72-1111. Compulsory school attendance; exemptions.
72-1111
72-1111. Compulsory school attendance;exemptions.(a) Subject to the other provisions of this section, every parent orperson acting as parent in the state of Kansas, who hascontrol over or charge of any child who has reached the age of seven yearsand is under the age of 18 years and has not attained a highschool diploma or a general educational development (GED) credential, shallrequire suchchild to be regularly enrolled in and attend continuously each schoolyear (1) a public school for theduration of the school term provided for in K.S.A. 72-1106, andamendments thereto, or (2) a private,denominational or parochial school taught by a competent instructor fora period of time which is substantially equivalent to the period of timepublic school is maintained in the schooldistrict in which the private, denominational or parochial school is located.If the child is 16 or17 years of age, the parent or person acting as parent, by written consent, orthe court, pursuant to a court order, may allow the child to be exempt from thecompulsory attendance requirements of this section.
(b) If the child is 16 or 17 years of age, the child shall be exempt fromthe compulsory attendance requirements of this section if: (1) The childisregularly enrolled in and attending a program recognized by the localboard of education asan approved alternative educational program; (2) the childand theparent or person acting as parent attend a final counseling session conductedby the school during which a disclaimer to encourage the child to remain inschool or to pursue educational alternatives is presented to and signed by thechild and the parent or person acting as parent. The disclaimer shall includeinformation regarding the academic skills that the child has not yet achieved,the difference in future earning power between a high school graduate and ahigh school drop out, and a listing of educational alternatives that areavailable for the child; or (3) the child isregularly enrolled in a school as required by subsection (a) and isconcurrently enrolled in apostsecondary educational institution, as defined by K.S.A. 74-3201b, andamendments thereto. The provisions of this clause (3)shall be applicable to children from and after July 1, 1997 and shall relateback to such date.
(c) Any child who is under the age of seven years, but who isenrolledin school, is subject to the compulsory attendance requirements of thissection. Any such child may be withdrawn from enrollment in school at anytime by a parent orperson acting as parent of the child and thereupon the child shall beexempt from the compulsory attendance requirements of this section untilthe child reaches the age of seven years or is re-enrolled in school.
(d) Any child who is determined to be an exceptionalchild, except for an exceptional child who is determined to be a giftedchild, under theprovisions of the special educationfor exceptional children act is subject to thecompulsory attendance requirements of suchact and is exempt from the compulsory attendance requirements of this section.
(e) Any child who has been admitted to, and is attending, the Kansasacademy of mathematicsand science, as provided in K.S.A. 72-9711 et seq., and amendments thereto, isexempt from the compulsory attendance requirements of this section.
(f) No child attendingpublic school in this state shall be required to participate in anyactivity which is contrary to the religious teachings of the child ifa written statement signed by one of the parents or aperson acting as parent ofthe child is filed with the proper authorities of the school attendedrequesting that the child not be required to participate in suchactivities and stating the reason for the request.
(g) When a recognized church or religious denomination thatobjects to aregular public high school education provides, offers and teaches, eitherindividually or incooperation with another recognized church or religious denomination, aregularly supervised program of instruction, which isapproved by the state board of education, for children of compulsoryschool attendance age who have successfully completed the eighth grade,participation in such a program of instruction by any such childrenwhose parents or persons acting as parentsare members of the sponsoring church or religious denomination shall beregarded as acceptable school attendance within the meaning of this act.Approval of such programs shall be granted by the state board of education,for two-year periods, upon application from recognized churches andreligious denominations, under the following conditions:
(1) Eachparticipating child shall be engaged, during each day on whichattendance is legally required in the public schools in the schooldistrict in which the child resides, in at least five hours oflearning activities appropriate to the adult occupationthat the child islikely to assume in later years;
(2) acceptable learning activities, for the purposes of this subsection,shall include parent (or person acting asparent) supervised projects inagriculture and homemaking, work-study programs in cooperation withlocal business and industry, and correspondence courses from schoolsaccredited by the national home study council, recognized by the UnitedStates office of education as the competent accrediting agency forprivate home study schools;
(3) at least 15 hours per week of classroom work underthe supervision of an instructor shall beprovided, at which time students shall be required to file writtenreports of the learning activities they have pursued since the time ofthe last class meeting, indicating the length of time spent on each one,and the instructor shall examine and evaluate such reports,approve plansfor further learning activities, and provide necessary assignments andinstruction;
(4) regular attendance reports shall be filed as required by law,and students shall be reported as absent for each school day on whichthey have not completed the prescribed minimum of five hours oflearning activities;
(5) the instructor shall keep complete records concerning instructionprovided, assignments made, and work pursued by the students, and theserecords shall be filed on the first day of each month with the stateboard of education and the board of education of the school district inwhich the child resides;
(6) the instructor shall be capable of performing competently thefunctions entrusted thereto; and
(7) in applying for approval under this subsection a recognized churchor religious denomination shall certify its objection to a regularpublic high school education and shall specify, in such detail as thestate board of education may reasonably require, the program ofinstruction that it intends to provide and no such program shall beapproved unless it fully complies with standards therefor which shall bespecified by the state board of education.
If the sponsors of an instructional programapproved under this subsection fail to comply at any time with the provisionsof this subsection,the state board of education shall rescind, after a written warning has beenserved and a period of three weeks allowed for compliance,approval of the programs, even though the two-year approval periodhas not elapsed, and thereupon children attending such program shall beadmitted to a high school of the school district.
(h) As used in this section:
(1) "Parent" and "personacting asparent" have the meanings respectively ascribed thereto in K.S.A. 72-1046,and amendments thereto.
(2) "Regularly enrolled" means enrolled in five or more hours ofinstructioneach school day. For the purposes of subsection (b)(3), hours of instructionreceived at a postsecondary educational institution shall be counted.
History: L. 1874, ch. 123, § 1;L. 1903, ch. 423, § 1;L. 1919, ch. 272, § 1;L. 1923, ch. 182, § 1;R.S. 1923, 72-4801;L. 1965, ch. 409, § 1;L. 1968, ch. 356, § 1;L. 1969, ch. 316, § 1;L. 1976, ch. 310, § 1;L. 1980, ch. 217, § 3;L. 1984, ch. 263, § 1;L. 1996, ch. 229, § 121;L. 1997, ch. 157, § 1;Revived and Amend., L. 2004, ch. 185, § 1;L. 2008, ch. 118, § 1; July 1.