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2005 SESSION
051828292Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 22.1-254.1 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 22.1-254.1. Declaration of policy; requirements for home instruction of children.
A. When the requirements of this section have been satisfied,
instruction of children by their parents is an acceptable alternative form of
education under the policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Any parent of any
child who will have reached the fifth birthday on or before September 30 of any
school year and who has not passed the eighteenth birthday may elect to provide
home instruction in lieu of school attendance if he (i) holds a baccalaureate
degree in any subject from an accredited institution of higher education; or
(ii) is a teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education; or
(iii) has enrolled the child or children in a correspondence course approved by
the Superintendent of Public Instruction; or (iv) provides a program of study
or curriculum which that,
in the judgment of the division superintendent, includes the standards of
learning objectives adopted by the Board of Education for language arts and
mathematics and provides evidence that the parent is able to provide an
adequate education for the child.
B. Any parent who elects to provide home instruction in lieu
of school attendance shall annually notify the division superintendent in
August of his intention to so instruct the child and provide a description of
the curriculum to be followed for the coming year and evidence of having met
one of the criteria for providing home instruction as required by subsection A of this section. Effective July 1, 2000, parents electing to
provide home instruction shall provide such annual notice no later than August
15. Any parent who moves into a school division or begins home instruction
after the school year has begun shall notify the division superintendent of his
intention to provide home instruction as soon as practicable and shall comply
with the requirements of this section within thirty days of such notice. The
division superintendent shall notify the Superintendent of Public Instruction
of the number of students in the school division receiving home instruction.
C. The parent who elects to provide home instruction shall
provide the division superintendent by August 1 following the school year in
which the child has received home instruction with either (i) evidence that the
child has attained a composite score in or above the fourth stanine on a
battery of achievement tests which that
have been approved by the Board of Education for use in the public
schools or (ii) an evaluation or assessment which that, in the judgment of the division superintendent, indicates
that the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and
progress. The Department of Education shall maintain a list
of achievement tests, evaluations, and assessments that satisfy the requirements
of clauses (i) and (ii) of this
subsection.
In the event that evidence of progress as required in this
subsection is not provided by the parent, the home instruction program for that
child may be placed on probation for one year. Parents shall file with the
division superintendent evidence of their ability to provide an adequate
education for their child in compliance with subsection A of this section and
a remediation plan for the probationary year which that
indicates their program is designed to address any educational
deficiency. Upon acceptance of such evidence and plan by the division
superintendent, the home instruction may continue for one probationary year. If
the remediation plan and evidence are not accepted or the required evidence of
progress is not provided by August 1 following the probationary year, home
instruction shall cease and the parent shall make other arrangements for the
education of the child which that
comply with § 22.1-254. The requirements of subsection C shall not apply to
children who are under the age of six as of September 30 of the school year.
D. For purposes of this section, "parent"
means the biological parent or adoptive parent, guardian or other person having
control or charge of a child.
Nothing in this section shall prohibit a pupil and his parents from obtaining an excuse from school attendance by reason of bona fide religious training or belief pursuant to § 22.1-254 B 1.
E. Any party aggrieved by a decision of the division superintendent may appeal his decision within thirty days to an independent hearing officer. The independent hearing officer shall be chosen from the list maintained by the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court for hearing appeals of the placements of children with disabilities. The costs of the hearing shall be apportioned among the parties by the hearing officer in a manner consistent with his findings.