Introduced Version
Senate Bill 177 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 177
(By Senators Walters, Blair, Boley, Carmichael, Cole, Sypolt,
Wells and Nohe)
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[Introduced February 15, 2013; referred to the Committee on
Education; and then to the Committee on Finance .]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §18-8-2 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to penalties for primary and
secondary school students for excessive tardy minutes.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-8-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8. COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.
§18-8-2. Offenses; penalties; cost of prosecution.
Any person who, after receiving due notice, shall fail to
cause a child or children under eighteen years of age in that
person's legal or actual charge to attend school in violation of
the provisions of this article or without just cause, shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor and, shall, upon conviction of a first
offense, be fined not less than $50 nor more than $100 together with the costs of prosecution, or required to accompany the child
to school and remain through the school day for so long as the
magistrate or judge may determine is appropriate. The magistrate
or judge, upon conviction and pronouncing sentence, may delay the
sentence for a period of sixty school days provided the child is in
attendance everyday during said sixty-day period. Following the
sixty-day period, if said the child was present at school for every
school day, the delayed sentence may be suspended and not enacted.
Upon conviction of a second offense, a fine may be imposed of not
less than $50 nor more than $100 together with the costs of
prosecution and the person may be required to accompany the child
to school and remain throughout the school day until such time as
the magistrate or judge may determine is appropriate or confined in
jail not less than five nor more than twenty days. Every day a
child is out of school contrary to the provisions of this article
shall constitute a separate offense. Magistrates shall have
concurrent jurisdiction with circuit courts for the trial of
offenses arising under this section.
Any person eighteen years of age or older who is enrolled in
school who, after receiving due notice, fails to attend school in
violation of the provisions of this article or without just cause,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction of a
first offense, be fined not less than $50 nor more than $100
together with the costs of prosecution and required to attend school and remain throughout the school day. The magistrate or
judge, upon conviction and pronouncing sentence, may delay the
imposition of a fine for a period of sixty school days provided the
person is in attendance every day during said the sixty-day period.
Following the sixty-day period, if said the student was present at
school everyday, the delayed sentence may be suspended and not
enacted. Upon conviction of a second offense, a fine may be
imposed of not less than $50 nor more than $100 together with the
costs of prosecution and the person may be required to go to school
and remain throughout the school day until such time as the person
graduates or withdraws from school or confined in jail not less
than five nor more than twenty days. Every day a student is out of
school contrary to the provisions of this article shall constitute
a separate offense. Magistrates shall have concurrent jurisdiction
with circuit courts for the trial of offenses arising under this
section.
Upon conviction of a third offense, any person eighteen years
of age or older who is enrolled in school shall be withdrawn from
school during the remainder of that school year. Enrollment of
that person in school during the next school year or years
thereafter shall be conditional upon all absences being excused as
defined in law, state board policy and county board of education
policy. More than one unexcused absence of such a the student
shall be grounds for the director of attendance to authorize the school to withdraw the person for the remainder of the school year.
Magistrates shall have concurrent jurisdiction with circuit courts
for the trial of offenses arising under this section.
All unexcused tardy minutes shall be calculated by all West
Virginia Public Schools, primary and secondary and counted as
absences toward student's school attendance record effective at the
beginning of the 2013/2014 school year. All unexcused minutes a
student is tardy at the beginning of a school day shall be
calculated and recorded and when the minutes for any student
reaches half a school day then the student will be charged with
half an absence. Those absences any student accumulates from tardy
minutes shall be counted and enforced exactly as unexcused absences
that are eligible for prosecution for guardians and students. The
accumulated absences from unexcused tardy minutes shall be enforced
and prosecuted to the same extent as stated for absences in this
section.
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____________________________________________NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to assess penalties for
excessive tardy minutes for primary and secondary school students.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.