Florida Senate - 2022 SB 616 By Senator Jones 35-00553-22 2022616__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to compulsory school attendance; 3 amending s. 1003.21, F.S.; revising the required age 4 for compulsory school attendance from 16 to 18 years 5 of age; deleting a requirement that a students parent 6 sign a declaration of intent to terminate school 7 enrollment; deleting a requirement that the school 8 district notify a students parent upon receipt of 9 such declaration; amending ss. 1002.20 and 1003.51, 10 F.S.; conforming provisions to changes made by the 11 act; providing an effective date. 12 13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 14 15 Section 1.Paragraphs (a) and (c) of subsection (1) of 16 section 1003.21, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 17 1003.21School attendance. 18 (1)(a)1.All children who have attained the age of 6 years 19 or who will have attained the age of 6 years by February 1 of 20 any school year or who are older than 6 years of age but who 21 have not attained the age of 18 16 years, except as otherwise 22 provided, are required to attend school regularly during the 23 entire school term. 24 2.Children who will have attained the age of 5 years on or 25 before September 1 of the school year are eligible for admission 26 to public kindergartens during that school year under rules 27 adopted by the district school board. 28 (c)A student who attains the age of 18 16 years during the 29 school year is not subject to compulsory school attendance 30 beyond the date upon which he or she attains that age if the 31 student files a formal declaration of intent to terminate school 32 enrollment with the district school board. Public school 33 students who have attained the age of 18 16 years and who have 34 not graduated are subject to compulsory school attendance until 35 the formal declaration of intent is filed with the district 36 school board. The declaration must acknowledge that terminating 37 school enrollment is likely to reduce the students earning 38 potential and must be signed by the student and the students 39 parent. The school district shall notify the students parent of 40 receipt of the students declaration of intent to terminate 41 school enrollment. The students certified school counselor or 42 other school personnel shall conduct an exit interview with the 43 student to determine the reasons for the students decision to 44 terminate school enrollment and actions that could be taken to 45 keep the student in school. The students certified school 46 counselor or other school personnel shall inform the student of 47 opportunities to continue his or her education in a different 48 environment, including, but not limited to, adult education and 49 high school equivalency examination preparation. Additionally, 50 the student shall complete a survey in a format prescribed by 51 the Department of Education to provide data on student reasons 52 for terminating enrollment and actions taken by schools to keep 53 students enrolled. 54 Section 2.Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (2) of 55 section 1002.20, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 56 1002.20K-12 student and parent rights.Parents of public 57 school students must receive accurate and timely information 58 regarding their childs academic progress and must be informed 59 of ways they can help their child to succeed in school. K-12 60 students and their parents are afforded numerous statutory 61 rights including, but not limited to, the following: 62 (2)ATTENDANCE. 63 (a)Compulsory school attendance.The compulsory school 64 attendance laws apply to all children between the ages of 6 and 65 18 16 years, as provided in s. 1003.21(1) and (2)(a), and, in 66 accordance with the provisions of s. 1003.21(1) and (2)(a): 67 1.A student who attains the age of 18 16 years during the 68 school year has the right to file a formal declaration of intent 69 to terminate school enrollment if the declaration is signed by 70 the parent. The parent has the right to be notified by the 71 school district of the districts receipt of the students 72 declaration of intent to terminate school enrollment. 73 2.Students who become or have become married or who are 74 pregnant and parenting have the right to attend school and 75 receive the same or equivalent educational instruction as other 76 students. 77 (b)Regular school attendance.Parents of students who have 78 attained the age of 6 years by February 1 of any school year but 79 who have not attained the age of 18 16 years must comply with 80 the compulsory school attendance laws. Parents have the option 81 to comply with the school attendance laws by attendance of the 82 student in a public school; a parochial, religious, or 83 denominational school; a private school; a home education 84 program; or a private tutoring program, in accordance with the 85 provisions of s. 1003.01(13). 86 Section 3.Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section 87 1003.51, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 88 1003.51Other public educational services. 89 (4)Each district school board shall: 90 (a)Notify students in juvenile justice education programs 91 who attain the age of 16 years of the law regarding compulsory 92 school attendance and make available the option of enrolling in 93 an education program to attain a Florida high school diploma by 94 taking the high school equivalency examination before release 95 from the program. The Department of Education shall assist 96 juvenile justice education programs with becoming high school 97 equivalency examination centers. 98 Section 4.This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.