Monongalia Homeschoolers Association

AN ACT to amend and reenact section one, article eight, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to compulsory school attendance and permitting all children, including those with disabilities or special needs and those scoring in the "average range" of standardized testing to participate in home instruction without discrimination.

That section one, article eight, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

1 Compulsory school attendance shall begin with the

2 school year in which the sixth birthday is reached prior

3 to the first day of September of such year or upon

4 enrolling in a publicly supported kindergarten program

5 and continue to the sixteenth birthday.

6 Exemption from the foregoing requirements of

7 compulsory public school attendance shall be made on

8 behalf of any child for the following causes or conditions,

9 each such cause or condition being subject to confirma-

10 tion by the attendance authority of the county:

11 Exemption A. Instruction in a private, parochial or

12 other approved school. - Such instruction shall be in a

13 school approved by the county board of education and

14 for a time equal to the school term of the county for the

15 year. In all such schools it shall be the duty of the

16 principal or other person in control, upon the request of

17 the county superintendent of schools, to furnish to the

18 county board of education such information and records

19 as may be required with respect to attendance, instruc-

20 tion and progress of pupils enrolled between the

21 entrance age and sixteen years;

22 Exemption B. Instruction in home or other approved

23 place. - (a) Such instruction shall be in the home of

24 such child or children or at some other place approved

25 by the county board of education and for a time equal

26 to the school term of the county. If such request for home

27 instruction is denied by the county board of education,

28 good and reasonable justification for such denial must

29 be furnished in writing to the applicant by the county

30 board of education. The instruction in such cases shall

31 be conducted by a person or persons who, in the

32 judgment of the county superintendent and county

33 board of education, are qualified to give instruction in

34 subjects required to be taught in the free elementary

35 schools of the state. It shall be the duty of the person

36 or persons providing the instruction, upon request of the

37 county superintendent, to furnish to the county board of

38 education such information and records as may be

39 required from time to time with respect to attendance,

40 instruction and progress of pupils enrolled between the

41 entrance age and sixteen years receiving such instruc-

42 tion. The state department of education shall develop

43 guidelines for the homeschooling of special education

44 students including alternative assessment measures to

45 assure that satisfactory academic progress is achieved.

46 (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of

47 this Exemption B, the person or persons providing home

48 instruction meet the requirements for Exemption B

49 when the conditions of this subsection are met: Provided,

50 That the county superintendent shall have the right to

51 seek from the circuit court of the county an order

52 denying the home instruction, which order may be

53 granted upon a showing of clear and convincing

54 evidence that the child will suffer educational neglect

55 or that there are other compelling reasons to deny home

56 instruction.

58 present to the county superintendent or county board of

59 education a notice of intent to provide home instruction

60 and the name and address of any child of compulsory

61 school age to be instructed: Provided, That if a child is

62 enrolled in a public school, notice of intent to provide

63 home instruction shall be given at least two weeks prior

64 to withdrawing such child from public school;

66 submit satisfactory evidence of (i) a high school diploma

67 or equivalent and (ii) formal education at least four

68 years higher than the most academically advanced child

69 for whom the instruction will be provided.

71 outline a plan of instruction for the ensuing school year;

72 and

74 shall annually obtain an academic assessment of the

75 child for the previous school year. This shall be satisfied

76 in one of the following ways:

78 takes a standardized test, to be administered at a public

79 school in the county where the child resides, or admin-

80 istered by a licensed psychologist or other person

81 authorized by the publisher of the test, or administered

82 by a person authorized by the countv superintendent or

83 county board of education. The child shall be adminis-

84 tered a test which has been normed by the test publisher

85 on that child's age or grade group. In no event may the

86 child's parent or legal guardian administer the test.

87 Where a test is administered outside of a public school,

88 the child's parent or legal guardian shall pay the cost

89 of administering the test. The public school or other

90 qualified person shall administer to children of compul-

91 sory school age the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills,

92 the California achievement test, the Stanford achieve-

93 ment test, or the Iowa tests of basic skills, achievement

94 and proficiency, or an individual standardized achieve-

95 ment test that is nationally normed and provides

96 statistical results which test will be selected by the

97 public school, or other person administering the test, in

98 the subjects of language, reading, social studies, science

99 and mathematics; and shall be administered under

100 standardized conditions as set forth by the published

101 instructions of the selected test. No test shall be

102 administered if the publication date is more than ten

103 years from the date of the administration of the test.

104 Each child's test results shall be reported as a national

105 percentile for each of the six subjects tested. Each

106 child's test results shall be made available on or before

107 the thirtieth day of June of the school year in which the

108 test is to be administered to the person or persons

109 providing home instruction, the child's parent or legal

110 guardian and the county superintendent. Upon request

Ill of a duly authorized representative of the West Virginia

112 department of education, each child's test results shall

113 be furnished by the person or persons providing home

114 instruction, or by the child's parent or legal guardian,

115 to the state superintendent of schools. Upon notification

116 of the mean of the child's test results for any single year

117 has fallen below the fortieth percentile, the county board

118 of education shall notify the parents or legal guardian

119 of said child, in writing, of the services available to

120 assist in the assessment of the child's eligibility for

121 special education services: Provided, That the identifi-

122 cation of a disability shall not preclude the continuation

123 of home schooling.

124 If the mean of the child's test results for any single

125 year for language, reading, social studies, science and

126 mathematics fall below the fortieth percentile on the

127 selected tests, then the person or persons providing

128 home instruction shall initiate a remedial program to

129 foster achievement above that level and the student shall

130 show improvement. If, after two calendar years. the

131 mean of the child's test results fall below the fortieth

132 percentile level, home instruction shall no longer satisfy

134 tion; or

135 (ii) The county superintendent is provided with a

136 written narrative indicating that a portfolio of samples

137 of the child's work has been reviewed and that the

138 child's academic progress for the year is in accordance

139 with the child's abilities. This narrative shall be

140 prepared by a certified teacher or other person mutually

141 agreed upon by the parent or legal guardian and the

142 county superintendent. It shall be submitted on or

143 before the thirtieth day of June of the school year

144 covered by the portfolio. The parent or legal guardian

145 shall be responsible for payment of fees charged for the

146 narrative; or

147 (iii) Evidence of an alternative academic assessment

148 of the child's proficiency mutually agreed upon by the

149 parent or legal guardian and the county superintendent

150 is submitted to the county superintendent by the

151 thirtieth day of June of the school year being assessed.

152 The parent or legal guardian shall be responsible for

153 payment of fees charged for the assessment.

154 The superintendent or a designee shall offer such

155 assistance, including textbooks, other teaching materials

156 and available resources, as may assist the person or

157 persons providing home instruction subject to their

158 availability. Any child receiving home instruction may,

159 upon approval of the county board of education, exercise

160 the option to attend any class offered by the county

161 board of education as the person or persons providing

162 home instruction may deem appropriate subject to

163 normal registration and attendance requirements:

164 Exemption C. Physical or mental incapacity.--

165 Physical or mental incapacity shall consist of incapacity

166 for school attendance and the performance of school

167 work. In all cases of prolonged absence from school due

168 to incapacity of the child to attend, the written state-

170 shall be required under the provisions of this article:

171 Provided, That in all cases incapacity shall be narrowly

172 defined and in no case shall the provisions of this article

173 allow for the exclusion of the mentally, physically,

174 emotionally or behaviorally handicapped child otherwise

175 entitled to a free appropriate education;

176 Exemption D. Residence more than two miles from

177 school or school bus route. - The distance of residence

178 from a school, or school bus route providing free

179 transportation, shall be reckoned by the shortest

180 practicable road or path, which contemplates travel

181 through fields by right of permission from the land-

182 holders or their agents. It shall be the duty of the county

183 board of education, subject to written consent of

184 landholders, or their agents, to provide and maintain

185 safe foot bridges across streams off the public highways

186 where such are required for the safety and welfare of

187 pupils whose mode of travel from home to school or to

188 school bus route must necessarily be other than along

189 the public highway in order for said road or path to be

190 not over two miles from home to school or to school bus

191 providing free transportation;

192 Exemption E. Hazardous conditions.- Conditions

193 rendering school attendance impossible or hazardous to

194 the life, health or safety of the child;

195 Exemption F. High school graduation. - Such exemp-

196 tion shall consist of regular graduation from a standard

197 senior high school;

198 Exemption G. Granting work permits. - The county

199 superintendent may, after due investigation, grant work

200 permits to youths under sixteen years of age, subject to

201 state and federal labor laws and regulations: Provided,

202 That a work permit may not be granted on behalf of any

203 youth who has not completed the eighth grade of school;

204 Exemption H. Serious illness or death in the immediate

205 family of the pupil. - It is expected that the county

206 attendance director will ascertain the facts in all cases

207 of such absences about which information is inadequate

208 and report same to the county superintendent of schools;

209 Exemption I. Destitution in the home. - Exemption

210 based on a condition of extreme destitution in the home

211 may be granted only upon the written recommendation

212 of the county attendance director to the county super-

213 intendent following careful investigation of the case. A

214 copy of the report confirming such condition and school

215 exemption shall be placed with the county director of

216 public assistance. This enactment contemplates every

217 reasonable effort that may properly be taken on the part

218 of both school and public assistance authorities for the

219 relief of home conditions officially recognized as being

220 so destitute as to deprive children of the privilege of

221 school attendance. Exemption for this cause shall not be

222 allowed when such destitution is relieved through public

223 or private means;

224 Exemption J. Church ordinances; observances of

225 regular church ordinances - The county board of

226 education may approve exemption for religious instruc-

227 tion upon written request of the person having legal or

228 actual charge of a child or children: Provided, That such

229 exemption shall be subject to the rules prescribed by the

230 county superintendent and approved by the county

231 board of education;

232 Exemption K. Alternative private, parochial, church or

233 religious school instruction. - In lieu of the provisions

234 of Exemption A hereinabove, exemption shall be made

235 for any child attending any private school, parochial

236 school, church school, school operated by a religious

237 order, or other nonpublic school which elects to comply

238 with the provisions of article twenty-eight, chapter

239 eighteen of the code of West Virginia.

240 The completion of the eighth grade shall not exempt

241 any child under sixteen years of age from the compul-

242 sory attendance provision of this article: Provided, That

243 there is a public high school or other public school of

244 advanced grades or a school bus providing free trans-

245 portation to any such school, the route of which is within

246 two miles of the child's home by the shortest practicable

247 route or path as hereinbefore specified under Exemp-

248 tion D of this section.

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