Code of Alabama - Title 16: Education - Chapter 28 - School Attendance

• Article 1 General Provisions.
• Section 16-28-1 Definitions
  For purposes of this article, the following words, terms and phrases shall have the following respective meanings, unless clearly indicated otherwise: (1) PRIVATE SCHOOL. Includes...
• Section 16-28-2 Purposes of article
  The purposes of this article are to secure the prompt and regular attendance of pupils and to secure their proper conduct, and to hold the...
• Section 16-28-2.1 Adoption of standards for mandatory attendance policy; parents held accountable; enforcement
  The Legislature finds that mandatory attendance policies for schools differ from school system to school system throughout the State of Alabama. The State Board of...
• Section 16-28-2.2 Establishment of program by local boards to inform parents of educational responsibilities
  (a) Local boards of education, pursuant to guidelines established by the State Board of Education, shall establish educational programs to inform parents of school children...
• Section 16-28-3 Ages of children required to attend school; exemption for church school students; transfer students
  (a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), every child between the ages of six and 17 years shall be required to attend a public...
• Section 16-28-3.1 Guidelines and procedures for withdrawal from school; dropout prevention program
  (a) A child over the age of 17 may withdraw from public school prior to graduation if both of the following circumstances exist: (1) Written...
• Section 16-28-4 Minimum age at which child may enter
  (a) A child who is six years of age on or before December 31 or the date on which school begins in the enrolling district...
• Section 16-28-5 Private tutor
  Instruction by a private tutor means and includes only instruction by a person who holds a certificate issued by the State Superintendent of Education and...
• Section 16-28-6 Children exempt from attending public school
  (a) The following children, when issued certificates of exemption by the county superintendent of education, where they reside in territory under the control and supervision...
• Section 16-28-7 Report of enrollment
  At the end of the fifth day from the opening of the public school, the principal teacher of each public school, private school, and each...
• Section 16-28-8 Reports required must be furnished
  All school officers, including those in private schools, or private tutors, but not those in church schools, in this state offering instruction to pupils within...
• Section 16-28-9 List of children who should attend school - Required
  In order that the provisions of this article may more definitely be enforced, the county superintendent of education and the city superintendent of schools shall,...
• Section 16-28-10 List of children who should attend school - How lists prepared
  The information required for making lists of children of the compulsory attendance ages shall be prepared by county and city superintendents of education with the...
• Section 16-28-11 Enrollment report and list of potential students compared
  The county superintendent of education or the city superintendent of schools, as the case may be, shall upon the receipt of the report from teachers...
• Section 16-28-12 Person in loco parentis responsible for child's school attendance and behavior; noncompliance; local boards to promulgate written behavior policy, contents, annual distribution, receipt to be documented; school officials required to report noncompliance; failure to report suspected violation; district attorneys vigorously to enforce provisions
  (a) Each parent, guardian, or other person having control or custody of any child required to attend school or receive regular instruction by a private...
• Section 16-28-13 Burden of proof on person in loco parentis
  No parent, guardian or other person having control or charge of any child shall be convicted for failure to have said child enrolled in school...
• Section 16-28-14 Habitual truant
  In case any child becomes an habitual truant, or because of irregular attendance or misconduct has become a menace to the best interest of the...
• Section 16-28-15 Absence must be explained
  Every parent, guardian, or other person having control or charge of any child required to attend public school, private school, or church school, shall as...
• Section 16-28-16 Cases of nonenrollment and nonattendance; withdrawal of enrollment
  (a) It shall be the duty of the county superintendent of education or the city superintendent of education, as the case may be, to require...
• Section 16-28-17 When child may be taken into custody
  It shall be the duty of the attendance officer, probation officer or other officer authorized to execute writs of arrest to take into custody without...
• Section 16-28-18 Record kept by attendance officer
  The attendance officer whose appointment is by this article provided for shall keep an accurate record of all notices served, all cases prosecuted and all...
• Section 16-28-19 Attendance districts
  The county board of education shall arrange the county, exclusive of cities, into one or more attendance districts, and said board shall appoint an attendance...
• Section 16-28-20 Compensation of attendance officers
  The attendance officers who are employed by the county or city board of education shall be paid by the respective boards of education such salaries...
• Section 16-28-21 Juvenile court jurisdiction
  The juvenile court of the county shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction of all prosecutions or proceedings arising under the provisions of this article against...
• Section 16-28-22 Prosecutions
  No prosecution or proceeding under this article shall be begun except by one of the following parties: (1) The county superintendent of education or city...
• Section 16-28-23 Attendance register and rules and regulations as evidence
  The registry of attendance of pupils kept by any public school, private school, church school or private tutor in compliance with the provisions of law...
• Section 16-28-24 Church schools may waive exemptions specified in this article
  Notwithstanding entitlement to the exemptions provided church schools under Sections 16-28-1, 16-1-11, 16-28-3, 16-28-7, 16-28-8, 16-28-15, 16-28-23 and 16-40-1 any church school as defined in...
• Article 2 Conditioning of Driving Privileges upon School Attendance.
• Section 16-28-40 License applicant under 19 to provide documentation of school enrollment, etc.; duties of school attendance official; withdrawal from school; conviction for certain pistol offenses
  (a) The Department of Public Safety shall deny a driver's license or a learner's license for the operation of a motor vehicle to any person...
• Section 16-28-41 Written guidelines to be provided
  The State Department of Education shall distribute written guidelines to each school system for developing a written school policy in accordance with this article that...
• Section 16-28-42 Adoption of regulations
  The Department of Education and the Department of Public Safety shall jointly adopt regulations to implement this article, including a hearing and appeal process.
• Section 16-28-43 Article not to deny rights of exceptional children
  No provision of this article shall be construed to deny any right to any child granted pursuant to Sections 16-39-1 to 16-39-12.
• Section 16-28-44 Article not to deny constitutional rights of children
  No provision of this article shall be construed to deny the right of any child granted pursuant to the Constitution of the United States nor...
• Section 16-28-45 Construction with other attendance and vehicle laws
  The provisions of this article shall be construed together with any and all other laws or parts of law relating to school attendance or the...

Last modified: May 3, 2021