November 19, 2008, Introduced by Rep. Alma Smith and referred to the Committee on Education.
A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled
"The revised school code,"
by amending sections 1561 and 1596 (MCL 380.1561 and 380.1596),
section 1561 as amended by 1996 PA 339, and by adding section 1591.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1561. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section,
every parent, guardian, or other person in this state having
control and charge of a child from the age of 6 to the child's
sixteenth
eighteenth birthday shall send that child to a public
school during the entire school year. The child's attendance shall
be continuous and consecutive for the school year fixed by the
school district in which the child is enrolled. In a school
district that maintains school during the entire calendar year and
in which the school year is divided into quarters, a child is not
required to attend the public school more than 3 quarters in 1
calendar year, but a child shall not be absent for 2 or more
consecutive quarters.
(2) A child becoming 6 years of age before December 1 shall be
enrolled on the first school day of the school year in which the
child's sixth birthday occurs. A child becoming 6 years of age on
or after December 1 shall be enrolled on the first school day of
the school year following the school year in which the child's
sixth birthday occurs.
(3) A child is not required to attend a public school in any
of the following cases:
(a) The child is attending regularly and is being taught in a
state approved nonpublic school, which teaches subjects comparable
to those taught in the public schools to children of corresponding
age and grade, as determined by the course of study for the public
schools of the district within which the nonpublic school is
located.
(b) The child is less than 9 years of age and does not reside
within 2-1/2 miles by the nearest traveled road of a public school.
If transportation is furnished for pupils in the school district of
the child's residence, this subdivision does not apply.
(c) The child is age 12 or 13 and is in attendance at
confirmation classes conducted for a period of 5 months or less.
(d) The child is regularly enrolled in a public school while
in attendance at religious instruction classes for not more than 2
class hours per week, off public school property during public
school hours, upon written request of the parent, guardian, or
person in loco parentis under rules promulgated by the state board.
(e) The child has graduated from high school or has fulfilled
all requirements for high school graduation.
(f) The child is being educated at the child's home by his or
her parent or legal guardian in an organized educational program in
the subject areas of reading, spelling, mathematics, science,
history, civics, literature, writing, and English grammar.
(4) For a child being educated at the child's home by his or
her parent or legal guardian, exemption from the requirement to
attend public school may exist under either subsection (3)(a) or
(3)(f), or both.
(5) If the program is offered in the school district in which
the pupil resides, a child age 16 or 17 may satisfy the school
attendance requirements of this section by attending a program
under section 1591 according to the requirements of that section.
(6) If a child age 16 or 17 provides to the school district
proof that he or she is engaged in regular employment averaging 25
or more hours per week and that the employment is necessitated by
economic hardship or family need, the child may satisfy the school
attendance requirements of this section by attending a public
school at least 15 hours per week.
(7) This section does not apply to a child who is at least age
16 if the child's parent or legal guardian has provided to school
officials of the school district in which the child resides a
written notice that the child has the permission of the parent or
legal guardian to stop attending school. The notice shall include
an explanation of the reason or reasons why the child is leaving
school before graduation.
(8) If a school district receives a notice under subsection
(7), the board of the school district shall provide to the state
board a report that includes all of the following:
(a) A description of the type and number of intervention
attempts made to keep the child in school, which may include offers
of transfer to another school or to an alternative education
program.
(b) Follow-up documentation of the child's educational and
employment status after the child leaves school. This documentation
shall be submitted for the date 6 months after the child stopped
attending school, the date 1 year after the child stopped attending
school, the date 18 months after the child stopped attending
school, and the date 2 years after the child stopped attending
school, until the child has reached age 18.
(9) The state board shall promulgate rules specifying the
requirements for the notice under subsection (7) and specifying the
form and manner of the report under subsection (8).
Sec. 1591. (1) A school board may offer any of the following,
and a pupil age 16, 17, or 18 may complete some or all of the
requirements for a high school diploma by successfully completing 1
or a combination of the following:
(a) An alternative education program approved by the
department.
(b) A program of vocational education that includes
apprenticeship or work study and that requires the pupil to attend
school at least 10 hours per week for the entire school year.
(c) A program of independent study that is approved by the
school district and meets state board guidelines for independent
study.
(d) Academic coursework at a community college.
(2) A community college or, upon request by the board of a
constituent district, an intermediate school board, either solely
or as part of a consortium of intermediate school districts, may
provide services or conduct cooperative educational programs
related to a program described in subsection (1). An intermediate
school board may charge a constituent district for the costs of
services provided under this subsection.
Sec.
1596. (1) The board of a school district other than a
primary
school district may establish 1 or
more ungraded schools
for
the instruction of certain pupils classified described in
subsection (2). The board may require the pupils to attend an
ungraded school or a department of the school as the board directs.
(2)
The following cases of persons, aged Except for a child
described
in section 1561(7), a child age 7 to the
sixteenth his or
her
eighteenth birthday residing who resides in the school district
shall
be deemed and who meets 1 or
more of the following is
considered
a juvenile disorderly persons person and
in the judgment
of the proper school authorities may be assigned to the ungraded
school or department:
(a)
Class 1, habitual truants A
habitual truant from the
school
in which they are he or
she is enrolled as pupils a pupil.
(b)
Class 2, children A child who, while attending school, are
is
incorrigibly turbulent, disobedient,
and insubordinate , or who
are
is immoral in conduct.
(c)
Class 3, children A child who are is not attending school
and
who habitually frequent frequents
streets and other public
places, having no lawful business, employment, or occupation.