HOUSE FILE 275

BY  MURPHY

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the compulsory school attendance age, a driver’s license penalty for failure to attend, and school district dropout prevention measures, and including effective date provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

   Section 1.  Section 299.1A, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   299.1A  Compulsory attendance age.
   A child who has reached the age of six and is under sixteen eighteen years of age by September 15 is of compulsory attendance age. However, if a child enrolled in a school district or accredited nonpublic school reaches the age of sixteeneighteen on or after September 15, the child remains of compulsory age until the end of the regular school calendar.
   Sec. 2.  Section 299.1B, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   299.1B  Failure to attend —— driver’s license.
   A person who is of compulsory attendance age, is not exempt under section 299.2, and does not attend a public school, an accredited nonpublic school, competent private instruction in accordance with the provisions of chapter 299A, an alternative school, or adult education classes shall not receive an intermediate or full driver’s license until age eighteen.  If the person reaches the age of eighteen on or after September 15, the person shall not receive a restricted or a full driver’s license until the end of the regular school calendar.
   Sec. 3.  NEW SECTION.  299.14  School district dropout prevention measures.
   1.  The board of directors of each school district shall take every opportunity to prevent students from dropping out of school. Actions which a school district may take to prevent students from dropping out of school include but are not limited to general education interventions, alternative program placement, alternative school placement, provision of support and supplemental services, individual and family intervention or therapy, truancy mediation, and coordination with other student support services.
   2.  The board of directors of each school district shall make every effort to align and maximize funding streams that may be used to support students who have the potential to drop out of school.
   Sec. 4.  Section 299A.8, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   299A.8  Dual enrollment.
   If a parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a child who is receiving competent private instruction under this chapter or a child over compulsory age who is receiving private instruction submits a request, the child shall also be registered in a public school for dual enrollment purposes. If the child is enrolled in a public school district for dual enrollment purposes, the child shall be permitted to participate in any academic activities in the district and shall also be permitted to participate on the same basis as public school children in any extracurricular activities available to children in the child’s grade or group, and the parent, guardian, or legal custodian shall not be required to pay the costs of any annual evaluation under this chapter. If the child is enrolled for dual enrollment purposes, the child shall be included in the public school’s basic enrollment under section 257.6. A pupil who is participating only in extracurricular activities shall be counted under section 257.6, subsection 1, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (6). A pupil enrolled in grades nine through twelve under this section shall be counted in the same manner as a shared-time pupil under section 257.6, subsection 1, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (3).
   Sec. 5.  STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED.  In accordance with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid received by the school district under section 257.16. This specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed to meet all the state funding-related requirements of section 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding shall be necessary for the full implementation of this Act by and enforcement of this Act against all affected school districts.
   Sec. 6.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  This Act takes effect July 1, 2012.
EXPLANATION
   This bill raises the compulsory school attendance age from 16 to 18. The bill requires each school district to make every effort to prevent students from dropping out of school, and to align and maximize funding streams that may be used to support students who have the potential to drop out of school.
   The bill makes a corresponding change to Code section 299.1B to provide that a person who reaches age 18 after September 15 is ineligible for a restricted or full license until the end of the regular school calendar.
   The bill includes technical amendments to eliminate a reference to the compulsory attendance age for purposes of dual enrollment.
   The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code section 25B.3. The bill requires that the state cost of any state mandate included in the bill be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid received by the school district under Code section 257.16. The specification is deemed to constitute state compliance with any state mandate funding-related requirements of Code section 25B.2. The inclusion of this specification is intended to reinstate the requirement of political subdivisions to comply with any state mandates included in the bill.
   The bill takes effect July 1, 2012.