Senate Bill No. 339
(By Senators Miller and White)
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[Introduced February 8, 1996;
referred to the Committee on Education.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections three, four, six, seven and
eleven, article eight, chapter eighteen of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
all relating to education; compulsory school attendance;
county directors of attendance and their duties; refusal or
neglect of county directors of attendance and other persons
to perform duties; aiding or abetting violations of
compulsory attendance; school attendance as condition of
licensing for privilege of operation of motor vehicle; and
criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections three, four, six, seven and eleven, article
eight, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and
reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8. COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.
§18-8-3. Employment of county director of school attendance
and assistants; qualifications; salary and traveling
expenses; removal.
The county board of education of every county, not later
than the first day of August of each year, shall employ the
equivalent of a full-time certified county director of school
attendance if such county has a net enrollment of more than four
thousand pupils, at least a half-time director of school
attendance if such county has a net enrollment of less than four
thousand pupils and such assistant attendance directors as deemed
necessary. Such These persons shall have the written
recommendation of the county superintendent.
The county board of education may set up such special and
professional qualifications for attendance directors and
assistants as are deemed expedient and proper and are consistent
with regulations of the state board of education relating
thereto.
The attendance director or assistant director shall be paid
a monthly salary as fixed by the county board. Before receiving
such monthly salary, The attendance director or assistant
director shall file with the county superintendent a certified
statement showing the activities in school attendance service for
the month and the number of days actually spent in the
performance of such duties prepare attendance reports at the
request of the county superintendent.
The county board of education shall reimburse such employees
for their necessary traveling expenses upon presentation of a
monthly, itemized, sworn statement approved by the county
superintendent.
The power of removal of the county attendance director or an
assistant attendance director shall rest with the county board of
education: Provided, That reasons for contemplated dismissal
shall be reduced to writing, a copy of which shall be furnished
the director in question with opportunity to be heard in his own
behalf by the county board of education. The decision of the
county board of education shall be final.
§18-8-4. Duties of attendance director and assistant directors;
complaints, warrants and hearings.
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 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 results in absences
from school even though not clearly in violation of law.
In the case of five consecutive or ten total unexcused
absences of a child during a single semester, 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 such 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 such the parent,
guardian or custodian before a magistrate of the county. The
attendance director or assistant shall serve such notice for
other absences from school found to be in violation of law. For
any similar subsequent offense in any school year no notice shall
be required. 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.
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 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.
When any doubt exists as to the age of a child absent from
school, the attendance director shall have authority to require
a properly attested birth certificate or an affidavit from the
parent, guardian or custodian of such the child, stating age of
such the child. The county attendance director or assistant
shall, in the performance of his or her duties, have authority to
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.
The county attendance director shall devote such the 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
responsible under direction of the county superintendent for the
efficient administration of school attendance in the county.
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:
(a) 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;
(b) Confer with principals and teachers on the comparison of
school census and enrollment for the detection of possible
nonenrollees;
(c) Cooperate with existing state and federal agencies
charged with enforcement of child labor laws;
(d) 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
also, 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;
(e) 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 the manner as the county superintendent may
direct;
(f) Participate in school teachers' conferences with parents
and students;
(g) Assist in such other ways as the county superintendent
may direct for improving school attendance;
(h) Make home visits of students who have excessive
unexcused absences, as provided above, or if requested by the
chief administrator, principal or assistant principal;
(i) The attendance director shall serve as the liaison for
homeless children and youths.
§18-8-6. Refusal or neglect of county attendance director and
other persons to perform duties; penalty.
Any county director of attendance director or other person
upon whom a duty is imposed under provisions of this article, who
refuses or neglects to perform any duty or duties so imposed upon
him, shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not less than five nor more than fifty
dollars, and may be imprisoned not to exceed thirty days. In
addition thereto, said the director or person having been
convicted of refusal or negligence in the performance of duty as
imposed by this article shall be subject to removal from office
or position at the discretion of the county board of education.
§18-8-7. Aiding or abetting violations of compulsory
attendan
ce;
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 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 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 jail not less than ten nor more than thirty days.
§18-8-11. School attendance as condition of licensing for
privilege of operation of motor vehicle.
(a) In accordance with the provisions of sections three and
five, article two, chapter seventeen-b of this code, the division
of motor vehicles shall deny a license or instruction permit for
the operation of a motor vehicle to any person under the age of
eighteen who does not at the time of application present a
diploma or other certificate of graduation issued to the person
from a secondary high school of this state or any other state or
documentation that the person: (1) Is enrolled and making
satisfactory progress in a course leading to a general
educational development certificate (GED) from a state approved
institution or organization, or has obtained such the
certificate; (2) is enrolled in a secondary school of this state
or any other state; (3) is excused from such the requirement due
to circumstances beyond his or her control; or (4) is enrolled in
an institution of higher education as a full-time student in this state or any other state.
(b) The attendance director or chief administrator shall
provide documentation of enrollment status on a form approved by
the department of education to any student sixteen years of age
or older fifteen years of age but less than eighteen years of age
upon request who is properly enrolled in a school under the
jurisdiction of said official for presentation to the division of
motor vehicles on application for or reinstatement of an
instruction permit or license to operate a motor vehicle.
Whenever a student sixteen years of age or older fifteen years of
age but less than eighteen years of age withdraws from school,
except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, the
attendance director or chief administrator shall notify the
division of motor vehicles of such the withdrawal not later than
five days from the withdrawal date. Within five days of receipt
of such the notice, the division of motor vehicles shall send
notice to the licensee that the license will be suspended under
the provisions of section three, article two, chapter seventeen-b
of this code on the thirtieth day following the date the notice
was sent unless documentation of compliance with the provisions
of this section is received by the division of motor vehicles
before such time.
(c) For the purposes of this section, withdrawal shall be
defined as more than ten consecutive or fifteen days total
unexcused absences during a single semester school year. For the purposes of this section, suspension or expulsion from school or
imprisonment in a jail or a penitentiary is not a circumstance
beyond the control of such the person.
(d) Whenever the withdrawal from school of such the student,
or such the student's failure to enroll in a course leading to or
to obtain a GED or high school diploma, is beyond the control of
such any student, or is for the purpose of transfer to another
school as confirmed in writing by the student's parent or
guardian, no such notice shall be sent to the division of motor
vehicles to suspend the student's motor vehicle operator's
license, and if the student is applying for a license, the
attendance director or chief administrator shall provide the
student with documentation to present to the division of motor
vehicles to excuse such the student from the provisions of this
section. The school district superintendent (or the appropriate
school official of any private secondary school) with the
assistance of the county attendance director and any other staff
or school personnel shall be the sole judge of whether such the
withdrawal is due to circumstances beyond the control of such the
person.
NOTE: This bill requires the employment of full-time
certified county directors of school attendance. It provides for
compulsory school attendance of persons who remain enrolled in
school beyond the age of 16 years; and authorizes the issuance of
a summons by a magistrate in addition to being able to issue a
warrant for violations of school attendance requirements. The
bill changes procedure for reports prepared by the directors. It amends the provision relating to aiding or abetting violations of
compulsory attendance to include students over the age of 16
years. And, it makes attendance as condition of licensing for
privilege of operation of motor vehicle applicable to students 15
years of age but less than 18 years of age.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.