March 19, 2008, Introduced by Reps. Clack, Hammon, Constan, Johnson, Hammel, Vagnozzi, Alma Smith, Meadows, LeBlanc, Simpson, Robert Jones, Virgil Smith, Jackson, Leland, Bauer, Kathleen Law, Polidori, Corriveau, Ebli, Sheltrown, Wojno, Farrah, Miller and Dean and referred to the Committee on Education.
A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled
"The revised school code,"
by amending sections 1561 and 1578 (MCL 380.1561 and 380.1578),
section 1561 as amended by 1996 PA 339.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1561. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section,
every parent, guardian, or other person in this state having
control and charge of a child from the age of 6 to the child's
sixteenth birthday shall send that child to a public school during
the entire school year. The child's attendance shall be continuous
and consecutive for the school year fixed by the school district in
which the child is enrolled. In a school district that maintains
school during the entire calendar year and in which the school year
is divided into quarters, a child is not required to attend the
public school more than 3 quarters in 1 calendar year, but a child
shall not be absent for 2 or more consecutive quarters.
(2) A child becoming 6 years of age before December 1 shall be
enrolled on the first school day of the school year in which the
child's sixth birthday occurs. A child becoming 6 years of age on
or after December 1 shall be enrolled on the first school day of
the school year following the school year in which the child's
sixth birthday occurs.
(3) A child is not required to attend a public school in any
of the following cases:
(a) The child is attending regularly and is being taught in a
state approved nonpublic school, which teaches subjects comparable
to those taught in the public schools to children of corresponding
age and grade, as determined by the course of study for the public
schools of the district within which the nonpublic school is
located.
(b) The child is less than 9 years of age and does not reside
within 2-1/2 miles by the nearest traveled road of a public school.
If transportation is furnished for pupils in the school district of
the child's residence, this subdivision does not apply.
(c) The child is age 12 or 13 and is in attendance at
confirmation classes conducted for a period of 5 months or less.
(d) The child is regularly enrolled in a public school while
in attendance at religious instruction classes for not more than 2
class hours per week, off public school property during public
school hours, upon written request of the parent, guardian, or
person in loco parentis under rules promulgated by the state board.
(e) The child has graduated from high school or has fulfilled
all requirements for high school graduation.
(f) The child is being educated at the child's home by his or
her parent or legal guardian in an organized educational program in
the subject areas of reading, spelling, mathematics, science,
history, civics, literature, writing, and English grammar.
(4) For a child being educated at the child's home by his or
her parent or legal guardian, both of the following apply:
(a) The exemption from the requirement to attend public school
may exist under either subsection (3)(a) or (3)(f), or both.
(b) The exemption from the requirement to attend public school
exists only if the child's attendance is appropriately reported to
public school officials as required under section 1578.
Sec. 1578. (1) The appropriate authority of each nonpublic
school
at the beginning of the each
school year shall furnish all
of the following to the superintendent of schools of the school
district in which the nonpublic school is situated or the
intermediate superintendent:
(a) The name and age of each child who is enrolled at the
school.
(b) The number or name of the school district and the city or
township and county in which the parent, guardian, or person in
parental relation resides.
(c) The name and address of the parent, guardian, or other
person in parental relation.
(d) The name and age of each child enrolled in the school who
is not in regular attendance.
(2) The parent or legal guardian of a child being educated at
the child's home by his or her parent or legal guardian as
described in section 1561(3)(f) shall at the beginning of each
school year furnish all of the following to the superintendent of
schools of the school district in which the child's home is
situated or the intermediate superintendent of the intermediate
school district in which the child's home is situated:
(a) The name and age of each child who is being educated at
the home.
(b) The number or name of the school district and the city or
township and county in which the parent or legal guardian resides.
(c) The name and address of the parent or legal guardian.