Transmenu powered by JoomlArt.com - Mambo Joomla Professional Templates Club

Age of Attendance

Enforcement and the Attendance Officer

Attendance officers are employed by an intermediate school district or local  school district. The attendance officer has the powers of a deputy sheriff within the school district while performing official duties and pursues cases of nonattendance which are reported to him or her by the proper authority. The attendance officer, upon receiving notice of that fact, must give written notice either in person or by registered mail requiring the child to appear at school on the next regular school day following receipt of notice and to continue in  regular and consecutive attendance in school. If the parent or legal guardian fails to comply with the notice, the attendance officer must make a complaint against that individual in the proper court for refusal or neglect to send the child to school. The court then issues a warrant and proceeds to hear and make a determination in the case. The law also states that a parent or legal guardian who fails to comply with the compulsory school attendance section of the Revised School Code is guilty of a misdemeanor [MCL 380.1571- 380.1599].

Attendance Exceptions

A child is not required to attend a public school in the following cases:

• A child who 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.

• A child who 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.

• The child who has graduated from high school or has fulfilled all requirements for high school graduation [MCL 380.1561].

Local Attendance Policies

Local boards of education have the authority to adopt attendance policies addressing the number of days a student may lose due to illness or other causes. Although the law does not mandate that school district policies distinguish between excused and unexcused absences, the State Board of Education has taken the position that districts should make this distinction.

Attendance and Grades

In a matter related to school attendance and grades, the Michigan Attorney General issued an opinion cited as 1978 OAG 5414 that states that the ompulsory school attendance law recognizes an educational value in regular attendance at school. The opinion states that classroom attendance instills a oncept of self-discipline, exposes a student to group interactions with teachers and fellow students, and enables a student to hear and participate in class discussion and other related learning experiences. Based on these considerations, the Attorney General concluded that a school district may consider attendance in determining a student’s grade in a course.

Pupil Hours of Instruction

Beginning in the 2003-2004 school year, the State School Aid Act established a minimum of 1,098 hours of pupil instruction. To qualify for state aid without a penalty, a local school district provides to each pupil the required mnimum in number of 1,098 hours of instruction in a school year [MCL 388.1701(3)]. The state superintendent may waive the minimum instructional hour requirement for a department-approved alternative education program [MCL 388.1701(9)]. School districts have the option of counting up to 51 hours of teacher professional development time toward the 1,098 hours of pupil instruction requirement [MCL 388.1701(10)]. The professional development time must be focused on achieving or improving adequate yearly progress, or be used for accreditation purposes, achieving highly qualified teacher status under No Child Left Behind, or maintaining teacher certification. The first 30 hours that schools are closed due to conditions not within control of the school may be counted toward the 1,098 minimum hour requirement (i.e., snow, severe storms, fires, health conditions, utility power unavailability, or water or sewer failure) [MCL 388.1701(4)]. An additional 30 hours for extenuating circumstances that occur after April 1 of each year may be counted as hours of pupil instruction if the initial 30 hours are already used and if approved by the State Superintendent.

School Calendar

The board of a school district or public school academy must determine the length of a school term and ensure that there are a minimum of 1,098 hours of pupil instruction in a school year. The local school board has the authority to establish the school calendar.

Labor Day

Beginning in the 2006-2007 school year, public schools are prohibited from holding classes before Labor Day [MCL 380.1284b]. The law does not prohibit a public school from offering or requiring professional development for its personnel before Labor Day. The provisions of the law would not apply in a district where a collective bargaining agreement providing a complete school calendar was in effect as of September 29, 2005, if that school calendar did not comply with the law. The prohibition, however, against holding classes before Labor Day would apply in that district after the terms of the collective bargaining agreement expired.

The requirement to start school after Labor Day would not apply to districts that are already operating a year-round school or program or an international baccalaureate academy that provides 1,160 hours of pupil instruction. If a district begins operating a year-round school or program after September 29, 2005, the district may apply to the superintendent of public instruction for a waiver from the requirement to start after Labor Day. The superintendent of public instruction would grant the waiver if it is determined that the school or program is a bona fide year-round school or program established for educational purposes. The standards for determining a bona fide year-round school or program for the purposes of the waiver would be determined by the superintendent of public instruction.

An intermediate school district is also exempt from the requirement to start school after Labor Day if the intermediate school district (1) contracts with a constituent district or public school academy to provide programs and services for pupils; (2) operates a program or service within a school building owned by a constituent district or public school academy within the boundaries of the intermediate school district; or (3) provides instructional programs or services to pupils of a constituent district or public school academy. The constituent district or public school academy must also be exempt from the requirement by either obtaining a waiver, having a collective bargaining agreement that does not comply with the requirement to start after Labor Day, or by being an international baccalaureate academy. The programs or services provided by the intermediate school district must be provided according to the school district's or public school academy's calendar.

In addition, a public school that operates all of grades 6-12 at a single site, that aligns its high school curriculum with advanced placement courses as the capstone curriculum, and that ends the second semester concurrently with the end of the advanced placement examination period is exempt from the requirement to start school after Labor Day. 

State of Michigan Compulsory School Attendance Laws

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. Michigan Compiled Laws Section 380.1561(1)

SEC. 1588 The Attendance Officer, after giving the formal notice prescribed in Section 1587 shall determine whether the parent or other person in a parental relation has complied with the notice. The Attendance Officer shall make a complaint against the parent or other person in parental relation having the legal charge and control of the child who fails to comply. The complaint shall be made to the Court having jurisdiction in the county of residence for refusal or neglect to send the child to school. The Court shall issue a warrant upon the complaint and shall proceed to; hear and determine it in the same manner as is provided for other cases under its jurisdiction. Michigan Complied Laws Section 380.1588

SEC.1599.A parent or other person in a parental relation who fails to comply with this section of the law is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not less than $5.00 nor more than $50.00 or imprisonment for not less than 2 nor more than 90 days or both, Michigan Compiled Laws Section 380.1599

SEC.1571. (3) An Attendance Officer of an intermediate school district or a local school district shall have the powers of a Deputy Sheriff within the district or intermediate school district while performing official duties. Michigan Compiled Laws Section 380.1571

SEC. 1586. (2) If a child is repeatedly absent from school without valid excuse, or is failing in schoolwork or gives evidence of behavior problems, and attempts by the school to confer with the parents or legal guardian fail, the Superintendent of the district or intermediate school district may, request the Attendance Officer to notify the parent or legal guardian by registered mail to come to the school or to a place designated at the time specified to discuss the Childs irregularity in attendance, failing work, or behavior problems with the proper school authorities. Michigan Compiled Laws Section 380.1586

This information is provided as a service of the Allegan Area Education Service Agency and is distributed with the understanding that the Agency is not engaged in rendering legal advice. Those individuals desiring or requiring advice should seek the services of an attorney.