Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 172 - Department of Career Education › Rule 172.00.18-005 - Minimum Age for Adult Education Enrollment

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
Policy: Persons sixteen (16) years of age or older may enroll in
	 adult education programs in accordance with Act 30 of 1994 enacted in the
	 Seventy-Ninth General Assembly, meeting in Second Extraordinary Session, August
	 1994, under the following conditions:
A local school district may grant a waiver to any child age
	 sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age to enroll in an adult education
	 program after all the following requirements have been met:
1) The child makes formal application to the
  school district for a waiver to enroll in an adult education program.
2) The child and the child's parents,
  guardians, or persons in loco parentis meet with the school counselor to
  discuss academic options open to the child.
3) The adult education program agrees to
  provide a quarterly attendance report to the school district.
4) The adult education program has the
  opportunity to review the_ child's school record and agrees to admit the child
  into the program.
5) The child,
  child's parents, guardian, or persons in loco parentis and the administrative
  head of the adult education program agree in writing that the child will have
  regular attendance and appropriate conduct.
6) The adult education program reserves the
  right to request information about the student from the last school attended
  and also reserves the right to deny enrollment if past behavior is determined
  to be a threat to the safety and learning environment of the school. In
  addition, the adult education program reserves the right to deny continued
  participation of students who disrupt classes or who violate attendance
  policies or any other policies established by the local adult education
  program.
NOTE:
Any child age sixteen (16) or above enrolled in' an
	 adult education program prior to June 13, 1994, under a waiver granted by the
	 local school district and currently attending the adult education program is
	 not subject to the attendance requirement as it relates to Act 30 of 1994
	 enacted in the Seventy-Ninth General Assembly, meeting in Second Extraordinary
	 Session, August 1994.
A copy of the local adult education program attendance and conduct
	 policy based on the State Board of Vocational Education's student attendance
	 policy for students who are sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age
	 enrolled in adult education shall be provided to the student and student's
	 parents, guardians, or persons in loco parentis at the beginning of the school
	 year or upon enrollment, whichever event first occurs.
Students who are sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age who attend
	 an adult education program must enroll and attend a minimum of 20 hours per
	 week. Maximum attendance is expected and will be defined by the official
	 student attendance policy of the local school district which grants the
	 student's waiver. In the event the adult education program serves students from
	 more than one district, the district attendance policy which permits the least
	 number of allowable absences per semester will be followed by all students
	 sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age who attend the adult education
	 program.
The student's parents, guardians, or persons in loco parentis shall be
	 notified when the student has accumulated excessive absences equal to one-half
	 (½) the total number of absences permitted under the State Board of
	 Vocational Education's student attendance policy per semester. Notice shall be
	 by telephone contact with the student's parents, guardians, or persons in loco
	 parentis by the end of the school day in which such absence occurred or by
	 regular mail with a return address on the envelope sent no later than the
	 following school day.
Whenever a student exceeds the number of excessive absences provided
	 for in the State Board of Vocational Education's student attendance policy, the
	 adult education program shall notify the prosecuting authority, and the
	 student's parents, guardians, or persons in loco parentis shall be subject to a
	 civil penalty not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500) plus cost of court and
	 any reasonable fees assessed by the court.
Each adult education program shall notify the Department of Finance and
	 Administration whenever a student sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age
	 has left the program without receiving an Arkansas High School Equivalency
	 Diploma.
Special Provisions
: An individual education
	 plan must be completed jointly by each student who is sixteen (16) or seventeen
	 (17) years of age and his/her instructor(s). Each student who is sixteen (16)
	 or seventeen (17) years of age must maintain satisfactory progress as
	 determined by the instructor(s) based on the individual education plan.
Information/Rationale:
The Adult Education Act
	 as amended by the National Literacy Act of 1991 specifies that individuals who
	 have attained sixteen (16) years of age and who are beyond the age of
	 compulsory school attendance may enroll in adult education programs. The ages
	 established for compulsory school attendance by Arkansas Act 292 of 1991 are
	 ages five (5) through seventeen (17), both inclusive. Arkansas Act 30 of 1994
	 approved in the Seventy-Ninth General Assembly, meeting in Second Extra
	 ordinary Session in August of 1994 provides authorization for student who are
	 sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age to attend adult education
	 programs.
EFFECTIVE DATE: August 31, 1994
For Additional Information: Garland Hankins, Adult Education Section
	 (501) 682-1970