167.031. School attendance compulsory, who may be excused--nonattendance, penalty--home school, definition, requirements--school year defined--daily log, defense to prosecution--compulsory attendance - Missouri Statutes

School attendance compulsory, who may be excused--nonattendance,penalty--home school, definition, requirements--school yeardefined--daily log, defense to prosecution--compulsory attendanceage for the district defined.

167.031. 1. Every parent, guardian or other person in this statehaving charge, control or custody of a child not enrolled in a public,private, parochial, parish school or full-time equivalent attendance in acombination of such schools and between the ages of seven years and thecompulsory attendance age for the district is responsible for enrolling thechild in a program of academic instruction which complies with subsection 2of this section. Any parent, guardian or other person who enrolls a childbetween the ages of five and seven years in a public school program ofacademic instruction shall cause such child to attend the academic programon a regular basis, according to this section. Nonattendance by such childshall cause such parent, guardian or other responsible person to be inviolation of the provisions of section 167.061, except as provided by thissection. A parent, guardian or other person in this state having charge,control, or custody of a child between the ages of seven years of age andthe compulsory attendance age for the district shall cause the child toattend regularly some public, private, parochial, parish, home school or acombination of such schools not less than the entire school term of theschool which the child attends; except that:

(1) A child who, to the satisfaction of the superintendent of publicschools of the district in which he resides, or if there is nosuperintendent then the chief school officer, is determined to be mentallyor physically incapacitated may be excused from attendance at school forthe full time required, or any part thereof;

(2) A child between fourteen years of age and the compulsoryattendance age for the district may be excused from attendance at schoolfor the full time required, or any part thereof, by the superintendent ofpublic schools of the district, or if there is none then by a court ofcompetent jurisdiction, when legal employment has been obtained by thechild and found to be desirable, and after the parents or guardian of thechild have been advised of the pending action; or

(3) A child between five and seven years of age shall be excused fromattendance at school if a parent, guardian or other person having charge,control or custody of the child makes a written request that the child bedropped from the school's rolls.

2. (1) As used in sections 167.031 to 167.071, a "home school" is aschool, whether incorporated or unincorporated, that:

(a) Has as its primary purpose the provision of private orreligious-based instruction;

(b) Enrolls pupils between the ages of seven years and the compulsoryattendance age for the district, of which no more than four are unrelatedby affinity or consanguinity in the third degree; and

(c) Does not charge or receive consideration in the form of tuition,fees, or other remuneration in a genuine and fair exchange for provision ofinstruction.

(2) As evidence that a child is receiving regular instruction, theparent shall, except as otherwise provided in this subsection:

(a) Maintain the following records:

a. A plan book, diary, or other written record indicating subjectstaught and activities engaged in; and

b. A portfolio of samples of the child's academic work; and

c. A record of evaluations of the child's academic progress; or

d. Other written, or credible evidence equivalent to subparagraphsa., b. and c.; and

(b) Offer at least one thousand hours of instruction, at least sixhundred hours of which will be in reading, language arts, mathematics,social studies and science or academic courses that are related to theaforementioned subject areas and consonant with the pupil's age andability. At least four hundred of the six hundred hours shall occur at theregular home school location.

(3) The requirements of subdivision (2) of this subsection shall notapply to any pupil above the age of sixteen years.

3. Nothing in this section shall require a private, parochial, parishor home school to include in its curriculum any concept, topic, or practicein conflict with the school's religious doctrines or to exclude from itscurriculum any concept, topic, or practice consistent with the school'sreligious doctrines. Any other provision of the law to the contrarynotwithstanding, all departments or agencies of the state of Missouri shallbe prohibited from dictating through rule, regulation or other device anystatewide curriculum for private, parochial, parish or home schools.

4. A school year begins on the first day of July and ends on thethirtieth day of June following.

5. The production by a parent of a daily log showing that a homeschool has a course of instruction which satisfies the requirements of thissection or, in the case of a pupil over the age of sixteen years whoattended a metropolitan school district the previous year, a writtenstatement that the pupil is attending home school in compliance with thissection shall be a defense to any prosecution under this section and to anycharge or action for educational neglect brought pursuant to chapter 210,RSMo.

6. As used in sections 167.031 to 167.051, the term "compulsoryattendance age for the district" shall mean:

(1) Seventeen years of age for any metropolitan school district forwhich the school board adopts a resolution to establish such compulsoryattendance age; provided that such resolution shall take effect no earlierthan the school year next following the school year during which theresolution is adopted; and

(2) Seventeen years of age or having successfully completed sixteencredits towards high school graduation in all other cases.

The school board of a metropolitan school district for which the compulsoryattendance age is seventeen years may adopt a resolution to lower thecompulsory attendance age to sixteen years; provided that such resolutionshall take effect no earlier than the school year next following the schoolyear during which the resolution is adopted.

7. For purposes of subsection 2 of this section as applied insubsection 6 herein, a "completed credit towards high school graduation"shall be defined as one hundred hours or more of instruction in a course.Home school education enforcement and records pursuant to this section, andsections 210.167 and 211.031, RSMo, shall be subject to review only by thelocal prosecuting attorney.

(L. 1963 p. 200 § 8-3, A.L. 1977 H.B. 130, A.L. 1986 S.B. 795, A.L. 1990 S.B. 740, A.L. 1993 S.B. 380, A.L. 2004 S.B. 968 and S.B. 969, A.L. 2006 H.B. 1182, A.L. 2008 H.B. 1550, A.L. 2009 S.B. 291)

(Source: RSMo 1959 § 164.010)

CROSS REFERENCES:

Average daily attendance defined for apportionment of school money, RSMo 163.011

Provisions affecting metropolitan school district effective for school year beginning 2007-2008 and terminates after school year ending 2011-2012, RSMo 167.052

(2005) To be actionable, failure to cause child to attend school regularly must be done knowingly or purposely. State v. Self, 155 S.W.3d 756 (Mo.banc).