When it is determined that a student in grades K-8 is in violation of the school district attendance policy and procedures, the truancy officer and/or principal/designee will check the Department of Human Services (DHS) records to determine whether the student’s family is receiving Family Investment Program (FIP) benefits. If the student’s family is receiving FIP benefits, the truancy officer or principal/designee will notify DHS. DHS is then responsible for the Attendance Cooperation Process (ACP).

If the student’s family is not receiving FIP benefits, the truancy officer or principal/designee will initiate the ACP. The parent/guardian will be contacted to participate in the ACP. The truancy officer or principal/designee may also invite juvenile court officers, the county attorney, other school officials and others deemed appropriate. If others are invited who do not have access to the student’s records either by law or a Juvenile Justice Agency Information Sharing Agreement, parental/guardian consent is needed for them to participate in the ACP.

The purpose of the ACP is to determine the cause of the student’s nonattendance, get the parties to agree to solutions addressing the nonattendance, initiate referrals to any other services that may be necessary, and to draft an agreement including all terms agreed to and future responsibilities of all parties. All parties must sign the agreement and failure to sign by the parent/guardian is considered a violation of the process and initiates the next level.

If the parents/guardians do not participate in the ACP, if the parties do not enter into an Attendance Cooperation Agreement (ACA) or if the parent/guardians violate a term of the agreement, the student is deemed truant. For FIP students and non-FIP students, the school District notifies the county attorney when students are truant. When a student is deemed truant, for FIP students, DHS is again notified and DHS then initiates the process whereby FIP benefits are reduced.

 

 

Date of Adoption/Revision:
July 2003
July 2006
July 2009
July 2010
September 2012
August 2015

 

Competent Private Instruction

In the event a child of compulsory attendance age, over age six (6) and under age sixteen (16), does not attend public school or an accredited non-public school the child must receive competent private instruction.

Parents choosing competent private instruction for a student must notify the school district prior to the first day of school on forms provided by the school district. The forms are available in the superintendent's office. A test to obtain educational baseline data will be administered by the Department of Education or its designee to a student who is being placed in competent private instruction with the student's parents, guardian or legal custodian for the first time. A child who is being placed in competent private instruction for the first time shall also provide the school district with a certificate of immunizations required by law.

Competent private instruction can be provided by either a certified teacher or the parent, guardian or legal custodian of the student. A certified teacher, other than a parent, guardian or legal custodian providing competent private instruction must be appropriately certified to the age and grade level of the student being taught. The school district shall count the student in the school district's enrollment if the school district provides a certified teacher for the competent private instruction.

Students receiving competent private instruction from a parent, guardian or legal custodian must be evaluated annually by May 1. The parents, guardian or legal custodian of a student who is not a dual enrollment student shall reimburse the school district for the costs of the annual evaluation. The annual evaluation can be a nationally recognized standardized achievement test, another assessment tool developed by or recognized by the Department of Education, or evidence of adequate academic progress reviewed by a certified teacher chosen by the parent, guardian or legal custodian and approved by the superintendent. The parent, guardian or legal custodian may choose the evaluation method. No annual evaluation is required for students receiving competent private instruction from a certified teacher appropriately certified.

Students in competent private instruction must make adequate progress. Adequate progress includes scoring at the thirtieth percentile on a standardized test or a report by the evaluator indicating adequate progress. Students who fail to make adequate progress under competent private instruction provided by the student's parent, guardian or legal custodian shall attend an accredited public or non-public school at the beginning of the next school year. The parents, guardian or legal custodian of a student who fails to make adequate progress may apply to the director of the Department of Education for approval of continued competent private instruction under a remediation plan.

The remediation plan shall be for no more than one year. Before the beginning of the school year, the student may be re-tested and if the student achieves adequate progress the student may remain in competent private instruction.

 

Student Transfers In From Non-Accredited Settings

Students who transfer into the Carroll Community School District must meet the immunization and age requirements for students who initially enroll in the school district.

The district retains the right to determine grade level placement and will not accept credits towards graduation that the transfer student earned in a non-accredited setting. The superintendent or designee may require testing, a review of a student's portfolio, or use other reasonable means to make grade placement, including both subjective and objective academic evaluations.

A student who transfers in from a non-accredited setting will only be eligible for honors and awards for the actual period of time he or she has been enrolled as a regular student in the school district. Students transferring into the high school from a non-accredited setting will not be eligible for class ranking until they have been fully enrolled for (6) or more semesters. Students must meet the graduation requirements of the school district in order to be eligible for a diploma. Students in competent private instruction are not eligible to go through graduation ceremonies.

Credit and grades earned through dual enrollment under Iowa law will be accepted towards graduation and class rank and honors and awards, if all other criteria are met.

The superintendent or designee shall notify the parents or guardians of known district students who are being educated in a non-accredited setting of the existence and substance of this policy prior to the student's ninth grade year.

 

Dual Enrollment

The parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a student receiving competent private instruction may also enroll the student in the school district. The student shall be considered under dual enrollment. The parent, guardian or custodian requesting dual enrollment for the student should notify the board secretary prior to the third Friday of September each year on forms provided by the school district. On the form, they shall indicate the extracurricular and academic activities in which the student is interested in participating. The forms are available at the central administration office.

A dual enrollment student is eligible to participate in the school district's extracurricular and academic activities in the same manner as other students enrolled in the school district. The policies and administrative rules of the school district shall apply to the dual enrollment students

in the same manner as the other students enrolled in the school district. These policies and administrative rules shall include, but not be limited to, eligibility requirements, and payment of the fees required for participation.

A dual enrollment student whose parent, guardian, or legal custodian has chosen standardized testing as the form of the student's annual assessment will not be responsible for the cost of the test or the administration of the test. Students registered for the dual enrollment program will be counted in the basic enrollment.

It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian or legal custodian of the dual enrollment student to inform the school district of the extracurricular and academic activities in which the student wishes to participate.

It shall be the responsibility of the superintendent or designee to develop administrative regulations regarding this policy.

Note: A school district has the discretion to determine the form of notification of school district extracurricular and academic activities. The form can be either by letter, bulletin board, school newsletter or other similar means of informing the student.

 

 

Date of Adoption/Revision:
September 2012
August 2015