2022 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE BILL NO. 124
BY SENATOR ABRAHAM
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 17:221(E), relative to school attendance; to provide relative to
3 reporting and recording attendance of certain students by the Louisiana Department
4 of Education; and to provide for related matters.
5 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
6 Section 1. R.S. 17:221(E) is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
7 ยง221. School attendance; compulsory ages; duty of parents; excessive absences;
8 condition for driving privileges
9 * * *
10 E.(1)(a) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit a child from
11 enrolling in an approved home study program or a nonpublic school not seeking state
12 approval. The parent or legal guardian responsible for the school attendance of such
13 a child, who is between the ages of five and eighteen, shall report the attendance of
14 the child to the state Department of Education within thirty days of the start of the
15 school term as provided in R.S. 17:232(C).
16 (b) For each child enrolled in an approved home study program, the
17 department shall:
18 (i) Within thirty days of initial approval or denial of an application for
19 an approved home study program and the failure to receive an annual renewal
20 application for a previously approved home study program, provide notification
21 to the city, parish, or other local school system in which the child was most
22 recently enrolled, and if different, the school system in which the child resides.
23 The notification shall include the child's legal name, date of birth, and physical
24 residential address.
ACT No. 677
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 124 ENROLLED
1 (ii) Not record the child as a dropout attributable to the public school in
2 which the child was most recently enrolled or the public school which the child
3 would otherwise attend.
4 (2) A parent or legal guardian responsible for the school attendance of a child
5 who is between the ages of five and eighteen and who is enrolled in an approved
6 home study program pursuant to R.S. 17:236.1 shall be considered in compliance
7 with the school attendance provisions of Paragraph (A)(1) of this Section.
8 (3) No city, parish, or other local public school system shall be
9 responsible for collecting and maintaining school attendance data for any child
10 who is enrolled in an approved home study program, unless and until the parent
11 subsequently enrolls the child in a public school under the authority of the
12 public school system.
13 * * *
14 Section 2. This Act shall become effective upon signature by the governor or, if not
15 signed by the governor, upon expiration of the time for bills to become law without signature
16 by the governor, as provided by Article III, Section 18 of the Constitution of Louisiana. If
17 vetoed by the governor and subsequently approved by the legislature, this Act shall become
18 effective on the day following such approval.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions.