CHAPTER 178

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 22-138.1, 22-218, 22-220, 22-228, 22-275.1
through 22-275.5, 22-275.18, 22-275.15, 22-275.18 and 22-275.23, as
severally amended, of the Code of Virginia, relating to apportionment
of certain State funds on the basis of school age population, admisst-
bility of certain age children to public school, the triennial census of
school age children, compulsory school attendance for certain age
children; and to repeal §§ 22-218.1, 22-275.24 and 22-275.25 of the
Code of Virginia, relating to discretionary admission of certain age
children to public school and to adoption of compulsory education
provisions by the localities.

[S 28]

Approved March 138, 1968

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 22-1388.1, 22-218, 22-220, 22-223, 22-275.1 through 22-275.5,
22-275.18, 22-275.15, 22-275.18 and 22-275.23, as severally amended, of
the Code of Virginia be amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 22-138.1. Minimum fixed appropriation of State revenue; appor-
tionment.—The General Assembly having segregated for the purposes of
taxat'on the several kinds or classes of property so as to specify and
determine upon what subjects State taxes and upon what subjects local
taxes may be levied, there is hereby made, in conformity with section one
hundred and thirty-five of the Constitution of Virginia, a fixed appropria-
tion of State revenue in a sum equal to the revenue which would be raised
by an annual tax on property of ten cents on every one hundred dollars
of the assessed vaJuation thereof, if such tax were levied, to be annually
applied to the public free schools of the primary and grammar grades,
for the equal benefit of all the people of the State. Such appropriation
shall be apportioned on a basis of school population, the number of chil-
dren between the ages of * six and twenty years in each school district
to be the basis of such apportionment. The appropriation hereby made
shall Fe included in the appropriations made for public free school pur-
poses in each biennial general appropriation act and shall not be construed
as in addition to such appropriations except to the extent that they may be
less, for any year, for the purposes stated in this section, than the fixed:
appropriation hereby made.
§ 22-218. Persons who shall be admitted to schools.—The public
schools in each county, city and town operating as a separate school
district shall be free to each person, who is not less than * siz years of
age, having reached their sixth birthday on or before September thirtieth
of the school year, and who has not reached twenty years of age, residing
in such county, city or town. Every such person shall be deemed to reside
in a county, city or town when: (1) He or she is living with a natural
parent or parent by legal adoption who actually resides in such county,
city or town (2) the parents of such person are dead and he or she is
living with a person in loco parentis and who actually resides in such
county, city or town, or (3) he or she is living with such parent or per-
son on a military or naval reservation located wholly or partly within
the geographical boundaries of such county, city or town.

§ 22-220. Admission of persons who are nonresidents of State.—
The school board of any county, city, or town operating as a separate
school district, may, in its discretion, admit into its schools persons of the
ages prescribed in §§ 22-218, * and 22-218.2 who are nonresidents of the
State of Virginia, but who may be living temporarily with relatives or
others within such county, city, or town operating as a separate school
district and wish to attend public schools therein. The school board shall
make regulations whereby such persons may attend school in such county,
city or town, and shall charge tuition for the attendance of such persons
in such schools. The school board of any county, city, or town operating
as a separate school district bordering on another state or the District of
Columbia which grants the same privileges to persons who are residents
of the Commonwealth of Virginia may, in its discretion, admit into its
schools, free of tuition, persons of the ages prescribed in S§ 22-218 * and
22-218.2 residing beyond the limits of this State, but near thereto.

Any person having control or charge of any nonresident child or chil-
dren within the limits of the compulsory attendance law for a period of
sixty days or more must keep such child or children in regular attendance
in school as provided in * §§ 22-275.1 through 22-275.7 inclusive, and must
pay or cause to be paid the tuition charges required herein for such
child or children or return such child or children to the home of the
parents or legal guardians in another state or the District of Columbia;
provided that any such person having control or charge of a nonresident
child or children and permitting such nonresident child or children to
remain in his home and not attend school regularly shall be deemed guilty
of a misdemeanor and the provisions of * §$§ 22-275.18 through 22-275. 22
inclusive, shall be applicable.

§ 22-223. Triennial census of school population.—At a time to be
designated by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, prior to Sep-
tember first, nineteen hundred sixty-eight and every three years there-
after. a census of all persons between the ages of * six and twenty years,
residing within each county or city, shall be taken on forms furnished by
the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Persons of school age domiciled
in orphanages or eleemosynary institutions or living on any federal mili-
tary or naval reservation or other federal property, shall be included in the
census for the county or city within which the institution or federal
military or naval reservation or other federal property is located. Per-
sons of school age confined in insane asylums, State or federal industrial
schools or prisons, shall be included in the census for the county or city
that is the legal residence of the parents or guardians of such child or
children.

§ 22.275.1. Ages of children required to attend; children to which
section applicable-—Every parent, guardian, or other person in the Com-
monwealth, having control or charge of any child, or children, who have
reached the * sixth birthday on or before September thirtieth of the
school year and have not passed the * seventeenth 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 qualifications 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. *

§ 22-275.2. Period of compulsory attendance.—The period of com-
pulsory 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 * seven-
teenth birthday.

§ 22-275.3. Children exempted from provision.—The provisions of
this article shal] not apply to children physically or mentally incapacitated
for school work; nor to those children suffering from contagious or infec-
tious diseases while suffering from such diseases; nor to children under
ten years of age who live more than two 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 * seventeen years of age
who live more than two and one-half miles from a public school, unless
public transportation is provided within one and one-half miles of the
place where such children live; nor to children excused under § 22-275.4
of this article. Compulsory education distances shall be measured or de-
termined 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 incapa-
city or disease shall be established by the certificate of a reputable prac-
ticing 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.

§ 22-275.4. Excusing children who cannot benefit from education or
whose parents, etc., conscientiously object to attendance.—Notwithstand-
ing the provisions of § 22-275.1 of this article the school board shall on
recommendation of the principal, the superintendent of schools and the
judge of the juvenile and domestic relations court of such county or city,
or on recommendation of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, excuse
from attendance at school any pupil who in their or his judgment cannot
benefit from education at such school, or whose parents conscientiously
object thereto, provided no such child shall be so excused unless the written
consent of his parents or guardian be given *.

§ 22-275.5. Blind or deaf children.—Every blind or partially blind
child and every deaf child between * the ages set forth in § 22-275.1
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 superintendent 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 impracticable.

Any blind or partially blind or deaf child who prior to his * seven-
teenth birthday has been regularly 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.

§ 22-275.13. Certification of names of blind or deaf children to
superintendents of schools for the deaf and Commission for the Visually
Handicapped.—The principal teacher of every public school in the counties
and towns and the truant officers of the cities shall, within thirty days from
the beginning of the school year, furnish the division superintendent and
the county, city or town school board with the names of all children who
are blind or partially blind or deaf between the ages of * siz and. *
seventeen years, inclusive, living within the boundaries of his or her school
district who do not attend school. It shall be the duty of the school board
to certify forthwith the names of all such deaf children to the respective
superintendents of the State schools for the deaf, and of all such blind
or partially blind children to the Virginia Commission for the Visually
Handicapped and to the superintendents of the schools for the blind whose
duty it shall be to investigate all cases of nonenrollment of such blind
children, and when no valid reason is found therefor, such child or children
shall be required to attend school as provided in § 22-275.5.

§ 22-275.15. Teachers to keep daily attendance records.—Every
teacher in every school in the Commonwealth shall keep an accurate daily
record of attendance of all children * . Such record shall, at all times,
be open to any officer authorized to enforce the provisions of this article
who may inspect or copy the same, and shall be admissible in evidence in
any prosecution for a violation of this article, as prima facie evidence of
the facts stated therein.

§ 22-275.18. Misdemeanor to make false statements as to age.—Any
parent, guardian, or other person who makes a false statement concerning
the age of a child between the ages of * siz and * seventeen years,
for the purpose of evading the provisions of this article, shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor.

§ 22-275.23. State Board to enforce.—The State Board of Education
shall have the authority and it shall be its duty to see that the compulsory
attendance laws, as provided in this article, are properly enforced *
throughout the Commonwealth.

2. §§ 22-218.1, 22-275.24 and 22-275.25 of the Code of Virginia are

repealed.