2006 Michigan Compiled Laws - Mich. Comp. Laws § 380.1561 Compulsory attendance at public school; enrollment dates; exceptions.

Sec. 1561.

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, every parent, guardian, or other person in this state having control and charge of a child from the age of 6 to the child's sixteenth birthday shall send that child to a public school during the entire school year. The child's attendance shall be continuous and consecutive for the school year fixed by the school district in which the child is enrolled. In a school district that maintains school during the entire calendar year and in which the school year is divided into quarters, a child is not required to attend the public school more than 3 quarters in 1 calendar year, but a child shall not be absent for 2 or more consecutive quarters.

(2) A child becoming 6 years of age before December 1 shall be enrolled on the first school day of the school year in which the child's sixth birthday occurs. A child becoming 6 years of age on or after December 1 shall be enrolled on the first school day of the school year following the school year in which the child's sixth birthday occurs.

(3) A child is not required to attend a public school in any of the following cases:

(a) The child is attending regularly and is being taught in a state approved nonpublic school, which teaches subjects comparable to those taught in the public schools to children of corresponding age and grade, as determined by the course of study for the public schools of the district within which the nonpublic school is located.

(b) The child is less than 9 years of age and does not reside within 2-1/2 miles by the nearest traveled road of a public school. If transportation is furnished for pupils in the school district of the child's residence, this subdivision does not apply.

(c) The child is age 12 or 13 and is in attendance at confirmation classes conducted for a period of 5 months or less.

(d) The child is regularly enrolled in a public school while in attendance at religious instruction classes for not more than 2 class hours per week, off public school property during public school hours, upon written request of the parent, guardian, or person in loco parentis under rules promulgated by the state board.

(e) The child has graduated from high school or has fulfilled all requirements for high school graduation.

(f) The child is being educated at the child's home by his or her parent or legal guardian in an organized educational program in the subject areas of reading, spelling, mathematics, science, history, civics, literature, writing, and English grammar.

(4) For a child being educated at the child's home by his or her parent or legal guardian, exemption from the requirement to attend public school may exist under either subsection (3)(a) or (3)(f), or both.

History: 1976, Act 451, Imd. Eff. Jan. 13, 1977 ;-- Am. 1995, Act 289, Eff. July 1, 1996 ;-- Am. 1996, Act 339, Eff. July 1, 1996
Constitutionality: Shared time instruction of sectarian, nonpublic school students in and of itself is not violative of the Establishment Clause even where benefits to religion appear substantial; it is only where it is clear that the program was motivated wholly by religious considerations that a conflict with the clause would exist. Snyder v. Charlotte Schools, 421 Mich. 517, 365 N.W.2d 151 (1984).Shared time instruction clearly is not intended to benefit one or all religions; rather, the purpose is secular: to provide educational opportunities at public schools for all resident school-age children whether they attend public or religious or secular nonpublic schools. Snyder v. Charlotte Schools, 421 Mich. 517, 365 N.W.2d 151 (1984).
Popular Name: Act 451
Admin Rule: R 340.71 et seq. of the Michigan Administrative Code.