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14  AN ACT concerning schools; relating to the compulsory attendance age
15    of children; amending K.S.A. 72-1111, as amended by section 121 of
16    chapter 229 of the 1996 Session Laws of Kansas, and K.S.A. 1995 Supp.
17    72-1113, as amended by section 122 of chapter 229 of the 1996 Session
18    Laws of Kansas, and repealing the existing sections; also repealing
19    K.S.A. 72-1111 and K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 72-1113.
20
21  Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
22    Section 1.  K.S.A. 72-1111, as amended by section 121 of chapter 229
23  of the 1996 Session Laws of Kansas, is hereby amended to read as follows:
24  72-1111. (a) Subject to the other provisions of this section, every parent
25  or person acting as parent in the state of Kansas, who has control over or
26  charge of any child who has reached the age of seven years and is under
27  the age of 18 16 18  years and has not attained a high school diploma,
28  and has not attained a high school diploma or a general educational
29  development (GED) credential shall require such child to attend con-
30  tinuously each school year (1) a public school for the duration of the
31  school term provided for in K.S.A. 72-1106, and amendments thereto, or
32    (2) a private, denominational or parochial school taught by a competent
33  instructor for a period of time which is substantially equivalent to the
34  period of time public school is maintained in the school district in which
35  the private, denominational or parochial school is located. If the child is
36  16 or 17 years of age, the parent or person acting as parent, by written
37  consent, or the court, pursuant to a court order, may allow the child to
38  be exempt from the compulsory attendance requirements of this section.
39  If the child is 16 or 17 years of age and is regularly enrolled in a program
40  recognized by the local board of education as an approved alternative
41  educational program, the child shall be exempt from the compulsory at-
42  tendance requirements of this section. If the child is 16 or 17 years of
43  age, the parent or person acting as parent, by written consent, or
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 1  the court, pursuant to a court order, may allow the child to be
 2  exempt from the compulsory attendance requirements of this sec-
 3  tion.
 4    (b)  If the child is 16 or 17 years of age, the child shall be exempt
 5  from the compulsory attendance requirements of this section if the
 6  child and the parent or person acting as parent attend a final coun-
 7  seling session conducted by the school during which a disclaimer to
 8  encourage the child to remain in school or to pursue educational
 9  alternatives is presented to and signed by the child and the parent
10  or person acting as parent. The disclaimer shall be in substantial
11  compliance with the following form:
12                                        Disclaimer for being a High School Drop-Out
13  The undersigned accept full responsibility for the child being a High School Drop-
14  Out. The undersigned furthermore release the administrators, faculty and staff of
15  the school from all liability with regard to any and all incidents that may transpire
16  because of the child being a High School Drop-Out.
17  Administrators, faculty and staff of the school cannot guarantee the success of any
18  child who drops out of school. Therefore, each parent and each person acting as
19  parent of a child is strongly discouraged from signing this disclaimer and allowing
20  the child to leave school.
21  By signing this disclaimer I acknowledge that a child who is a High School Drop-
22  Out will not have the necessary skills to survive in the 21st Century. These skills
23  include:
24  Reading                                           Responsibility
25  Writing                                           Self-esteem
26  Arithmetic/Mathematics                            Sociability
27  Listening                                         Self-management
28  Speaking                                          Being a team member
29  Thinking Skills                                   Being able to work with
30  Decision making                                     cultural diversity
31  Problem solving                                   Leadership
32  Seeing things in the mind's eye                   Evaluating information
33  Knowing how to learn                              Interpreting information
34  Using computing to process
35      information
36  _____________________________________________________________________ (Parent or Person Acting as Parent Signature)
37  ____________ (Child Signature)      ____________ (Date)
38    [(b)  If the child is 16 or 17 years of age, the child shall be exempt
39  from the compulsory attendance requirements of this section if (1)
40  the child is regularly enrolled in a program recognized by the local
41  board of education as an approved alternative educational pro-
42  gram, or (2) the child and the parent or person acting as parent
43  attend a final counseling session conducted by the school during
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 1  which a disclaimer to encourage the child to remain in school or to
 2  pursue educational alternatives is presented to and signed by the
 3  child and the parent or person acting as parent. The disclaimer shall
 4  include information regarding the academic skills that the child has
 5  not yet achieved, the difference in future earning power between a
 6  high school graduate and a high school drop out, and a listing of
 7  educational alternatives that are available for the child.]
 8    (b) (c)  Any child who is under the age of seven years, but who is
 9  enrolled in school, is subject to the compulsory attendance requirements
10  of this section. Any such child may be withdrawn from enrollment in
11  school at any time by a parent or person acting as parent of the child and
12  thereupon the child shall be exempt from the compulsory attendance
13  requirements of this section until the child reaches the age of seven years
14  or is re-enrolled in school.
15    (c) (d)  Any child who is determined to be an exceptional child, except
16  for an exceptional child who is determined to be a gifted child, under the
17  provisions of the special education for exceptional children act is subject
18  to the compulsory attendance requirements of such act and is exempt
19  from the compulsory attendance requirements of this section.
20    (d) (e)  No child attending public school in this state shall be required
21  to participate in any activity which is contrary to the religious teachings
22  of the child if a written statement signed by one of the parents or a person
23  acting as parent of the child is filed with the proper authorities of the
24  school attended requesting that the child not be required to participate
25  in such activities and stating the reason for the request.
26    (e) (f)  When a recognized church or religious denomination that ob-
27  jects to a regular public high school education provides, offers and
28  teaches, either individually or in cooperation with another recognized
29  church or religious denomination, a regularly supervised program of in-
30  struction, which is approved by the state board of education, for children
31  of compulsory school attendance age who have successfully completed
32  the eighth grade, participation in such a program of instruction by any
33  such children whose parents or persons acting as parents are members
34  of the sponsoring church or religious denomination shall be regarded as
35  acceptable school attendance within the meaning of this act. Approval of
36  such programs shall be granted by the state board of education, for two-
37  year periods, upon application from recognized churches and religious
38  denominations, under the following conditions: (1) Each participating
39  child shall be engaged, during each day on which attendance is legally
40  required in the public schools in the school district in which the child
41  resides, in at least five hours of learning activities appropriate to the adult
42  occupation that the child is likely to assume in later years;
43    (2)  acceptable learning activities, for the purposes of this subsection,
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 1  shall include parent (or person acting as parent) supervised projects in
 2  agriculture and homemaking, work-study programs in cooperation with
 3  local business and industry, and correspondence courses from schools
 4  accredited by the national home study council, recognized by the United
 5  States office of education as the competent accrediting agency for private
 6  home study schools;
 7    (3)  at least 15 hours per week of classroom work under the supervi-
 8  sion of an instructor shall be provided, at which time students shall be
 9  required to file written reports of the learning activities they have pursued
10  since the time of the last class meeting, indicating the length of time spent
11  on each one, and the instructor shall examine and evaluate such reports,
12  approve plans for further learning activities, and provide necessary as-
13  signments and instruction;
14    (4)  regular attendance reports shall be filed as required by law, and
15  students shall be reported as absent for each school day on which they
16  have not completed the prescribed minimum of five hours of learning
17  activities;
18    (5)  the instructor shall keep complete records concerning instruction
19  provided, assignments made, and work pursued by the students, and these
20  records shall be filed on the first day of each month with the state board
21  of education and the board of education of the school district in which
22  the child resides;
23    (6)  the instructor shall be capable of performing competently the
24  functions entrusted thereto;
25    (7)  in applying for approval under this subsection a recognized church
26  or religious denomination shall certify its objection to a regular public
27  high school education and shall specify, in such detail as the state board
28  of education may reasonably require, the program of instruction that it
29  intends to provide and no such program shall be approved unless it fully
30  complies with standards therefor which shall be specified by the state
31  board of education;
32    (8)  if the sponsors of an instructional program approved under this
33  subsection fail to comply at any time with the provisions of this subsection,
34  the state board of education shall rescind, after a written warning has
35  been served and a period of three weeks allowed for compliance, approval
36  of the programs, even though the two-year approval period has not
37  elapsed, and thereupon children attending such program shall be admit-
38  ted to a high school of the school district.
39    (f) (g)  As used in this section, the terms ``parent'' and ``person acting
40  as parent'' have the meanings respectively ascribed thereto in K.S.A. 72-
41  1046, and amendments thereto.
42    Sec. 2.  K.S.A. 1995 Supp. 72-1113, as amended by section 122 of
43  chapter 229 of the 1996 Session Laws of Kansas, is hereby amended to
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 1  read as follows: 72-1113. (a) Each board of education shall designate one
 2  or more employees who shall report to the secretary of social and reha-
 3  bilitation services, or a designee thereof, all cases of children who are less
 4  than 13 years of age and are not attending school as required by law, and
 5  to the appropriate county or district attorney, or a designee thereof, all
 6  cases of children who are 13 or more years of age but less than 18 16 18
 7  years of age and are not attending school as required by law. The desig-
 8  nation shall be made no later than September 1 of each school year and
 9  shall be certified no later than 10 days thereafter by the board of edu-
10  cation to the secretary of social and rehabilitation services, or the designee
11  thereof, to the county or district attorney, or the designee thereof, and
12  to the commissioner of education. The commissioner of education shall
13  compile and maintain a list of the designated employees of each board of
14  education.
15    (b)  Whenever a child is required by law to attend school, and the
16  child is not enrolled in a public or nonpublic school, the child shall be
17  considered to be not attending school as required by law and a report
18  thereof shall be made in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a)
19  by a designated employee of the board of education of the school district
20  in which the child resides. The provisions of this subsection are subject
21  to the provisions of subsection (d).
22    (c) (1)  Whenever a child is required by law to attend school and is
23  enrolled in school, and the child is inexcusably absent therefrom on either
24  three consecutive school days or five school days in any semester or seven
25  school days in any school year, whichever of the foregoing occurs first,
26  the child shall be considered to be not attending school as required by
27  law. A child is inexcusably absent from school if the child is absent there-
28  from all or a significant part of a school day without a valid excuse ac-
29  ceptable to the school employee designated by the board of education to
30  have responsibility for the school attendance of such child.
31    (2)  Each board of education shall adopt rules for determination of
32  valid excuse for absence from school and for determination of what shall
33  constitute a ``significant part of a school day'' for the purpose of this
34  section.
35    (3)  Each board of education shall designate one or more employees,
36  who shall each be responsible for determining the acceptability and va-
37  lidity of offered excuses for absence from school of specified children, so
38  that a designee is responsible for making such determination for each
39  child enrolled in school.
40    (4)  Whenever a determination is made in accordance with the pro-
41  visions of this subsection that a child is not attending school as required
42  by law, the designated employee who is responsible for such determina-
43  tion shall make a report thereof in accordance with the provisions of
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 1  subsection (a).
 2    (5)  The provisions of this subsection are subject to the provisions of
 3  subsection (d).
 4    (d) (1)  Prior to making any report under this section that a child is
 5  not attending school as required by law, the designated employee of the
 6  board of education shall serve written notice thereof, by personal delivery
 7  or by first class mail, upon a parent or person acting as parent of the child.
 8  The notice shall inform the parent or person acting as parent that con-
 9  tinued failure of the child to attend school without a valid excuse will
10  result in a report being made to the secretary of social and rehabilitation
11  services or to the county or district attorney. Upon failure, on the school
12  day next succeeding personal delivery of the notice or within three school
13  days after the notice was mailed, of attendance at school by the child or
14  of an acceptable response, as determined by the designated employee, to
15  the notice by a parent or person acting as parent of the child, the desig-
16  nated employee shall make a report thereof in accordance with the pro-
17  visions of subsection (a). The designated employee shall submit with the
18  report a certificate verifying the manner in which notice was provided to
19  the parent or person acting as parent.
20    (2)  Whenever a law enforcement officer assumes temporary custody
21  of a child who is found away from home or school without a valid excuse
22  during the hours school is actually in session, and the law enforcement
23  officer delivers the child to the school in which the child is enrolled or to
24  a location designated by the school in which the child is enrolled to ad-
25  dress truancy issues, the designated employee of the board of education
26  shall serve notice thereof upon a parent or person acting as parent of the
27  child. The notice may be oral or written and shall inform the parent or
28  person acting as parent of the child that the child was absent from school
29  without a valid excuse and was delivered to school by a law enforcement
30  officer.
31    (e)  Whenever the secretary of social and rehabilitation services re-
32  ceives a report required under this section, the secretary shall investigate
33  the matter. If, during the investigation, the secretary determines that the
34  reported child is not attending school as required by law, the secretary
35  shall institute proceedings under the code for care of children. If, during
36  the investigation, the secretary determines that a criminal prosecution
37  should be considered, the secretary shall make a report of the case to the
38  appropriate law enforcement agency.
39    (f)  Whenever a county or district attorney receives a report required
40  under this section, the county or district attorney shall investigate the
41  matter. If, during the investigation, the county or district attorney deter-
42  mines that the reported child is not attending school as required by law,
43  the county or district attorney shall prepare and file a petition alleging
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 1  that the child is a child in need of care. If, during the investigation, the
 2  county or district attorney determines that a criminal prosecution is nec-
 3  essary, the county or district attorney shall commence the same.
 4    (g)  As used in this section, ``board of education'' means the board of
 5  education of a school district or the governing authority of a nonpublic
 6  school. The provisions of this act shall apply to both public and nonpublic
 7  schools.
 8    Sec. 3.  K.S.A. 72-1111 and K.S.A. 72-1111, as amended by section
 9  121 of chapter 229 of the 1996 Session Laws of Kansas, and K.S.A. 1995
10  Supp. 72-1113, as amended by section 122 of chapter 229 of the 1996
11  Session Laws of Kansas, and K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 72-1113 are hereby re-
12  pealed.
13    Sec. 4.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
14  publication in the statute book.