WEST virginia legislature
2021 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 2785
By Delegates Worrell, D. Jeffries, Burkhammer, Fast, Pinson and Ellington
[Introduced February 26, 2021; Referred to the Committee on Education]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-8-1a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to requirements for compulsory school attendance; providing that parent and guardian make determination to remove child from kindergarten program; allowing enforcement of compulsory school attendance against anyone required to attend school; allowing students who attend certain Montessori programs enroll in first grade without further placement testing; and requiring out of state students be placed in the grade from which they transferred.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 8. COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.
§18-8-1a. Commencement and termination of compulsory school attendance; public school entrance requirements; exceptions.
(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of §18-8-1 of this code, compulsory school attendance begins with the school year in which the sixth birthday is reached prior to September 1 of such year or upon enrolling in a publicly supported kindergarten program and, subject to subdivision (3) of this subsection, continues to the 16th birthday or for as long as the student continues to be enrolled in a school system after the 16th birthday.
(1) A child may be removed
from such kindergarten program when the principal, teacher and parent or
guardian concur determine that the best interest of the child
would not be served by requiring further attendance. Provided,
That the principal shall make the final determination with regard to compulsory
school attendance in a publicly supported kindergarten program
(2) The compulsory school attendance provision of this article shall be enforced against a person 18 years of age or older for as long as the person continues to be who is enrolled in a school system and may not be enforced against the parent, guardian or custodian of the person.
(3) Notwithstanding the
provisions of §18-1-1 et seq. of this code, compulsory school attendance
begins with the school year in which the sixth birthday is reached prior to
September 1 of such year or upon enrolling in a publicly supported kindergarten
program and continues to the 17th birthday or for as long as the student
continues to be enrolled in a school system after the 17th birthday: Provided,
That beginning in the school year 2019-2020, compulsory school attendance
begins with the school year in which the sixth birthday is reached prior to
July 1 of such year or upon enrolling in a full-time publicly funded
supported kindergarten program.
(b) Attendance at a
state-approved or Montessori kindergarten, as provided in §18-5-18, is deemed
school attendance for purposes of this section. Prior to entrance A
child shall be placed into the first grade in accordance with §18-2-5 of
this code, without further placement testing if the each child must
have either :
(1) Successfully
completed such publicly or privately supported, state-approved kindergarten
program, or Montessori kindergarten program, homeschool program, or
HOPE Scholarship program; or
(2) Successfully completed an entrance test of basic readiness skills approved by the county in which the school is located. The test may be administered in lieu of kindergarten attendance only under extraordinary circumstances to be determined by the county board.
(c) Notwithstanding
the provisions of this section, section five, article two of this chapter
§18-2-5, and section
eighteen, article five of this chapter §18-5-18 of this code, a county board may provide for advanced entrance or
placement under policies adopted by said board for any child who has
demonstrated sufficient mental and physical competency for such entrance or
placement.
(d) This section
does not prevent a A student from another state, or who is
eligible to enroll in a public school in this state, from enrolling in
the shall be enrolled in the same grade in a public school in West
Virginia as the student was enrolled at the school from which the student
transferred. A transcript or other credential provided pursuant to §18-8-12
of this code shall be accepted by a public school in this state as a record of
a student’s previous academic performance for the purposes of placement and
credit assignment.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for compulsory school attendance; to provide that parent and guardian make the determination to remove child from kindergarten program; allow enforcement of compulsory school attendance against anyone required to attend school; allow students who attend certain Montessori programs enroll in first grade without further placement testing; and require out of state students be placed in the grade from which they transferred.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.