January 22, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on Education.
Introduced
First Regular Session 116th General Assembly (2009)
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HOUSE BILL No. 1705
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
education.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
SOURCE: IC 20-33-2-9; (09)IN1705.1.1. -->
SECTION 1. IC 20-33-2-9, AS AMENDED BY P.L.185-2006,
SECTION 12, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
JULY 1, 2009]: Sec. 9. (a) The governing body of each school
corporation shall designate the appropriate employees of the school
corporation to conduct the exit interviews for students described in
section 6(a)(3) 6(3) of this chapter. Each exit interview must be
personally attended by:
(1) the student's parent;
(2) the student;
(3) each designated appropriate school employee; and
(4) the student's principal.
(b) A student who is at least sixteen (16) years of age but less than
eighteen (18) years of age is bound by the requirements of compulsory
school attendance and may not withdraw from school before graduation
unless:
(1) the student, the student's parent, and the principal agree to the
withdrawal;
(2) at the exit interview, the student provides written
acknowledgment of the withdrawal that meets the requirements
of subsection (c) and the:
(A) student's parent; and
(B) school principal;
each provide written consent for the student to withdraw from
school; and
(3) the withdrawal is due to:
(A) financial hardship and the individual must be employed to
support the individual's family or a dependent;
(B) illness; or
(C) an order by a court that has jurisdiction over the student;
or
(D) the student's plan to obtain a general educational
development diploma under IC 20-20-6-1 before the
student becomes eighteen (18) years of age, if the student:
(i) is at least seventeen (17) years of age; and
(ii) seeks to attend a postsecondary educational
institution or join the armed forces of the United States.
(c) A written acknowledgment of withdrawal under subsection (b)
must include a statement that the student and the student's parent
understand that withdrawing from school is likely to:
(1) reduce the student's future earnings; and
(2) increase the student's likelihood of being unemployed in the
future.
SOURCE: IC 20-33-2-28.5; (09)IN1705.1.2. -->
SECTION 2. IC 20-33-2-28.5, AS AMENDED BY P.L.185-2006,
SECTION 15, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
JULY 1, 2009]: Sec. 28.5. (a) This section applies to an individual:
(1) who:
(A) attends or last attended a public school;
(B) is at least sixteen (16) years of age but less than eighteen
(18) years of age; and
(C) has not completed the requirements for graduation;
(2) who:
(A) wishes to withdraw from school before graduation;
(B) fails to return at the beginning of a semester; or
(C) stops attending school during a semester; and
(3) who has no record of transfer to another school.
(b) An individual to whom this section applies may withdraw from
school only if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) An exit interview is conducted.
(2) The individual's parent consents to the withdrawal.
(3) The school principal approves of the withdrawal.
(4) The withdrawal is due to:
(A) financial hardship and the individual must be employed to
support the individual's family or a dependent;
(B) illness;
or
(C) an order by a court that has jurisdiction over the child;
or
(D) the individual's plan to obtain a general educational
development diploma under IC 20-20-6-1 before the
individual becomes eighteen (18) years of age, if the
individual:
(i) is at least seventeen (17) years of age; and
(ii) seeks to attend a postsecondary educational
institution or join the armed forces of the United States.
During the exit interview, the school principal shall provide to the
student and the student's parent a copy of statistics compiled by the
department concerning the likely consequences of life without a high
school diploma. The school principal shall advise the student and the
student's parent that the student's withdrawal from school may prevent
the student from receiving or result in the revocation of the student's
employment certificate and driver's license or learner's permit.
(c) For purposes of this section, the following must be in written
form:
(1) An individual's request to withdraw from school.
(2) A parent's consent to a withdrawal.
(3) A principal's consent to a withdrawal.
(d) If the individual's principal does not consent to the individual's
withdrawal under this section, the individual's parent may appeal the
denial of consent to the governing body of the public school that the
individual last attended.
(e) Each public school, including each school corporation and each
charter school (as defined in IC 20-24-1-4), shall provide an annual
report to the department setting forth the following information:
(1) The total number of individuals:
(A) who withdrew from school under this section; and
(B) who either:
(i) failed to return to school at the beginning of a semester;
or
(ii) stopped attending school during a semester;
and for whom there is no record of transfer to another school.
(2) The number of individuals who withdrew from school
following an exit interview.
(f) If an individual to which this section applies:
(1) has not received consent to withdraw from school under this
section; and
(2) fails to return to school at the beginning of a semester or
during the semester;
the principal of the school that the individual last attended shall deliver
by certified mail or personal delivery to the bureau of child labor a
record of the individual's failure to return to school so that the bureau
of child labor revokes any employment certificates issued to the
individual and does not issue any additional employment certificates
to the individual. For purposes of IC 20-33-3-13, the individual shall
be considered a dropout.
(g) At the same time that a school principal delivers the record
under subsection (f), the principal shall deliver by certified mail or
personal delivery to the bureau of motor vehicles a record of the
individual's failure to return to school so that the bureau of motor
vehicles revokes any driver's license or learner's permit issued to the
individual and does not issue any additional driver's licenses or
learner's permits to the individual before the individual is at least
eighteen (18) years of age. For purposes of IC 9-24-2-1, the individual
shall be considered a dropout.
(h) If:
(1) a principal has delivered the record required under subsection
(f) or (g), or both; and
(2) the school subsequently gives consent to the individual to
withdraw from school under this section;
the principal of the school shall send a notice of withdrawal to the
bureau of child labor and the bureau of motor vehicles by certified mail
or personal delivery and, for purposes of IC 20-33-3-13 and
IC 9-24-2-1, the individual shall no longer be considered a dropout.