Chap. 441.—An ACT to amend and reenact Section 683, as amended, of the Code
of Virginia relating to compulsory school attendance. [H 500)

Approved April 1, 1948

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That section six hundred eighty-three of the Code of Virginia,
as amended, be amended and reenacted as follows:

Section 683. Compulsory attendance——Every parent, guardian, or
other person in the Commonwealth, having control or charge of any
child, or children, who have reached the seventh birthday and have not
passed the sixteenth birthday, shall send such child, or children to a
public school, or to a private, denominational or parochial school or
have such child or children taught by a tutor or teacher of qualification
prescribed by the State Board of Education and approved by the division
superintendent in a home, and such child, or children shall regularly
attend such school during the period of each year the public schools are
in session and for the same number of days and hours per day as in the
public schools. The period of compulsory attendance shall commence
at the opening of the first term of the school which the pupil attends and
shall continue until the close of such school for the school year or until
the pupil reaches his or her sixteenth birthday. The provisions of this
section shall not apply to children physically or mentally incapacitated
for school work, nor to those children suffering from contagious or in-
fectious disease while suffering from such diseases; nor to children under
ten years of age who live more than two (2) miles from a public
school, unless public transportation is provided within one mile of the
place where such children live; nor to children between ten and sixteen
years of age who live more than two and one-half (234) miles from
a public school, unless public transportation is provided within one
and one-half (114) miles of the place where such children live. Compul-
sory education distances shall be measured or determined by the nearest
practical routes, which are usable for either walking or riding, from the
entrance to the school grounds, or from the nearest school bus stop, to
the residence of such children. Physical incapacity or disease shall be
established by the certificate of a reputable practicing physician, made
in accordance with the rules and regulations adopted by the State Board
of Education, and mental incapacity is to be determined by such mental
test or tests as may be prescribed by the State Board of Education.
Every blind or partially blind child and every deaf child between
seven and sixteen years of age, shall attend some school for the blind,
or some school for the deaf, or some class in the public schools wherein
special methods are used and special equipment and instruction are
provided for the blind or deaf for nine months, or during the scholastic
year, unless it can be shown that the child is elsewhere receiving regularly
equivalent instruction during the period in studies usually taught in the
public schools to children of the same age, provided that the superinten-
dent or principal of any school for the blind, or the public schools or
the schools for the deaf, or person or persons duly authorized by such
superintendents or principals, may excuse cases of necessary absence
among its enrolled pupils, and provided, further, that the provisions of
this section shall not apply to a child whose physical or mental condition
is such as to render its instruction as above described inexpedient or im-
practicable. Every person having under his or her control a child
between the ages above set forth, shall cause the child to attend school
or receive instruction as required by this section. Any blind or partially
blind or deaf child who prior to his sixteenth birthday has been reg-
ularly enrolled in some school for the blind or some school for the deaf
or some class in the public schools wherein special methods are used
and special equipment and instruction are provided for the blind or
deaf, shall be required to continue attendance thereat until he reaches
his twentieth birthday or until he has completed all courses offered by
such school from which such child can benefit, unless it can be shown
that such child is elsewhere receiving regularly equivalent instruction
during the period in studies usually taught in the public schools.
cus. 442, 443] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 855