Kansas State Legislature
Kansas
State Department of Education
Kansas Home Schooling
Compulsory School Age
Compulsory attendance - seven years of age and
over and under eighteen years of age. 16 & 17 year olds may be exempt
with written permission of parents.
The Kansas compulsory attendance requirement
can be satisfied at a public school or at a "private, denominational or
parochial school," which also includes homeschools.
The homeschool, like other private schools,
must meet certain basic statutory requirements, such as "competent
instructor" and "substantially equivalent" period of time. For legal
purposes, homeschools in Kansas are considered non-accredited private
schools.
[K.S.A.72-1111] On and after July 1, 1997, K.S.A. 72-1111 is hereby
amended to read as follows:
(a) Subject to the other provisions
of this section, every parent or person acting as parent in the state of
Kansas, who has control over or charge of any child who has reached the
age of seven years and is under the age of 18 years, shall require such
child to attend continuously each school year (1) a public school for
the duration of the school term , or (2) a private, denominational or
parochial school taught by a competent instructor for a period of time
which is substantially equivalent to the period of time public school is
maintained in the school district in which the private, denominational
or parochial school is located. If the child is 16 or 17 years of age,
the parent or person acting as parent, by written consent, may allow the
child to be exempt from the compulsory attendance requirements of this
section.
(b) Any child who is under the age of seven years, but who is
enrolled in school, is subject to the compulsory attendance requirements
of this section. Any such child may be withdrawn from enrollment in
school at any time by a parent or person acting as parent of the child
and thereupon the child shall be exempt from the compulsory atten-dance
requirements of this section until the child reaches the age of seven
years or is re-enrolled in school.
[K.S.A. 72-53,101] Each official custodian of a private elementary or
secondary school shall register the name and address of the private
elementary or secondary school with the state board of education.
72-1111. Compulsory school attendance;
exemptions.
(a) Subject to the other provisions of this section, every parent or
person acting as parent in the state of Kansas, who has control over or
charge of any child who has reached the age of seven years and is under
the age of 18 years and has not attained a high school diploma or a
general educational development (GED) credential, shall require such
child to attend continuously each school year (1) a public school for
the duration of the school term provided for in K.S.A. 72-1106, and
amendments thereto, or (2) a private, denominational or parochial school
taught by a competent instructor for a period of time which is
substantially equivalent to the period of time public school is
maintained in the school district in which the private, denominational
or parochial school is located. If the child is 16 or 17 years of age,
the parent or person acting as parent, by written consent, or the court,
pursuant to a court order, may allow the child to be exempt from the
compulsory attendance requirements of this section.
(b) If the child is 16 or 17 years of age, the child
shall be exempt from the compulsory attendance requirements of this
section if (1) the child is regularly enrolled in a program recognized
by the local board of education as an approved alternative educational
program, or (2) the child and the parent or person acting as parent
attend a final counseling session conducted by the school during which a
disclaimer to encourage the child to remain in school or to pursue
educational alternatives is presented to and signed by the child and the
parent or person acting as parent. The disclaimer shall include
information regarding the academic skills that the child has not yet
achieved, the difference in future earning power between a high school
graduate and a high school drop out, and a listing of educational
alternatives that are available for the child.
(c) Any child who is under the age of seven years, but
who is enrolled in school, is subject to the compulsory attendance
requirements of this section. Any such child may be withdrawn from
enrollment in school at any time by a parent or person acting as parent
of the child and thereupon the child shall be exempt from the compulsory
attendance requirements of this section until the child reaches the age
of seven years or is re-enrolled in school.
(d) Any child who is determined to be an exceptional
child, except for an exceptional child who is determined to be a gifted
child, under the provisions of the special education for exceptional
children act is subject to the compulsory attendance requirements of
such act and is exempt from the compulsory attendance requirements of
this section.
(e) No child attending public school in this state shall
be required to participate in any activity which is contrary to the
religious teachings of the child if a written statement signed by one of
the parents or a person acting as parent of the child is filed with the
proper authorities of the school attended requesting that the child not
be required to participate in such activities and stating the reason for
the request.
(f) When a recognized church or religious denomination
that objects to a regular public high school education provides, offers
and teaches, either individually or in cooperation with another
recognized church or religious denomination, a regularly supervised
program of instruction, which is approved by the state board of
education, for children of compulsory school attendance age who have
successfully completed the eighth grade, participation in such a program
of instruction by any such children whose parents or persons acting as
parents are members of the sponsoring church or religious denomination
shall be regarded 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 and religious denominations, under the following conditions:
(1) Each participating child shall be engaged, during each day on which
attendance is legally required in the public schools in the school
district in which the child resides, in at least five hours of learning
activities appropriate to the adult occupation that the child is likely
to assume in later years;
(2) acceptable learning activities, for the purposes of
this subsection, shall include parent (or person acting as parent)
supervised projects in agriculture and homemaking, work-study programs
in cooperation with local business and industry, and correspondence
courses from schools accredited by the national home study council,
recognized by the United States office of education as the competent
accrediting agency for private home study schools;
(3) at least 15 hours per week of classroom work under
the supervision of an instructor shall be provided, at which time
students shall be required to file written reports of the learning
activities they have pursued since the time of the last class meeting,
indicating the length of time spent on each one, and the instructor
shall examine and evaluate such reports, approve plans for further
learning activities, and provide necessary assignments and instruction;
(4) regular attendance reports shall be filed as required
by law, and students shall be reported as absent for each school day on
which they have not completed the prescribed minimum of five hours of
learning activities;
(5) the instructor shall keep complete records concerning
instruction provided, assignments made, and work pursued by the
students, and these records shall be filed on the first day of each
month with the state board of education and the board of education of
the school district in which the child resides;
(6) the instructor shall be capable of performing
competently the functions entrusted thereto;
(7) in applying for approval under this subsection a
recognized church or religious denomination shall certify its objection
to a regular public high school education and shall specify, in such
detail as the state board of education may reasonably require, the
program of instruction that it intends to provide and no such program
shall be approved unless it fully complies with standards therefor which
shall be specified by the state board of education;
(8) if the sponsors of an instructional program approved
under this subsection fail to comply at any time with the provisions of
this subsection, the state board of education shall rescind, after a
written warning has been served and a period of three weeks allowed for
compliance, approval of the programs, even though the two-year approval
period has not elapsed, and thereupon children attending such program
shall be admitted to a high school of the school district.
(g) As used in this section, the terms "parent" and
"person acting as parent" have the meanings respectively ascribed
thereto in K.S.A. 72-1046, and amendments thereto
72-53,101. Nonaccredited private schools;
registration of name and address required; state board of education,
administration and duties.
(a) The official custodian of every private elementary or secondary
school shall register the name and address of the private elementary or
secondary school with the state board of education.
(b) The state board of education shall administer the
provisions of this act and shall prepare and maintain a compilation of
the registrations submitted under subsection (a).
(c) Upon transfer of a pupil from a private elementary or
secondary school to a school district, an accredited nonpublic school,
or another private elementary or secondary school, the state board of
education, upon request of the school district, accredited nonpublic
school, or other private elementary or secondary school therefor, shall
make available the registration of the private elementary or secondary
school from which the pupil transferred.
