22-33-104. Compulsory school attendance.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection
(2) of this section, every child who
has
attained the age of seven years and
is under
the age of sixteen years, except as
provided
by this section, shall attend public
school for at least one thousand fifty-six hours
if a secondary school pupil or nine
hundred
sixty-eight hours if an elementary
school
pupil during each school year; except
that
in no case shall a school or schools
be in
session for fewer than one hundred
sixty
days without the specific prior approval
of the commissioner of education.
(1.5) Notwithstanding the provisions
of subsection
(1) of this section and any other provision
of this article relating to compulsory
school
attendance, the compulsory school attendance
laws apply to a six-year-old child
who has
been enrolled in a public school in
the first
grade or in a higher grade level. In
such
circumstances, the courts may issue
orders
to compel compliance with the compulsory
school attendance requirements of this
article.
However, this subsection (1.5) shall
not
apply to a six-year-old child whose
parent
or legal guardian chooses to withdraw
such
child.
(2) The provisions of subsection (1) of this
section shall not apply to a child:
(a) Who is temporarily ill or injured
or
whose absence is approved by the administrator
of the school of attendance;
(b) Who is enrolled for a minimum of one hundred
seventy-two days in an independent
or parochial
school which provides a basic academic
education.
"Basic academic education"
for
the purpose of this article means the
sequential
program of instruction provided by
an independent
or parochial school. Such program shall
include,
but not be limited to, communication
skills
of reading, writing, and speaking,
mathematics,
history, civics, literature, and science.
(c) Who is absent for an extended period
due to physical, mental, or emotional
disability;
(d) Who has been suspended, expelled,
or
denied admission in accordance with
the provisions
of this article; except that, when
a pupil
is expelled for the remainder of the
school
year, the parent, guardian, or legal
custodian
is responsible for seeing that either
the
provisions of subsection (1) of this
section
are complied with during the period
of expulsion
from the school district or that the
pupil
meets the conditions for exemption
specified
in paragraph (b) or (i) of this subsection
(2);
(e) To whom a current age and school
certificate
or work permit has been issued pursuant
to
the "Colorado Youth Employment
Opportunity
Act of 1971", article 12 of title
8,
C.R.S.;
(f) Who is in the custody of a court
or law
enforcement authorities;
(g) Who is pursuing a work-study program
under the supervision of a public school;
(h) Who has graduated from the twelfth
grade;
(i) Who is being instructed at home:
(I) By a teacher licensed pursuant
to article
60.5 or 61 of this title; or
(II) Under a nonpublic home-based educational
program pursuant to section 22-33-104.5;
or
(III) In an alternative program authorized
pursuant to section 22-33-104.6; or
(j) Who is enrolled in a school where
the
state board of education has approved
a lesser
number of days.
(3) Unless within one of the exceptions
listed
in subsection (2) of this section,
a child
who is deaf or blind, and who has attained
the age of six years and is under the
age
of seventeen, shall attend, for at
least
one hundred seventy-two days during
the school
year, a school which provides suitable
specialized
instruction. The provisions of this
subsection
(3) shall not apply to a child if the
Colorado
school for the deaf and the blind refuses
him admission and it is impractical
to arrange
for attendance at a special education
class,
as provided in article 20 of this title,
within daily commuting distance of
the child's
home. If any school providing instruction
for deaf or blind children offers fewer
than
the necessary one hundred seventy-two
days
of instruction, the school shall file
with
the school district in which it is
located
a report showing the number of days
classes
were held and the names and ages of
the children
enrolled.
(4) (a) The board of education shall
adopt
a written policy setting forth the
district's
attendance requirements. Said policy
shall
provide for excused absences, including
those
listed as exclusions from compulsory
school
attendance in accordance with subsection
(2) of this section; except that paragraph
(d) of said subsection (2), relating
to suspension
and expulsion, shall be considered
an unexcused
absence for purposes of the attendance
policy.
An attendance policy developed pursuant
to
this section may include appropriate
penalties
for nonattendance due to unexcused
absence,
including, but not limited to, the
imposition
of academic penalty for classes missed
while
unexcused.
(b) The attendance policy adopted pursuant
to this subsection (4) shall specify
the
maximum number of unexcused absences
a child
may incur before the attorney for the
school
district, the attendance officer, or
the
local board of education may initiate
judicial
proceedings pursuant to section 22-33-108.
Calculation of the number of unexcused
absences
a child has incurred includes all unexcused
absences occurring during any calendar
year
or during any school year.
(5) (a) The general assembly hereby
declares
that two of the most important factors
in
ensuring a child's educational development
are parental involvement and parental
responsibility.
The general assembly further declares
that
it is the obligation of every parent
to ensure
that every child under such parent's
care
and supervision receives adequate education
and training. Therefore, every parent
of
a child who has attained the age of
seven
years and is under the age of sixteen
years
shall ensure that such child attends
the
public school in which such child is
enrolled
in compliance with this section.
(b) Parents whose children are enrolled
in
an independent or parochial school
or a non-public
home-based educational program pursuant
to
the provisions of subsection (2) of
this
section shall be exempt from the requirements
of this subsection (5).
Source: L. 63: p. 862, § 5. C.R.S.
1963:
§ 123-20-5. L. 73: pp. 1254, 1314,
§ § 5,
6. L. 74: (2)(j) added, p. 363, § 1,
effective
March 19. L. 77: (1) amended, p. 1071,
§
4, effective May 24. L. 80: (1) amended,
p. 551, § 2, effective April 30. L.
83: (2)(b)
amended, p. 755, § 1, effective June
3. L.
84: (4) added, p. 597, § 2, effective
April
5. L. 86: (1) amended, p. 801, § 4,
effective
July 1. L. 87: (2)(i) amended, p. 829,
§
1, effective July 1. L. 88: (2)(j)
amended,
p. 768, § 2, effective July 1. L. 93:
(5)
added, p. 457, § 1, effective April
19; (2)(d)
amended, p. 454, § 6, effective July
1. L.
94: (4) amended, p. 678, § 3, effective
April
19. L. 97: (1.5) added, p. 41, § 1,
effective
July 1. L. 98: (1), (2)(d), and (2)(i)
amended,
p. 654, § 1, effective August 5. L.
2000:
(2)(i)(I) amended, p. 1857, § 60, effective
August 2. Cross references: For the
"Colorado
Youth Employment Opportunity Act of
1971",
see article 12 of title 8.
Am. Jur.2d. See 68 Am. Jur.2d, Schools,
§
§ 253-262.
C.J.S. See 78A C.J.S., Schools and
School
Districts, § § 734-739.
Law reviews. For article, "Children
in Need: Observations of Practice of
the
Denver Juvenile Court", see 51
Den.
L.J. 337 (1974).
The state, for its own protection,
may require
children to be educated. People ex
rel. Vallimar
v. Stanley, 81 Colo. 276, 255 P. 610
(1927).
Compulsory attendance law constitutionally
enacted. The general assembly did not
exceed
its constitutional authority in enacting
the compulsory school attendance law.
In
Interest of Y.D.M., 197 Colo. 403,
593 P.2d
1356 (1979).
List of exclusions from compulsory
attendance
not exhaustive. Although this section
specifically
enumerates several circumstances which,
if
proven, render the compulsory attendance
law inapplicable, this list of justifications
is not exhaustive. In Interest of Y.D.M.,
197 Colo. 403, 593 P.2d 1356 (1979).
Placing burden on child to show absences
excused is not unfair. It is not manifestly
unfair to place on the child the burden
to
show that her absences from school
were excused,
for the facts which prove or disprove
a claimed
excuse are uniquely within the knowledge
of the child and its parents or custodian.
In Interest of Y.D.M., 197 Colo. 403,
593
P.2d 1356 (1979).
Common-law defense of duress has not
been
abrogated by the compulsory attendance
statute,
and the court must instruct the jury
on this
defense if requested. In Interest of
Y.D.M.,
197 Colo. 403, 593 P.2d 1356 (1979).
Denial of credit because of absences
may
be invalid. Where a school district's
policy
denies academic credit to students
with more
than seven absences, even if the absences
are due partially to suspensions and
excused
absences, such policy is inconsistent
with
this section, and is thus invalid or
inconsistent
with state law. Gutierrez v. School
Dist.
R-1, 41 Colo. App. 411, 585 P.2d 935
(1978)
(decided prior to 1984 amendment adding
subsection
(4)).
For previous exemption of those over
14 who
have completed eighth grade, see Washington
County High School Dist. v. Board of
Comm'rs,
85 Colo. 72, 273 P. 879 (1928).
Exemption of subsection (2) requires
only
enrollment, not attendance, at independent
or parochial school. Legislative change
substituting
word "enrolled" for word
"attends"
was clear evidence of intent not to
require
physical presence at independent or
parochial
school. Periodic attendance for testing
only
by students otherwise tutored at home
was
therefore adequate satisfaction of
compulsory
attendance statute. People in Interest
of
D.B., 767 P.2d 801 (Colo. App. 1988).
This portion of Colorado Revised Statutes,
reprinted with the permission of the
Committee on Legal Services in accordance
with section 2-5-118, C.R.S. is an
unofficial publication of Colorado Revised
Statutes.
