Request By:
Hon. Paul W. Rosenblum, Judge
District Court
Henry County Courthouse
New Castle, Kentucky 40050
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic L. Cowan, Attorney General; Ian G. Sonego, Assistant Attorney General
As we interpret your letter, you have written to the Attorney General to request our opinion on the question whether or not sixteen and seventeen year old minors who have not withdrawn from school in accordance with KRS 159.010(2) may be prosecuted for school truancy when they are not attending school as required by the compulsory school attendance law.
KRS 159.010 states:
(1) Except as provided in KRS 159.030, each parent, guardian, or other person residing in the state and having custody or charge of any child who has entered the primary school program or any child between the ages of six (6), and sixteen (16) shall send the child to a regular public day school for the full term that the public school district in which the child resides is in session, or to the public school that the Board of Education in the district makes provision for the child to attend. The child's age is between six (6) and sixteen (16) when the child has reached his sixth birthday and is not passed his sixteenth birthday.
(2) An unmarried child between the ages of sixteen (16) and eighteen (18) who wishes to terminate his public or non public education prior to graduating from high school shall do so only after a conference with the principal or his designee, and the principal shall request a conference with the parent, guardian, or other custodian. Written notification of withdrawal must be received from his parent, guardian, or other person residing in the state and having custody or charge of him sixty (60) days prior to withdrawal. The written notification shall be dated and the signature witnessed by the principal of the school or his designee, where the child is in attendance. During the sixty (60) day period the parent(s) and child shall be required to attend a one (1) hour counseling session where they shall view a media presentation prepared by the Department of Education which shows economic statistics and other information on potential problems of nongraduates.
(3) A child's age is between sixteen (16) and eighteen (18) when the child has reached his sixteenth birthday and is not passed his eighteenth birthday. Written permission for withdrawal shall not be required after the child's eighteenth birthday. Every child actually resident in this state is subject to the laws relating to compulsory attendance, and neither he nor the person in charge of him shall be excused from the operation of those laws or the penalties under them on the ground the child's residence is seasonable or that his parent is a resident of another state.
(4) Commissioner of Education shall make a recommendation to the 1992 Regular Session of the General Assembly on raising the compulsory age to eighteen (18) years of age for students who have not earned a diploma.
[Emphasis added.]
KRS 600.020(24) states:
As used in KRS Chapter 600 to 645, unless the context otherwise requires: "Habitual truant" means any child who has been found by the court to have been absent from school without valid excuse for three (3) or more days during a one (1) year period or tardy for three (3) or more days on least three (3) occasions during a one (1) year period[.]
KRS 610.010(1)(c) states:
(1) Unless otherwise exempted by KRS Chapters 600 to 645, the juvenile session of the district court of each county shall have exclusive jurisdiction in proceedings concerning any child living or found within the county whose has not reached his eighteenth birthday or of any person who at the time committing a public offense was under the age of eighteen (18) years, who allegedly: . . . (c) is an habitual truant from school[.]
In OAG 87-40 we stated in pertinent part as follows:
Your second question is whether a parent may be held accountable if he/she fails to comply with the provisions of KRS 159.010(2), which requires sixty (60) days written notice and counseling prior to an unmarried child between the ages of sixteen (16) and eighteen (18) withdrawing from school. In short, the answer is yes. The requirements of KRS 159.010 are expressly covered by the penalty provisions of KRS 159.990, which may enforceable against the parent, guardian, custodian, or other person who willfully fails to comply with KRS 159.010.
KRS 446.080(1) states in pertinent part, "All statutes of this state shall be liberally construed with a view to promote their objects and carry out the intent of the Legislature." Therefore, in analyzing the statute to answer your question, the intent of the Legislature is of primary importance. See City of Owensboro v. Noffsinger, Ky., 280 S.W.2d 517 at 519 (1955); and City of Vanceburg v. Plumer, 275 Ky. 713, 122 S.W.2d 772 (1938).
We think it is clear in the language of KRS 159.010(2) that this statute requires written notification from the parent or other guardian and a conference between the principal and the parent or other guardian before a student between the ages of sixteen (16) and eighteen (18) may withdraw from school or otherwise avoid the requirement of the compulsory attendance law. Any interpretation of the statute which would permit a student to cease to attend school without the formal written notification and conference would destroy the only apparent purpose of the statute.
We think it is clear that KRS 159.010, as a result of the 1984, 1988, and 1990 amendments, requires that all students under the age of eighteen (18) years attend school and requires that a student over the age of sixteen (16) years and under the age of eighteen (18) years may withdraw only after the written notification and school conference. The obvious purpose of the statute is to deter students from leaving high school before graduation. The authority of the General Assembly to impose compulsory school attendance is clear. See Kentucky State Board for Elementary and Secondary Education v. Rudasill, Ky., 589 S.W.2d 877 (1979). We also think it is clear from the language of KRS 600.020(24) and KRS 610.010(1)(c) that a student under the age of eighteen (18) years who is failing to attend school in violation of KRS 159.010 is subject to a delinquency prosecution in accordance with the Juvenile Code.