South Dakota Education Code For Homeschooling
This is not intended to be legal advice and is distributed
for information purposes only. Check for updates at the State
of South Dakota Department of Education Home Schooling/Alternative
Instruction page, where the following information originated.
- Complete the form
requesting exemption from public school attendance (13-27-2)
- Required only up to age 16 (compulsory attendance requirement)
- Return the completed from to the school district for school
board approval
- May not instruct more than 22 students (13-27-3)
- No requirement to be certified (13-27-3)
- Must test in grades two, four, eight, and eleven (13-27-3)
- Test may be monitored by local school district
- SAT10 test provided by the Department of Education (not the
Dakota STEP test) at no cost
- If another test is chosen, it is at the expense of the home
school
- Results must be sent to the local school district
The statutes listed below will provide information regarding
alternative instruction in South Dakota:
SDCL 13-27-1 -- Ages of Compulsory
Attendance
SDCL 13-27-2 -- Attendance Excused
by School Board
SDCL 13-27-3 -- Provider for
Alternative Instruction Attendance Excused by School Board
SDCL 13-27-3.1 -- Law that Requests
Birth Certificate
SDCL 13-27-3.2 -- Maintenance of
Birth Certificates
SDCL 13-27-3.3 -- Report to State's
Attorney of Children for whom Birth Certificate not Furnished
SDCL 13-27-3.4 -- Certified Copy
of Birth Certificate to be Provided to Certain Persons at No
Cost
SDCL 13-27-7 -- Applications
for Excuse From Attendance
SDCL 13-27-9 -- Certificates
of Excuse Copies Maintained
SDCL 13-27-20 -- Verification
of Contents of Complaint
SDCL 13-27-29 -- Placement in
an Accredited School from an Unaccredited Program
SDCL
13-34-23 -- Loan of Textbooks
SDCL 13-36-4 - High School
Interscholastic Activities Association-Qualifications-Power &
Authority
Questions regarding alternative instruction can be directed
to Dean J. Buchanan, Office of Policy & Accountability, (605)
773-3553, dean.buchanan@state.sd.us
or your local public school district.
Home
Schooling/Alternative Instruction
Parents/guardians who currently provide alternative instruction
pursuant to SDCL 13-27-3 are required
to file an Application for Public School Exemption Certificate
(available below) annually. Beginning
with the 2005-2006 school year, the exemption applications will
no longer be mailed out to parents/guardians. Therefore, the
application must be obtained here,
from the local school district, or directly from the Department
of Education. The completed application must be filed with the
superintendent of schools in the public school district in which
the parent /guardian resides.
Parents/guardians who wish to begin providing alternative
instruction pursuant to SDCL 13-27-3 must also complete an Application
for Public School Exemption Certificate (available below).
The completed application must then be submitted to the local
public school administration office.
Application
for Public School Exemption Certificate form. WORD
.doc file or Adobe
PDF file.
The Law and Alternative Instruction
Programs
The South Dakota Codified Laws summarized below are provided
for your review and understanding. The laws have been printed
here exactly as they appear in a law text.
The Law and Alternative Instruction
Programs
The South Dakota Codified Laws summarized below are provided
for your review and understanding. The laws have been printed
here exactly as they appear in a law text.
SDCL 13-27-1. Responsibility
of person controlling child - Ages of compulsory attendance -
Entire school term - Waiver. Every person having under his
control a child who is six years old by the first day of September
and who has not exceeded the age of sixteen, shall cause the
child to regularly and annually attend some public or nonpublic
school for the entire term during which the public school in
the district in which the person resides, or the school to which
the child is assigned to attend, is in session, until the child
reaches the age of sixteen years, unless excused as provided
in this chapter.
Any child under age six enrolled in any elementary school
or kindergarten program is subject to the compulsory attendance
statutes of this state. A waiver of the compulsory attendance
requirement for children under the age of seven years of age
shall be granted by the school district upon the request of the
parents.
SDCL 13-27-2. Attendance
excused by school board. Upon receipt of an application
from the parent or guardian of the child for the reasons set
forth in SDCL 13-27-3, school boards of all school districts
shall excuse a child from school attendance in executive session
using a case number. School boards of all school districts may
excuse a child from public school attendance for the reasons
set forth in SDCL 13-27-6 and SDCL 13-27-6.1.
SDCL 13-27-3. Child excused
if provided alternative instruction - Application - Investigation - Revocation - Restrictions - Testing.
A child shall be excused from school attendance, pursuant
to SDCL 13-27-2, because the child is otherwise provided with
alternative instruction for an equivalent period of time, as
in the public schools, in the basic skills of language arts and
mathematics. The parent or guardian of the child shall identify
in the application the place where the child will be instructed
and any individual who will instruct the child. The individuals
are not required to be certified. The secretary of the Department
of Education and Cultural Affairs may investigate and determine
whether the instruction is being provided. Failure to provide
instruction is grounds for the school board, upon thirty days
notice, to revoke the excuse from school attendance. The secretary
of the Department of Education and Cultural Affairs may inspect
the records of an alternative education program with fourteen
days written notice if the secretary has probable cause to believe
the program is not in compliance with this section. The records
to be inspected are limited to attendance and evidence showing
academic progress.
No individual may instruct more than twenty-two children.
All instructions shall be given so as to lead to a mastery of
the English language. Children receiving alternative instruction
who are in grades tested under the state testing program shall
take a nationally standardized achievement test of the basic
skills. The test may be the test provided by the state and used
in the public school district where the child is instructed or
another nationally standardized achievement test chosen by and
provided at the expense of the child's parent, guardian, or school
giving alternative instruction. The test may be monitored by
the local school district where the child is instructed.
SDCL 13-27-3.1. Birth certificate
or affidavit to be submitted - Violation as misdemeanor. Any
person who is required pursuant to SDCL 13-27-1 to cause any
child to attend any public or nonpublic school or alternative
instruction program pursuant to SDCL 13-27-3 in this state shall,
either at the time of enrollment in any school in this state
or upon being excused from school attendance pursuant to SDCL
13-27-3 or within thirty days of initial enrollment or excuse,
provide the public or nonpublic school or the alternative instruction
program with a certified copy of the child's birth certificate
or affidavit in lieu of birth certificate as issued by the Department
of Health in such cases where the original birth certificate
is deemed unattainable. Any parent or guardian who requests an
excuse for his or her child pursuant to SDCL 13-27-3, shall with
the initial request for excuse, provide a certified copy of the
child's birth certificate or an affidavit notarized or witnessed
by two or more witnesses, swearing or affirming that the child
identified on the request for excuse is the same person appearing
on the child's certified birth certificate. A violation of this
section is a Class 2 misdemeanor.
SDCL 13-27-3.2. Maintenance
of birth certificate by school as permanent record. Any
copy of a certified birth certificate provided pursuant to SDCL
13-27-3.1 shall be maintained by the public or nonpublic school
or alternative instruction program and shall become a part of
the child's permanent cumulative school record.
SDCL 13-27-3.3. Report
to state's attorney of children for whom birth certificate not
furnished. The superintendent of any public or nonpublic
school or any person who provides alternative instruction in
this state who maintains a child's permanent cumulative school
record shall within thirty days of enrollment report to the school
board of the district the name and address of any child whose
permanent cumulative record does not have a copy of a certified
birth certificate in violation of SDCL 13-27-3.1 or 13-27-3.2.
If the violation is not corrected within thirty days after the
report, the school board of the district shall notify the state's
attorney.
SDCL 13-27-3.4. Certified
copy of birth certificate to be provided to certain persons at
no cost. Notwithstanding SDCL 34-25-52, the Department
of Health or the local registrar of Vital Records shall provide
a certified copy of any child's birth certificate at no cost
if the person requesting the certificate pursuant to SDCL 13-27-3.1
is eligible to receive aid to dependent children under Chapter
28-7, food stamps under Chapter 28-12 or county poor relief under
Chapter 28-13.
SDCL 13-27-7. Applications
for excuse from attendance - Certificate issued by board president
- Revocation - Grounds. All applications for
excuse from school attendance shall be on a standard form acknowledged
before a notary or two witnesses. The form shall be provided
by the secretary of the Department of Education and Cultural
Affairs. If the application is granted, a certificate of excuse
also provided by the secretary of the Department of Education
and Cultural Affairs shall be issued by the president of the
school board having jurisdiction over the district in which the
child has school residence. The certificate of excuse shall be
for a period not to exceed one year and shall state the reason
for the excuse is that the child will receive alternative instruction.
Upon a showing by the secretary of the Department of Education
and Cultural Affairs that a child excused from school attendance
pursuant to SDCL 13-27-3 is not being instructed in compliance
with SDCL 13-27-3, the school board may immediately revoke the
child's certificate of excuse.
All test scores required by SDCL 13-27-3 shall be kept on
file in the public school of the district where the child has
school residence. If subsequent achievement test results reveal
less than satisfactory academic progress in the child's level
of achievement, the school board may refuse to renew the child's
certificate of excuse.
SDCL 13-27-9. Record of
certificates and excuses from attendance - Copies to secretary
and place of instruction. A permanent record
of all certificates of excuse shall be kept in some safe place
as determined by the school board. Any certificate of excuse
of a pupil receiving alternative instruction pursuant to SDCL
13-27-3 shall be kept confidential after approval of the school
board pursuant to SDCL 13-27-2. Copies of any certificate of
excuse shall be forwarded to the secretary of the Department
of Education and Cultural Affairs. Copies of any certificates
of excuse shall also be forwarded to the place where the child
is instructed. The copies shall be forwarded within thirty days
of issuance.
SDCL 13-27-20. Complaints
against person responsible for truancy - Contents of complaint
- Verification. Each truancy officer shall make
and file truancy complaints, and any teacher, school officer,
or any citizen may make and file a truancy complaint, before
a circuit court judge, against any person having control of a
child of compulsory school age who is not attending school or
whose attendance is irregular. The complaint shall state the
name of the parent, guardian or person responsible for the control
of the child. The complaint shall be verified by oath upon belief
of the complainant.
SDCL 13-27-29. Placement
of child who has attended unaccredited school or alternative
program - Appeal. If a child of compulsory school
age has been attending an unaccredited school in another state
or country or has been receiving alternative instruction pursuant
to SDCL 13-27-3 enrolls in a public school in this state, the
child shall be placed at the child's demonstrated level of proficiency
as established by one or more standardized tests. However, a
child's placement may not be in a grade level higher than warranted
by the child's chronological age assuming entry into the first
grade at age six and annual grade advancement thereafter. After
initial placement the child may be advanced according to his
demonstrated performance. If a child of secondary school age
has been attending an unaccredited school in another state or
country or has been receiving alternative instruction pursuant
to SDCL 13-27-3 enrolls in a public school in this state, the
child shall be placed in English and math at the level of achievement
demonstrated by one or two standardized tests, and in all other
subjects on a review of transcripts according to the policy formally
adopted by the school board. The child's placement may not be
in a grade level higher than warranted by the child's chronological
age assuming entry into the first grade at age six and annual
grade advancement thereafter. After initial placement the child
may be advanced according to his demonstrated performance. Any
parent or guardian who is dissatisfied with the secondary placement
of his child may appeal it to the secretary of the Department
of Education and Cultural Affairs.
SDCL
13-34-23. Loan of textbooks. Each public school board
shall loan without charge to all persons ages five through nineteen
who are either enrolled in a public school, or in a school supervised
in accord with Chapter 13-4, or who are engaged in a course of
instruction pursuant to SDCL 13-27-3, within the school district
under such board's jurisdiction or who are residing in such district
but are not enrolled in any such school or engaged in any such
course of instruction, such nonsectarian textbooks designed for
individual use as are normally furnished by such school board
to individual students enrolled in the public schools of the
district under such board's jurisdiction. All such textbooks
shall be approved by the respective school boards.
SDCL 13-36-4 - High School Interscholastic
Activities Association-Qualifications-Power & Authority
The school board of a public or the governing body of a nonpublic
school, approved and accredited by the secretary of the Department
of Education, may delegate, on a year to year basis, the control,
supervision, and regulation of any high school interscholastic
activities to any association which is voluntary and nonprofit
if membership in such association is open to all high schools
approved and accredited by the secretary of the Department of
Education, including any school that allows participation by
students receiving alternative instruction as set forth in § 13-27-3,
pursuant to the provisions of this title, and if the constitution,
bylaws, and rules of the association are subject to ratification
by the school boards of the member public school districts and
the governing boards of the member nonpublic schools and include
a provision for a proper review procedure and review board.
Any association which complies with
this section may exercise the control, supervision, and regulation
of interscholastic activities, including interscholastic athletic
events of member schools. Such association may promulgate reasonable
uniform rules, to make decisions and to provide and enforce reasonable
penalties for the violation of such rules.
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