The requirement of an academic
assessment shall be satisfied in one of the following ways:
(i) The child receiving home instruction takes a nationally
normed standardized achievement test to be administered under standardized conditions as set forth by the published instructions
of the selected test in the subjects of reading, language,
mathematics, science and social studies:
Provided, That in no
event may the child's parent or legal guardian administer the test.
The publication date of the chosen test
shall may not be more than
ten years from the date of the administration of the test. The
child
shall be is considered to have made acceptable progress when
the mean of the child's test results in the required subject areas
for any single year meets or exceeds the fiftieth percentile or, if
below the fiftieth percentile, shows improvement from the previous
year's results;
(ii) The child participates in the testing program currently
in use in the state's public schools. The test shall be
administered to the child at a public school in the county of
residence. Determination of acceptable progress will be based on
current guidelines of the state testing program;
(iii) The county superintendent is provided with a written
narrative indicating that a portfolio of samples of the child's
work has been reviewed and that the child's academic progress for
the year is in accordance with the child's abilities. If the
narrative indicates that the child's academic progress for the year
is in accordance with the child's abilities, the child
shall be is
considered to have made acceptable progress. This narrative shall
be prepared by a certified teacher whose certification number shall be provided. The narrative shall include a statement about the
child's progress in the areas of reading, language, mathematics,
science and social studies and shall note any areas which, in the
professional opinion of the reviewer, show need for improvement or
remediation; or
(iv) The child completes an alternative academic assessment of
proficiency that is mutually agreed upon by the parent or legal
guardian and the county superintendent. Criteria for acceptable
progress shall be mutually agreed upon by the same parties; and
(E) When the annual assessment fails to show acceptable
progress as defined under the appropriate assessment option set
forth in paragraph (D) of this subdivision, the person or persons
providing home instruction shall initiate a remedial program to
foster acceptable progress and the county board shall notify the
parents or legal guardian of the child, in writing, of the services
available to assist in the assessment of the child's eligibility
for special education services:
Provided, That the identification
of a disability
shall may not preclude the continuation of home
schooling. In the event that the child does not achieve acceptable
progress as defined under the appropriate assessment option set
forth in paragraph (D) of this subdivision for a second consecutive
year, the person or persons providing instruction shall submit to
the county superintendent additional evidence that appropriate
instruction is being provided.
(3) This subdivision applies to both home instruction
exemptions set forth in subdivisions (1) and (2) of this
subsection. The county superintendent or a designee shall offer
such assistance, including textbooks, other teaching materials and
available resources, as may assist the person or persons providing
home instruction subject to their availability. Any child
receiving home instruction may upon approval of the county board
exercise the option to attend any class offered by the county board
as the person or persons providing home instruction may consider
appropriate subject to normal registration and attendance
requirements.
(d) A child
shall be is exempt from the compulsory school
attendance requirement set forth in subsection (a) of this section
if the requirements of this subsection, relating to physical or
mental incapacity, are met. Physical or mental incapacity consists
of incapacity for school attendance and the performance of school
work. In all cases of prolonged absence from school due to
incapacity of the child to attend, the written statement of a
licensed physician or authorized school nurse
shall be is required
under the provisions of this article:
Provided, That in all cases,
incapacity shall be narrowly defined and in no case
shall may the
provisions of this article allow for the exclusion of the mentally,
physically, emotionally or behaviorally handicapped child otherwise
entitled to a free appropriate education.
(e) A child
shall be is exempt from the compulsory school
attendance requirement set forth in subsection (a) of this section
if conditions rendering school attendance impossible or hazardous
to the life, health or safety of the child exist.
(f) A child
shall be is exempt from the compulsory school
attendance requirement set forth in subsection (a) of this section
upon regular graduation from a standard senior high school.
(g) A child
shall be is exempt from the compulsory school
attendance requirement set forth in subsection (a) of this section
if the child is granted a work permit pursuant to this subsection.
The county superintendent may, after due investigation, grant work
permits to youths under
sixteen eighteen years of age, subject to
state and federal labor laws and regulations:
Provided, That a
work permit may not be granted on behalf of any youth who has not
completed the eighth grade of school.
(h) A child
shall be is exempt from the compulsory school
attendance requirement set forth in subsection (a) of this section
if a serious illness or death in the immediate family of the pupil
has occurred. It is expected that the county attendance director
will ascertain the facts in all cases of such absences about which
information is inadequate and report the facts to the county
superintendent.
(i) A child
shall be is exempt from the compulsory school
attendance requirement set forth in subsection (a) of this section if the requirements of this subsection, relating to destitution in
the home, are met. Exemption based on a condition of extreme
destitution in the home may be granted only upon the written
recommendation of the county attendance director to the county
superintendent following careful investigation of the case. A copy
of the report confirming the condition and school exemption shall
be placed with the county director of public assistance. This
enactment contemplates every reasonable effort that may properly be
taken on the part of both school and public assistance authorities
for the relief of home conditions officially recognized as being so
destitute as to deprive children of the privilege of school
attendance. Exemption for this cause
shall may not be allowed when
the destitution is relieved through public or private means.
(j) A child
shall be is exempt from the compulsory school
attendance requirement set forth in subsection (a) of this section
if the requirements of this subsection, relating to church
ordinances and observances of regular church ordinances, are met.
The county board may approve exemption for religious instruction
upon written request of the person having legal or actual charge of
a child or children:
Provided, That the exemption
shall be is
subject to the rules prescribed by the county superintendent and
approved by the county board.
(k) A child
shall be is exempt from the compulsory school
attendance requirement set forth in subsection (a) of this section if the requirements of this subsection, relating to alternative
private, parochial, church or religious school instruction, are
met. Exemption shall be made for any child attending any private
school, parochial school, church school, school operated by a
religious order or other nonpublic school which elects to comply
with the provisions of article twenty-eight of this chapter.
(l) The completion of the eighth grade
shall may not exempt
any child under
sixteen eighteen years of age from the compulsory
attendance provision of this article.
§18-8-4. Duties of attendance director and assistant directors;
complaints, warrants and hearings.
(a) The county attendance director and the assistants shall
diligently promote regular school attendance. They shall ascertain
reasons for inexcusable absences from school of pupils of
compulsory school age and students who remain enrolled beyond the
sixteenth eighteen birthday as defined under this article and shall
take such steps as are, in their discretion, best calculated to
correct attitudes of parents and pupils which result in absences
from school even though not clearly in violation of law.
(b)
In the case of If there are five consecutive or ten total
unexcused absences of a child during a school year, the attendance
director or assistant shall serve written notice to the parent,
guardian or custodian of
such the child that the attendance of
such
the child at school is required and that within ten days of receipt of the notice the parent, guardian or custodian, accompanied by the
child, shall report in person to the school the child attends for
a conference with the principal or other designated representative
of the school in order to discuss and correct the circumstances
causing the inexcusable absences of the child; and if the parent,
guardian or custodian does not comply with the provisions of this
article, then the attendance director or assistant shall make
complaint against the parent, guardian or custodian before a
magistrate of the county. If it appears from the complaint that
there is probable cause to believe that an offense has been
committed and that the accused has committed it, a summons or a
warrant for the arrest of the accused shall issue to any officer
authorized by law to serve the summons or to arrest persons charged
with offenses against the state. More than one summons or warrant
may be issued on the same complaint. The summons or warrant shall
be executed within ten days of its issuance.
(c) The magistrate court clerk, or the clerk of the circuit
court performing the duties of the magistrate court as authorized
in section eight, article one, chapter fifty of this code, shall
assign the case to a magistrate within ten days of execution of the
summons or warrant. The hearing shall be held within twenty days
of the assignment to the magistrate, subject to lawful continuance.
The magistrate shall provide to the accused at least ten days'
advance notice of the date, time and place of the hearing.
(d) When any doubt exists as to the age of a child absent from
school, the attendance director
shall have authority to may require
a properly attested birth certificate or an affidavit from the
parent, guardian or custodian of such child, stating age of the
child. The county attendance director or assistant,
shall in the
performance of his or her duties,
have authority to may take
without warrant any child absent from school in violation of the
provisions of this article and to place
such the child in the
school in which
such the child is or should be enrolled.
(e) The county attendance director shall devote such time as
is required by section three of this article to the duties of
attendance director in accordance with this section during the
instructional term and at such other times as the duties of an
attendance director are required. All attendance directors hired
for more than two hundred days may be assigned other duties
determined by the superintendent during the period in excess of two
hundred days. The county attendance director
shall be is
responsible under direction of the county superintendent for the
efficient administration of school attendance in the county.
(f) In addition to those duties directly relating to the
administration of attendance, the county attendance director and
assistant directors shall also perform the following duties:
(1) Assist in directing the taking of the school census to see
that it is taken at the time and in the manner provided by law;
(2) Confer with principals and teachers on the comparison of
school census and enrollment for the detection of possible
nonenrollees;
(3) Cooperate with existing state and federal agencies charged
with enforcement of child labor laws;
(4) Prepare a report for submission by the county
superintendent to the state superintendent of schools on school
attendance, at such times and in such detail as may be required.
The state board shall promulgate a legislative rule pursuant to
article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code that sets forth
student absences that shall be excluded for accountability
purposes. The absences that shall be excluded by the rule shall
include, but not be limited to, excused student absences, students
not in attendance due to disciplinary measures and absent students
for whom the attendance director has pursued judicial remedies to
compel attendance to the extent of his or her authority. The
attendance director shall file with the county superintendent and
county board of education at the close of each month a report
showing activities of the school attendance office and the status
of attendance in the county at the time;
(5) Promote attendance in the county by the compilation of
data for schools and by furnishing suggestions and recommendations
for publication through school bulletins and the press, or in such
manner as the county superintendent may direct;
(6) Participate in school teachers' conferences with parents
and students;
(7) Assist in such other ways as the county superintendent may
direct for improving school attendance;
(8) Make home visits of students who have excessive unexcused
absences, as provided above, or if requested by the chief
administrator, principal or assistant principal; and
(9) Serve as the liaison for homeless children and youth.
§18-8-7. Aiding or abetting violations of compulsory attendance;
penalty.
Any person who induces or attempts to induce any child or
student unlawfully to absent himself or herself from school, or who
harbors or employs any child or student of compulsory school age or
any student over
sixteen eighteen years of age who is enrolled in
a school while the school to which he or she belongs and which he
or she is required to attend is in session, or who employs
such the
child or student within the term of such school on any day
such the
school is in session without the written permission of the county
superintendent of schools, or for a longer period than
such the
work permit may specify
shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than twenty-five
nor more than fifty dollars and may be confined in
the county or
regional jail not less than ten nor more than thirty days,
or both
fined and imprisoned.
ARTICLE 28. PRIVATE, PAROCHIAL OR CHURCH SCHOOLS, OR SCHOOLS OF A
RELIGIOUS ORDER.
§18-28-2. Attendance; health and safety regulations.
Each private, parochial or church school or school of a
religious order shall observe a minimum instructional term of one
hundred eighty days with an average of five hours of instruction
per day, and shall make and maintain annual attendance and disease
immunization records for each pupil enrolled and regularly
attending classes.
Such The attendance records shall be made
available to the parents or legal guardians. Upon the request of
the county superintendent of schools, any school to which this
applies (or a parents organization composed of the parents or
guardians of children enrolled in said school) shall furnish to the
county board of education a list of the names and addresses of all
children enrolled in such school between the ages of seven and
sixteen eighteen years. Attendance by a child at any school to
which this article relates and which complies with this article
shall satisfy the requirements of compulsory school attendance.
Each such school
shall be is subject to reasonable fire, health and
safety inspections by state, county and municipal authorities as
required by law, and shall further be required to comply with the
West Virginia school bus safety regulations.
§18-28-3. Standardized testing requirements.
(a) Each private, parochial or church school or school of a religious order or other nonpublic school electing to operate under
this statute in lieu of the approval requirements set forth as part
of section one, article eight, chapter eighteen, exemption A shall
administer on an annual basis during each school year to every
child enrolled therein between the ages of seven and
sixteen
eighteen years either the comprehensive test of basic skills, the
California achievement test, the Stanford achievement test or the
Iowa tests of basic skills tests of achievement and proficiency,
which test will be selected by the chief administrative officer of
each school in the subjects of English, grammar, reading, social
studies, science and mathematics; and shall be administered under
standardized conditions as set forth by the published instructions
of the selected test:
Provided, That any private, parochial,
church school, school of a religious order or other nonpublic
school that exclusively teaches special education students or
children with learning disabilities
shall may not be required to
comply with this subsection or subsection (d) of this section, but
shall academically assess every child enrolled therein between the
ages of seven and
sixteen eighteen years on an annual basis during
each school year by one or more of the following methods: (1) A
standardized group achievement test; (2) a standardized individual
achievement test; (3) a written narrative of an evaluation of a
portfolio of samples of a child's work; (4) an alternative academic
assessment of the child's proficiency as mutually agreed by the county superintendent, parent(s) or legal guardian(s) and the
school.
(b) Each child's testing results and the school composite test
results shall be made available to such child's parents or legal
guardians. Upon request of a duly authorized representative of the
West Virginia department of education, the school composite test
results shall be furnished by the school or by a parents
organization composed of the parents or guardians of children
enrolled in said school to the state superintendent of schools.
(c) Each school to which this article applies shall:
(1) Establish curriculum objectives, the attainment of which
will enable students to develop the potential for becoming literate
citizens.
(2) Provide an instructional program that will make possible
the acquisition of competencies necessary to become a literate
citizen.
(d) If
such the school composite test results for any single
year for English, grammar, reading, social studies, science and
mathematics fall below the fortieth percentile on the selected
tests, the school as herein described shall initiate a remedial
program to foster achievement above that level. If after two
consecutive calendar years school composite test results are not
above the fortieth percentile level, attendance at the school may
no longer satisfy the compulsory school attendance requirement exemption of exemption K, section one, article eight, chapter
eighteen, until such time as the percentile standards herein set
forth are met.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to extend period of
compulsory school attendance to age eighteen.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.