Source: http://www.wvlegislature.gov/WVCODE/Code.cfm?chap=18&art=8
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 12:58:11+00:00

Document:
§18-8-1. Compulsory school attendance; exemptions.
§18-8-1a. Commencement and termination of compulsory school attendance; public school entrance requirements; exceptions.
§18-8-2. Offenses; penalties; cost of prosecution; jurisdiction.
§18-8-3. Employment of county director of school attendance and assistants; qualifications; salary and traveling expenses; removal.
§18-8-4. Duties of attendance director and assistant directors; complaints, warrants and hearings.
§18-8-5. Duties of principal, administrative head or other chief administrator.
§18-8-6. The High School Graduation Improvement Act.
§18-8-6a. Incentive for county board participation in circuit court juvenile probation truancy programs.
§18-8-7. Aiding or abetting violations of compulsory attendance; penalty.
§18-8-8. Child suspended for failure to comply with requirements and regulations treated as unlawfully absent.
§18-8-9. Report and disposition of fines collected.
§18-8-10. Compulsory education of deaf and blind; offenses; penalties; names of deaf and blind.
§18-8-11. School attendance and satisfactory academic progress as conditions of licensing for privilege of operation of motor vehicle.
§18-8-12. Issuance of a diploma or other appropriate credential by public, private or home school administrator.
(a) Exemption from the requirements of compulsory public school attendance established in section one-a of this article shall be made on behalf of any child for the causes or conditions set forth in this section. Each cause or condition set forth in this section is subject to confirmation by the attendance authority of the county. A child who is exempt from compulsory school attendance under this section is not subject to prosecution under section two of this article, nor is such a child a status offender as defined by section two hundred two, article one, chapter forty-nine of this code.
(b) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance requirement set forth in section one-a of this article if the requirements of this subsection, relating to instruction in a private, parochial or other approved school, are met. The instruction shall be in a school approved by the county board and for a time equal to the instructional term set forth in section forty-five, article five of this chapter. In all private, parochial or other schools approved pursuant to this subsection it is the duty of the principal or other person in control, upon the request of the county superintendent, to furnish to the county board such information and records as may be required with respect to attendance, instruction and progress of students enrolled.
(c) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance requirement set forth in section one-a of this article if the requirements of either subdivision (1) or subdivision (2) of this subsection, both relating to home instruction, are met.
(1) The instruction shall be in the home of the child or children or at some other place approved by the county board and for a time equal to the instructional term set forth in section forty-five, article five of this chapter. If the request for home instruction is denied by the county board, good and reasonable justification for the denial shall be furnished in writing to the applicant by the county board. The instruction shall be conducted by a person or persons who, in the judgment of the county superintendent and county board, are qualified to give instruction in subjects required to be taught in public elementary schools in the state. The person or persons providing the instruction, upon request of the county superintendent, shall furnish to the county board information and records as may be required periodically with respect to attendance, instruction and progress of students receiving the instruction. The state board shall develop guidelines for the home schooling of special education students including alternative assessment measures to assure that satisfactory academic progress is achieved.
(2) The child meets the requirements set forth in this subdivision: Provided, That the county superintendent may, after a showing of probable cause, seek from the circuit court of the county an order denying home instruction of the child. The order may be granted upon a showing of clear and convincing evidence that the child will suffer neglect in his or her education or that there are other compelling reasons to deny home instruction.
(A) Upon commencing home instruction under this section the parent of a child receiving home instruction shall present to the county superintendent or county board a notice of intent to provide home instruction that includes the name, address, and age of any child of compulsory school age to be instructed and assurance that the child shall receive instruction in reading, language, mathematics, science and social studies and that the child shall be assessed annually in accordance with this subdivision. The person providing home instruction shall notify the county superintendent upon termination of home instruction for a child who is of compulsory attendance age. Upon establishing residence in a new county, the person providing home instruction shall notify the previous county superintendent and submit a new notice of intent to the superintendent of the new county of residence: Provided, That if a child is enrolled in a public school, notice of intent to provide home instruction shall be given on or before the date home instruction is to begin.
(B) The person or persons providing home instruction shall submit satisfactory evidence of a high school diploma or equivalent, or a post-secondary degree or certificate from a regionally accredited institution or from an institution of higher education that has been authorized to confer a post-secondary degree or certificate in West Virginia by the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education or by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission.
(iv) The child completes an alternative academic assessment of proficiency that is mutually agreed upon by the parent or legal guardian and the county superintendent.
(D) A parent or legal guardian shall maintain copies of each student’s Academic Assessment for three years. When the annual assessment fails to show acceptable progress, the person or persons providing home instruction shall initiate a remedial program to foster acceptable progress. The county board upon request shall notify the parents or legal guardian of the child, in writing, of the services available to assist in the assessment of the child’s eligibility for special education services. Identification of a disability does not preclude the continuation of home schooling. In the event that the child does not achieve acceptable progress for a second consecutive year, the person or persons providing instruction shall submit to the county superintendent additional evidence that appropriate instruction is being provided.
(E) The parent or legal guardian shall submit to the county superintendent the results of the academic assessment of the child at grade levels three, five, eight and eleven, as applicable, by June 30 of the year in which the assessment was administered.
(3) This subdivision applies to both home instruction exemptions set forth in subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection. The county superintendent or a designee shall offer such assistance, including textbooks, other teaching materials and available resources, all subject to availability, as may assist the person or persons providing home instruction. Any child receiving home instruction may upon approval of the county board exercise the option to attend any class offered by the county board as the person or persons providing home instruction may consider appropriate subject to normal registration and attendance requirements.
(d) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance requirement set forth in section one-a of this article if the requirements of this subsection, relating to physical or mental incapacity, are met. Physical or mental incapacity consists of incapacity for school attendance and the performance of school work. In all cases of prolonged absence from school due to incapacity of the child to attend, the written statement of a licensed physician or authorized school nurse is required. Incapacity shall be narrowly defined and in any case the provisions of this article may not allow for the exclusion of the mentally, physically, emotionally or behaviorally handicapped child otherwise entitled to a free appropriate education.
(e) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance requirement set forth in section one-a of this article if conditions rendering school attendance impossible or hazardous to the life, health or safety of the child exist.
(f) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance requirement set forth in section one-a of this article upon regular graduation from a standard senior high school or alternate secondary program completion as determined by the state board.
(g) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance requirement set forth in section one-a of this article if the child is granted a work permit pursuant to the subsection. After due investigation the county superintendent may grant work permits to youths under the termination age designated in section one-a of this article, subject to state and federal labor laws and regulations. A work permit may not be granted on behalf of any youth who has not completed the eighth grade of school.
(h) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance requirement set forth in section one-a of this article if a serious illness or death in the immediate family of the child has occurred. It is expected that the county attendance director will ascertain the facts in all cases of such absences about which information is inadequate and report the facts to the county superintendent.
(i) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance requirement set forth in section one-a of this article if the requirements of this subsection, relating to destitution in the home, are met. Exemption based on a condition of extreme destitution in the home may be granted only upon the written recommendation of the county attendance director to the county superintendent following careful investigation of the case. A copy of the report confirming the condition and school exemption shall be placed with the county director of public assistance. This enactment contemplates every reasonable effort that may properly be taken on the part of both school and public assistance authorities for the relief of home conditions officially recognized as being so destitute as to deprive children of the privilege of school attendance. Exemption for this cause is not allowed when the destitution is relieved through public or private means.
(j) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance requirement set forth in section one-a of this article if the requirements of this subsection, relating to church ordinances and observances of regular church ordinances, are met. The county board may approve exemption for religious instruction upon written request of the person having legal or actual charge of a child or children. This exemption is subject to the rules prescribed by the county superintendent and approved by the county board.
(k) A child is exempt from the compulsory school attendance requirement set forth in section one-a of this article if the requirements of this subsection, relating to alternative private, parochial, church or religious school instruction, are met. Exemption shall be made for any child attending any private school, parochial school, church school, school operated by a religious order or other nonpublic school which elects to comply with the provisions of article twenty-eight of this chapter.
(l) Completion of the eighth grade does not exempt any child under the termination age designated in section one-a of this article from the compulsory attendance provision of this article.
(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of section one of this article, compulsory school attendance begins with the school year in which the sixth birthday is reached prior to September 1 of such year or upon enrolling in a publicly supported kindergarten program and, subject to subdivision (3) of this subsection, continues to the sixteenth birthday or for as long as the student continues to be enrolled in a school system after the sixteenth birthday.
(1) A child may be removed from such kindergarten program when the principal, teacher and parent or guardian concur that the best interest of the child would not be served by requiring further attendance: Provided, That the principal shall make the final determination with regard to compulsory school attendance in a publicly supported kindergarten program.
(2) The compulsory school attendance provision of this article shall be enforced against a person eighteen years of age or older for as long as the person continues to be enrolled in a school system and may not be enforced against the parent, guardian or custodian of the person.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of section one of this article, compulsory school attendance begins with the school year in which the sixth birthday is reached prior to September 1 of such year or upon enrolling in a publicly supported kindergarten program and continues to the seventeenth birthday or for as long as the student continues to be enrolled in a school system after the seventeenth birthday: Provided, That beginning in the school year 2019-2020, compulsory school attendance begins with the school year in which the sixth birthday is reached prior to July 1 of such year or upon enrolling in a publicly supported kindergarten program.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, section five, article two of this chapter and section eighteen, article five of this chapter, a county board may provide for advanced entrance or placement under policies adopted by said board for any child who has demonstrated sufficient mental and physical competency for such entrance or placement.
(d) This section does not prevent a student from another state from enrolling in the same grade in a public school in West Virginia as the student was enrolled at the school from which the student transferred.
(a) Any person who, after receiving due notice, shall fail to cause a child or children under eighteen years of age in that person's legal or actual charge to attend school in violation of this article or without just cause, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, shall, upon conviction of a first offense, be fined not less than fifty nor more than $100 together with the costs of prosecution, or required to accompany the child to school and remain through the school day for so long as the magistrate or judge may determine is appropriate. The magistrate or judge, upon conviction and pronouncing sentence, may delay the sentence for a period of sixty school days provided the child is in attendance everyday during said sixty-day period. Following the sixty-day period, if said child was present at school for every school day, the delayed sentence may be suspended and not enacted. Upon conviction of a second offense, a fine may be imposed of not less than $50 nor more than $100 together with the costs of prosecution and the person may be required to accompany the child to school and remain throughout the school day until such time as the magistrate or judge may determine is appropriate or confined in jail not less than five nor more than twenty days. Every day a child is out of school contrary to this article shall constitute a separate offense. Magistrates shall have concurrent jurisdiction with circuit courts for the trial of offenses arising under this section.
(b) Any person eighteen years of age or older who is enrolled in school who, after receiving due notice, fails to attend school in violation of this article or without just cause, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, shall, upon conviction of a first offense, be fined not less than $50 nor more than $100 together with the costs of prosecution and required to attend school and remain throughout the school day. The magistrate or judge, upon conviction and pronouncing sentence, may delay the imposition of a fine for a period of sixty school days provided the person is in attendance every day during said sixty-day period. Following the sixty-day period, if said student was present at school everyday, the delayed sentence may be suspended and not enacted. Upon conviction of a second offense, a fine may be imposed of not less than $50 nor more than $100 together with the costs of prosecution and the person may be required to go to school and remain throughout the school day until such time as the person graduates or withdraws from school or confined in jail not less than five nor more than twenty days. Every day a student is out of school contrary to this article shall constitute a separate offense. Magistrates shall have concurrent jurisdiction with circuit courts for the trial of offenses arising under this section.
(c) Upon conviction of a third offense, any person eighteen years of age or older who is enrolled in school shall be withdrawn from school during the remainder of that school year. Enrollment of that person in school during the next school year or years thereafter shall be conditional upon all absences being excused as defined in law, state board policy and county board of education policy. More than one unexcused absence of such a student shall be grounds for the director of attendance to authorize the school to withdraw the person for the remainder of the school year. Magistrates shall have concurrent jurisdiction with circuit courts for the trial of offenses arising under this section.
(d) Jurisdiction to enforce compulsory school attendance laws lies in the county in which a student resides and in the county where the school at which the student is enrolled is located. When the county of residence and enrollment are different, an action to enforce compulsory school attendance may be brought in either county and the magistrates and circuit courts of either county have concurrent jurisdiction for the trial of offenses arising under this section.
(a) The county board of education of every county, no later than August 1 of each year, shall employ the equivalent of a full-time county director of school attendance if such county has a net enrollment of more than 4,000 pupils, at least a half-time director of school attendance if such county has a net enrollment equal to or less than 4,000 pupils and such assistant attendance directors as deemed necessary. All persons to be employed as attendance directors shall have the written recommendation of the county superintendent.
(b) The county board of education may establish special and professional qualifications for attendance directors and assistants as are deemed expedient and proper and are consistent with regulations of the State Board of Education relating thereto: Provided, That if the position of attendance director has been posted, the county may employ a person who holds full attendance certification or a person who holds a professional administrative certificate.
(c) The attendance director or assistant director shall be paid a monthly salary as fixed by the county board. The attendance director or assistant director shall prepare attendance reports and such other reports as the county superintendent may request.
(d) The county board of education shall reimburse the attendance directors or assistant directors for their necessary traveling expenses upon presentation of a monthly, itemized, sworn statement approved by the county superintendent.
(xi) Such other situations as may be further determined by the county board: Provided, That absences of students with disabilities shall be in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 and the federal and state regulations adopted in compliance therewith.
(B) "Unexcused absence" shall be any absence not specifically included in the definition of "excused absence".
(b) In the case of three total unexcused absences of a student during a school year, the attendance director or assistant shall serve written notice to the parent, guardian or custodian of the student that the attendance of the student at school is required and that if the student has five unexcused absences, a conference with the principal or other designated representative will be required.
(c) In the case of five total unexcused absences, the attendance director or assistant shall serve written notice to the parent, guardian or custodian of the student that within five days of receipt of the notice the parent, guardian or custodian, accompanied by the student, shall report in person to the school the student attends for a conference with the principal or other designated representative of the school in order to discuss and correct the circumstances causing the unexcused absences of the student, including the adjustment of unexcused absences based upon such meeting.
(d) In the case of ten total unexcused absences of a student during a school year, the attendance director or assistant shall make complaint against the parent, guardian or custodian before a magistrate of the county. If it appears from the complaint that there is probable cause to believe that an offense has been committed and that the accused has committed it, a summons or a warrant for the arrest of the accused shall issue to any officer authorized by law to serve the summons or to arrest persons charged with offenses against the state. More than one parent, guardian or custodian may be charged in a complaint. Initial service of a summons or warrant issued pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be attempted within ten calendar days of receipt of the summons or warrant and subsequent attempts at service shall continue until the summons or warrant is executed or until the end of the school term during which the complaint is made, whichever is later.
(e) The magistrate court clerk, or the clerk of the circuit court performing the duties of the magistrate court as authorized in section eight, article one, chapter fifty of this code, shall assign the case to a magistrate within ten days of execution of the summons or warrant. The hearing shall be held within twenty days of the assignment to the magistrate, subject to lawful continuance. The magistrate shall provide to the accused at least ten days' advance notice of the date, time and place of the hearing.
(f) When any doubt exists as to the age of a student absent from school, the attendance director and assistants have authority to require a properly attested birth certificate or an affidavit from the parent, guardian or custodian of the student, stating age of the student. In the performance of his or her duties, the county attendance director and assistants have authority to take without warrant any student absent from school in violation of the provisions of this article and to place the student in the school in which he or she is or should be enrolled.
(g) The county attendance director and assistants shall devote such time as is required by section three of this article to the duties of attendance director in accordance with this section during the instructional term and at such other times as the duties of an attendance director are required. All attendance directors and assistants hired for more than two hundred days may be assigned other duties determined by the superintendent during the period in excess of two hundred days. The county attendance director is responsible under direction of the county superintendent for efficiently administering school attendance in the county.
(9) Serve as the liaison for homeless children and youth.
It shall be the duty of the principal, administrative head or other chief administrator of each school, whether public or private, to make prompt reports to the county attendance director, or proper assistant, of all cases of unexcused absences arising within the school which require the services of an attendance worker. Such reports shall be on the form prescribed for such purpose, by telephone, or in person, and shall include essential information about the child and the name and residence of any parent, guardian or custodian of a child.
It shall also be the duty of each principal, administrative head or other chief administrator of each public school to ascertain and report promptly the name of any parent, guardian or custodian of any child of compulsory school age as defined in this article who was or should be enrolled in the school reporting and who has not enrolled in any school that year. By way of ascertaining the status of school attendance, each principal, administrative head or other chief administrator shall compare the school census with the school enrollment at the opening of the school term and each month thereafter, or as directed by the county superintendent of schools, and report the same to the county attendance director: Provided, That any child who was or should be enrolled in a particular school, but who is at the time enrolled in another school shall be considered as attending the school in which enrolled and shall be included only in the report of attendance from the school in which the child is enrolled at the time.
If the principal, administrative head or other chief administrator of a school determines that an enrolled pupil has accumulated unexcused absences from attendance at such school for five instructional days during any one half of the instructional term, the principal, administrative head or other chief administrator shall contact any parent, guardian or custodian of the pupil and shall hold a meeting with any person so contacted, and the pupil, and any other person that the administrator deems a relevant participant in such meeting.
If approved by the principal, administrative head or other chief administrator, a teacher may use one noninstructional day during an employment term for the purpose of home visitations with the parent, guardian or custodian of any pupil or pupils designated by the principal, administrative head or other chief administrator. Priority shall be given to those pupils identified as potential school dropouts or whose school attendance is otherwise jeopardized.
Such home visitations shall be deemed the equivalent of one day of continuing education in accordance with rules and regulations of the state board requiring such education.
The county board may adopt rules and regulations regarding such home visitations and shall reimburse a teacher for the necessary traveling expenses upon presentation of an itemized, sworn statement.
(a) This section is known and may be cited as "The High School Graduation Improvement Act."
(28) The Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA) program prepares rural, minority and economically disadvantaged students for college and careers in the health sciences, and demonstrates tremendous success in its high percentage of students who graduate from high school and participate in post-secondary education.
(7) The state board shall develop a statewide system in electronic format that will provide schools with easily identifiable early warning indicators of students at risk of not graduating from high school. The system shall be delivered through the uniform integrated regional computer information system (commonly known as the West Virginia Education Information System) and shall at a minimum incorporate data on the attendance, academic performance and disciplinary infractions of individual students. The state board shall require implementation of the system in Local Solution Dropout Prevention and Recovery Innovation Zones along with a plan of interventions to increase the number of students earning a high school diploma, and may utilize the zones as a pilot test of the system.
(3) Providing additional options for delivering to at-risk students academic credentials and career-technical training if appropriate or desired by the student. The options may include such programs as Techademics, Earn a Degree-Graduate Early (EDGE), Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA), Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), truancy diversion, early intervention, dropout prevention, prevention resource officers, GED option, credit recovery, alternative learning environments, or any other program or strategy approved by the state board.
(2) Ensure that the GED Option is offered to students attending the Mountaineer Challenge Academy.
(2) The Health Sciences and Technology Academy to ensure that the program is available for any school containing any of the grade levels of eligible students.
(g) The state board shall ensure that the dropout information required by section twenty-four, article one-b, chapter fifteen of this code is provided annually to the Mountaineer Challenge Academy.
(h) Some career and technical education programs only accept students in certain upper high school grade levels due to lack of capacity to accept the students in the lower high school grade levels. This can be detrimental to efforts to keep students identified as at risk of dropping out of school prior to graduation in school. Therefore, those career and technical education programs that limit enrollment to students in certain upper high school grade levels may make exceptions for those at risk students and enroll any of those at risk students who are in grades nine and above.
A county board that enters into a truancy program agreement with the circuit court of the county that (1) provides for the referral of truant juveniles for supervision by the court’s probation office pursuant to §49-4-711 of this code and (2) requires the county board to pay for the costs of the probation officer or officers assigned to supervise truant juveniles, shall be reimbursed for one half of the costs of the probation officer or officers, subject to appropriation of the Legislature for this purpose to the West Virginia Department of Education. For any year in which the funds appropriated are insufficient to cover the reimbursement costs, the county’s costs shall be reimbursed pro rata.
Any person who induces or attempts to induce any child or student unlawfully to absent himself or herself from school, or who harbors or employs any child or student of compulsory school age or any student over sixteen years of age who is enrolled in a school while the school to which he or she belongs and which he or she is required to attend is in session, or who employs such child or student within the term of such school on any day such school is in session without the written permission of the county superintendent of schools, or for a longer period than such work permit may specify shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $25 nor more than $50 and may be confined in jail not less than ten nor more than thirty days.
If a child be suspended from school because of improper conduct or refusal of such child to comply with the requirements of the school, the school shall immediately notify the county superintendent of such suspension, and specify the time or conditions of such suspension. Further admission of the child to school may be refused until such requirements and regulations be complied with. Any such child shall be treated by the school as being unlawfully absent from the school during the time he refuses to comply with such requirements and regulations, and any person having legal or actual control of such child shall be liable to prosecution under the provisions of this article for the absence of such child from school: Provided, That the county board of education does not exclude or expel the suspended child from school.
All fines collected under the provisions of this article shall be paid on or before the last day of each calendar month by the magistrate, or other proper official having jurisdiction in the case, to the sheriff and by him credited to the county school fund; and the magistrate shall file with the county superintendent on the last day of each month an itemized statement of all fines paid over to the sheriff.
Every parent, guardian or other person having control of any mentally normal minor over six years of age, who is defective in sight or hearing to the extent that he cannot be benefited by instruction in the public schools, shall be required to send such minor to the West Virginia schools for the deaf and the blind at Romney. Such minor shall continue to attend such schools for a term of at least thirty-six weeks each year until he has completed the course of instruction prescribed for such schools by the state Board of Education, or has been discharged by the superintendent of said school.
Any such deaf or blind minor shall be exempt from attendance at said schools for any of the following reasons: (a) Instruction by a private tutor or in another school approved by the state Board of Education for a time equal to that required by the first paragraph of this section; (b) physical incapacity for school work; (c) any other reason deemed good and sufficient by the superintendent of such schools, with the approval of the state Board of Education.
Any parent, guardian or other persons in charge of such minor or minors who fails or refuses to comply with the requirements of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than ten nor more than $30 for each offense. Failure for the period of one week within the school year to send such minor to school shall constitute an offense: Provided, That the time necessary for such minor to travel from his home to the school shall not be counted as time absent from school.
Any person who induces or attempts to induce such blind or deaf minor to absent himself from school, or who employs or harbors such minor unlawfully, while said school is in session, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than twenty nor more than $50 for each offense.
It shall be the duty of school attendance directors and assistants, prosecuting attorneys, and any special attendance directors appointed by said school for the deaf and the blind to enforce the provisions of this section.
The county superintendent of schools shall furnish to the superintendents of the state-supported schools for the deaf and/or blind and to the state Superintendent of Schools the names of persons in his county between the ages of six and eighteen reported to him to be deaf and blind with the names and addresses of their parents or guardians.
(a) In accordance with the provisions of §17B-2-3a and §17B-2-5 of this code, the Division of Motor Vehicles shall deny a license or instruction permit for the operation of a motor vehicle to any person under the age of 18 who does not at the time of application present a diploma or other certificate of graduation issued to the person from a secondary high school of this state or any other state or documentation that the person: (1) Is enrolled and making satisfactory progress in a course leading to a general education development certificate (GED) from a state-approved institution or organization or has obtained the certificate; (2) is enrolled and is making satisfactory academic progress in a secondary school of this state or any other state; (3) is excused from the requirement due to circumstances beyond his or her control; or (4) is enrolled in an institution of higher education as a full-time student in this state or any other state.
(b) The attendance director or chief administrator shall, upon request, provide a driver’s eligibility certificate on a form approved by the Department of Education to any student at least 15 but less than 18 years of age who is properly enrolled and is making satisfactory academic progress in a school under the jurisdiction of the official for presentation to the Division of Motor Vehicles on application for or reinstatement of an instruction permit or license to operate a motor vehicle: Provided, That a parent or legal guardian of a child who is being educated pursuant to §18-8-1(c) of this code may provide a signed statement in lieu of a driver eligibility certificate issued by the attendance director or chief administrator affirming that the child is being educated in accordance with law, is making satisfactory academic progress, and meets the conditions to be eligible to obtain any permit or license under this section.
(c) Whenever a student at least 15 but less than 18 years of age, except as provided in §18-8-11(g) of this code, withdraws from school, the attendance director or chief administrator shall notify the Division of Motor Vehicles of the student’s withdrawal no later than five days from the date of the withdrawal. Within five days of receipt of the notice, the Division of Motor Vehicles shall send notice to the student that the student’s instruction permit or license to operate a motor vehicle will be suspended under the provisions of §17B-3-6 of this code on the thirtieth day following the date the notice was sent unless documentation of compliance with the provisions of this section is received by the Division of Motor Vehicles before that time. The notice shall also advise the student that he or she is entitled to a hearing before the county superintendent of schools or his or her designee or before the appropriate private school official concerning whether the student’s withdrawal from school was due to a circumstance or circumstances beyond the control of the student. If suspended, the division may not reinstate an instruction permit or license until the student returns to school and shows satisfactory academic progress or until the student attains 18 years of age.
(d) Whenever a student at least 15 but less than 18 years of age is enrolled in a secondary school and fails to maintain satisfactory academic progress, the attendance director or chief administrator shall follow the procedures set out in §18-8-11(c) of this code to notify the Division of Motor Vehicles. Within five days of receipt of the notice, the Division of Motor Vehicles shall send notice to the student that the student’s instruction permit or license will be suspended under the provisions of §17B-3-6 of this code on the thirtieth day following the date the notice was sent unless documentation of compliance with the provisions of this section is received by the Division of Motor Vehicles before that time. The notice shall also advise the student that he or she is entitled to a hearing before the county superintendent of schools or his or her designee or before the appropriate private school official concerning whether the student’s failure to make satisfactory academic progress was due to a circumstance or circumstances beyond the control of the student. Once suspension is ordered, the division may not reinstate an instruction permit or license until the student shows satisfactory academic progress or until the student attains 18 years of age.
(e) Upon written request of a student, within 10 days of receipt of a notice of suspension as provided by this section, the Division of Motor Vehicles shall afford the student the opportunity for an administrative hearing. The scope of the hearing shall be limited to determining if there is a question of improper identity, incorrect age, or some other clerical error.
(1) Withdrawal is defined as more than 10 consecutive or 15 total days unexcused absences during a school year, or suspension pursuant to §18A-5-1a(a) and §18A-5-1a(b) of this code.
(2) “Satisfactory academic progress” means the attaining and maintaining of grades sufficient to allow for graduation and course-work in an amount sufficient to allow graduation in five years or by age 19, whichever is earlier.
(3) “Circumstances outside the control of the student” shall include, but not be limited to, medical reasons, familial responsibilities and the necessity of supporting oneself or another.
(4) Suspension or expulsion from school or imprisonment in a jail or a West Virginia correctional facility is not a circumstance beyond the control of the student.
(g) Whenever the withdrawal from school of the student, the student’s failure to enroll in a course leading to or to obtain a GED or high school diploma, or the student’s failure to make satisfactory academic progress is due to a circumstance or circumstances beyond the control of the student, or the withdrawal from school is for the purpose of transfer to another school as confirmed in writing by the student’s parent or guardian, no notice shall be sent to the Division of Motor Vehicles to suspend the student’s motor vehicle operator’s license and if the student is applying for a license, the attendance director or chief administrator shall provide the student with documentation to present to the Division of Motor Vehicles to excuse the student from the provisions of this section. The school district superintendent (or the appropriate school official of any private secondary school) with the assistance of the county attendance director and any other staff or school personnel shall be the sole judge of whether any of the grounds for denial or suspension of a license as provided by this section are due to a circumstance or circumstances beyond the control of the student.
(h) The state board shall promulgate rules necessary for uniform implementation of this section among the counties and as may otherwise be necessary for the implementation of this section. The rule may not include attainment by a student of any certain grade point average as a measure of satisfactory progress toward graduation.

References: §18

§18

§18

§18

§18

§18

§18

§18

§18

§18

§18

§18

§18
 §49
 §17
 §17
 §18
 §18
 §17
 §18
 §17
 §18
 §18