HB 429 – AS INTRODUCED

2011 SESSION

11-0826

04/01

HOUSE BILL 429

AN ACT permitting a child 16 years of age or older to withdraw from school with parental permission.

SPONSORS: Rep. Parison, Hills 3; Rep. Mirski, Graf 10; Rep. Sova, Graf 10; Rep. Ingbretson, Graf 5; Rep. Bates, Rock 4; Sen. White, Dist 9

COMMITTEE: Education

ANALYSIS

This bill permits a child 16 years of age or older to withdraw from school with the written permission of a parent.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

11-0826

04/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eleven

AN ACT permitting a child 16 years of age or older to withdraw from school with parental permission.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 School Attendance; Compulsory Attendance by Pupil. Amend RSA 193:1, I(g)-(h) to read as follows:

(g) The pupil has been accepted into an accredited postsecondary education program; [or]

(h) The pupil obtains a waiver from the superintendent, which shall only be granted upon proof that the pupil is 16 years of age or older and has an alternative learning plan for obtaining either a high school diploma or its equivalent.

(1) Alternative learning plans shall include age-appropriate academic rigor and the flexibility to incorporate the pupil's interests and manner of learning. These plans may include, but are not limited to, such components or combination of components of extended learning opportunities as independent study, private instruction, performing groups, internships, community service, apprenticeships, and on-line courses.

(2) Alternative learning plans shall be developed, and amended if necessary, in consultation with the pupil, a school guidance counselor, the school principal and at least one parent or guardian of the pupil, and submitted to the school district superintendent for approval.

(3) If the superintendent does not approve the alternative learning plan, the parent or guardian of the pupil may appeal such decision to the local school board. A parent or guardian may appeal the decision of the local school board to the state board of education consistent with the provisions of RSA 21-N:11, III; or

(i) The pupil is 16 years of age or older and furnishes written permission from a parent to the superintendent of the school district.

2 Truant Officers; Duties. Amend RSA 189:36, I to read as follows:

I. Truant officers shall, when directed by the school board, enforce the laws and regulations relating to truants and children between the ages of 6 and 18 years not attending school, or who are not participating in an alternative learning plan under RSA 193:1, I(h); and the laws relating to the attendance at school of children between the ages of 6 and 18 years; and shall have authority [without] with a warrant or the permission from a parent to take and place in school any children found employed contrary to the laws relating to the employment of children, or violating the laws relating to the compulsory attendance at school of children under the age of 18 years, and the laws relating to child labor. No home school pupil nor any person between the ages of 6 and 18 who meets any of the requirements of RSA 193:1, I(c)-[(h)] (i) shall be deemed a truant.

3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.