H. B. 2034
(By Delegate Paxton)
[Introduced February 13, 2013; referred to the
Committee on Education.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-8-1 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §18-28-3 of said
code, all relating to exempting children receiving an
exemption from compulsory school attendance in favor of church
school from the standardized testing requirement.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-8-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §18-28-3 of said code be amended
and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8. COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.
§18-8-1. Compulsory school attendance; exemptions.
(a) Exemption from the requirements of compulsory public
school attendance established in section one-a of this article
shall be made on behalf of any child for the causes or conditions set forth in this section. Each cause or condition set forth in
this section is subject to confirmation by the attendance authority
of the county.
(b) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance
requirement set forth in section one-a of this article if the
requirements of this subsection, relating to instruction in a
private, parochial or other approved school, are met. The
instruction shall be in a school approved by the county board and
for a time equal to the instructional term set forth in section
forty-five, article five of this chapter. In all private,
parochial or other schools approved pursuant to this subsection, it
is the duty of the principal or other person in control, upon the
request of the county superintendent, to furnish to the county
board such information and records as may be required with respect
to attendance, instruction and progress of students enrolled.
(c) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance
requirement set forth in section one-a of this article if the
requirements of either subdivision (1) or subdivision (2) of this
subsection, both relating to home instruction, are met.
(1) The instruction shall be in the home of the child or
children or at some other place approved by the county board and
for a time equal to the instructional term set forth in section
forty-five, article five of this chapter. If the request for home
instruction is denied by the county board, good and reasonable justification for the denial shall be furnished in writing to the
applicant by the county board. The instruction shall be conducted
by a person or persons who, in the judgment of the county
superintendent and county board, are qualified to give instruction
in subjects required to be taught in public elementary schools in
the state. The person or persons providing the instruction, upon
request of the county superintendent, shall furnish to the county
board information and records as may be required periodically with
respect to attendance, instruction and progress of students
receiving the instruction. The state board shall develop
guidelines for the home schooling of special education students
including alternative assessment measures to assure that
satisfactory academic progress is achieved.
(2) The child meets the requirements set forth in this
subdivision: Provided, That the county superintendent may seek
from the circuit court of the county an order denying home
instruction of the child. The order may be granted upon a showing
of clear and convincing evidence that the child will suffer neglect
in his or her education or that there are other compelling reasons
to deny home instruction.
(A) Annually, the person or persons providing home instruction
shall present to the county superintendent or county board a notice
of intent to provide home instruction and the name, address, age
and grade level of any child of compulsory school age to be instructed. Provided, That If a child is enrolled in a public
school, notice of intent to provide home instruction shall must be
given at least two weeks prior to withdrawing the child from public
school;
(B) The person or persons providing home instruction shall
submit satisfactory evidence of a high school diploma or
equivalent;
(C) The person or persons providing home instruction shall
outline a plan of instruction for the ensuing school year; and
(D) On or before June 30 annually, the person or persons
providing home instruction shall obtain an academic assessment of
the child for the previous school year and submit the results to
the county superintendent. When the academic assessment takes
place outside of a public school, the parent or legal guardian
shall pay the cost. The requirement of an academic assessment is
satisfied in one of the following ways:
(i) The child receiving home instruction takes a nationally
normed standardized achievement test to be administered under
standardized conditions as set forth by the published instructions
of the selected test in the subjects of reading, language,
mathematics, science and social studies. The child's parent or
legal guardian may not administer the test. in any event:
In
accordance with the United States Supreme Court's holding in
Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972), a child receiving instruction from certain church schools may be exempted from the
requirement of standardized testing by the county superintendent.
In lieu of standardized testing, the church school shall administer
an established test used within the particular religious community,
substantially equivalent to the standardized test, which is
designed to test for achievement and proficiency in the subjects of
English, grammar, reading, social studies, science and mathematics.
The publication date of the chosen test may not be more than ten
years from the date the test is administered. The child is
considered to have made acceptable progress when the mean of the
child's test results in the required subject areas for any single
year meets or exceeds the fiftieth percentile or, if below the
fiftieth percentile, shows improvement from the previous year's
results;
(ii) The child participates in the testing program currently
in use in the state's public schools. The test shall be
administered to the child at a public school in the county of
residence. Determination of acceptable progress shall be based on
current guidelines of the state testing program;
(iii) The county superintendent is provided with a written
narrative indicating that a portfolio of samples of the child's
work has been reviewed and that the child's academic progress for
the year is in accordance with the child's abilities. If the
narrative indicates that the child's academic progress for the year is in accordance with the child's abilities, the child is
considered to have made acceptable progress. This narrative shall
be prepared by a certified teacher whose certification number shall
be provided The narrative shall and include a statement about the
child's progress in the areas of reading, language, mathematics,
science and social studies and shall note any areas which, in the
professional opinion of the reviewer, show need for improvement or
remediation; or
(iv) The child completes an alternative academic assessment of
proficiency that is mutually agreed upon by the parent or legal
guardian and the county superintendent. Criteria for acceptable
progress shall be mutually agreed upon by the same parties; and
(E) When the annual assessment fails to show acceptable
progress as defined under the appropriate assessment option set
forth in paragraph (D) of this subdivision, the person or persons
providing home instruction shall initiate a remedial program to
foster acceptable progress. The county board shall notify the
parents or legal guardian of the child, in writing, of the services
available to assist in the assessment of the child's eligibility
for special education services. Identification of a disability
does not preclude the continuation of home schooling. In the event
that If the child does not achieve acceptable progress as defined
under the appropriate assessment option set forth in paragraph (D)
of this subdivision for a second consecutive year, the person or persons providing instruction shall submit to the county
superintendent additional evidence that appropriate instruction is
being provided.
(3) This subdivision applies to both home instruction
exemptions set forth in subdivisions (1) and (2) of this
subsection. The county superintendent or a designee shall offer
such assistance, including textbooks, other teaching materials and
available resources, all subject to availability, as may to assist
the person or persons providing home instruction. Any A child
receiving home instruction may, upon approval of the county board,
exercise the option to attend any class offered by the county board
as the person or persons providing home instruction may consider
appropriate subject to normal registration and attendance
requirements.
(d) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance
requirement set forth in section one-a of this article if the
requirements of this subsection, relating to physical or mental
incapacity, are met. Physical or mental incapacity consists of
incapacity for school attendance and the performance of school
work. In all cases of prolonged absence from school due to
incapacity of the child to attend, the written statement of a
licensed physician or authorized school nurse is required.
Incapacity shall be is narrowly defined and in any case the
provisions of this article may not allow for the exclusion of the mentally, physically, emotionally or behaviorally handicapped child
otherwise entitled to a free appropriate education.
(e) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance
requirement set forth in section one-a of this article if
conditions rendering school attendance impossible or hazardous to
the life, health or safety of the child exist.
(f) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance
requirement set forth in section one-a of this article upon regular
graduation from a standard senior high school or alternate
secondary program completion as determined by the state board.
(g) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance
requirement set forth in section one-a of this article if the
child is granted a work permit pursuant to the subsection. After
due investigation, the county superintendent may grant work permits
to youths under the termination age designated in section one-a of
this article, subject to state and federal labor laws and
regulations. A work permit may not be granted on behalf of any
youth who has not completed the eighth grade of school.
(h) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance
requirement set forth in section one-a of this article if a serious
illness or death in the immediate family of the child has occurred.
It is expected that The county attendance director will ascertain
the facts in all cases of such absences about which if information
is inadequate and report the facts to the county superintendent.
(i) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance
requirement set forth in section one-a of this article if the
requirements of this subsection, relating to destitution in the
home, are met. Exemption based on a condition of extreme
destitution in the home may be granted only upon the written
recommendation of the county attendance director to the county
superintendent following careful investigation of the case. A copy
of the report confirming the condition and school exemption shall
be placed with the county director of public assistance. This
enactment contemplates every reasonable effort that may properly be
taken on the part of both school and public assistance authorities
for the relief of home conditions officially recognized as being so
destitute as to deprive children of the privilege of school
attendance. Exemption for this cause is not allowed when the
destitution is relieved through public or private means.
(j) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance
requirement set forth in section one-a of this article if the
requirements of this subsection, relating to church ordinances and
observances of regular church ordinances, are met. The county
board may approve exemption for religious instruction upon written
request of the person having legal or actual charge of a child or
children. This exemption is subject to the rules prescribed by the
county superintendent and approved by the county board.
(k) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance requirement set forth in section one-a of this article if the
requirements of this subsection, relating to alternative private,
parochial, church or religious school instruction, are met.
Exemption shall be made for any child attending any private school,
parochial school, church school, school operated by a religious
order or other nonpublic school which elects to comply with the
provisions of article twenty-eight of this chapter.
(l) Completion of the eighth grade does not exempt any a child
under the termination age designated in section one-a of this
article from the compulsory attendance provision of this article.
ARTICLE 28. PRIVATE, PAROCHIAL OR CHURCH SCHOOLS, OR SCHOOLS OF A
RELIGIOUS ORDER.
§18-28-3. Standardized testing requirements.
(a) With the exception of a church school receiving an
exemption under subsection (b) , section one, article eight of this
chapter, each private, parochial or church school or school of a
religious order or other nonpublic school electing to operate under
this statute in lieu of the approval requirements set forth as part
of section one, article eight, chapter eighteen, exemption A
subsection (a), section one, article eight, chapter eighteen, shall
administer on an annual basis during each school year to every
child enrolled therein between the ages of seven and sixteen years
either the comprehensive test of basic skills, the California
achievement test, the Stanford achievement test or the Iowa tests of basic skills tests of achievement and proficiency, which test
will be selected by the chief administrative officer of each school
in the subjects of English, grammar, reading, social studies,
science and mathematics and shall be administered under
standardized conditions as set forth by the published instructions
of the selected test. Provided, That any A private, parochial,
church school, school of a religious order or other nonpublic
school that exclusively teaches special education students or
children with learning disabilities shall not be are not required
to comply with this subsection or subsection (d) of this section,
but shall academically assess every child enrolled therein between
the ages of seven and sixteen years on an annual basis during each
school year by one or more of the following methods:
(1) A standardized group achievement test;
(2) A standardized individual achievement test;
(3) A written narrative of an evaluation of a portfolio of
samples of a child's work; or
(4) An alternative academic assessment of the child's
proficiency as mutually agreed by the county superintendent,
parent(s) or legal guardian(s) and the school.
(b) Each child's testing results and the school composite test
results shall be made available to such the child's parents or
legal guardians. Upon request of a duly authorized representative
of the West Virginia Department of Education, the school composite test results shall be furnished by the school or by a parents
parent organization composed of the parents or guardians of
children enrolled in said the school to the State Superintendent of
Schools.
(c) Each school to which this article applies shall:
(1) Establish curriculum objectives, the attainment of which
will enable students to develop the potential for becoming literate
citizens; and
(2) Provide an instructional program that will make possible
the acquisition of competencies necessary to become a literate
citizen.
(d) If such the school composite test results for any single
year for English, grammar, reading, social studies, science and
mathematics fall below the fortieth percentile on the selected
tests, the school as herein described shall initiate a remedial
program to foster achievement above that level. If, after two
consecutive calendar years, school composite test results are not
above the fortieth percentile level, attendance at the school may
no longer satisfy the compulsory school attendance requirement
exemption of exemption K, subsection (k), section one, article
eight, chapter eighteen, until such time as the percentile
standards herein set forth are met.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize an exemption
from standardized testing for children receiving an exemption from
compulsory school attendance who attend church school. The actual
intent of the bill is to provide an exemption for Amish children,
but due to Constitutional concerns, Amish children are not
specifically singled out and other religious groups could also
theoretically apply for and be granted the exemption.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.