For the purposes of Policy JEG Exclusions and Exemptions from School Attendance, “parent” or “parents” means any parent, guardian or other person having control or charge of a child.
The School Board shall excuse from attendance at school:
1. Any student who, together with the student’s parents, seeks an exemption pursuant to Va. Code § 22.1-254(B)(1), due to their bona fide religious training or belief is conscientiously opposed to attendance at school.
2. On the recommendation of the juvenile and domestic relations court of the city or county in which the student resides, and for such period of time as the court determines appropriate, any student who, together with the student’s parents, is opposed to attendance at a school by reason of concern for the student’s health as verified by competent medical evidence, or by reason of such student’s reasonable apprehension for personal safety when such concern or apprehension in that student’s specific case is determined by the court, upon consideration of the recommendation of the principal and division superintendent, to be justified.
The School Board may excuse from attendance at school:
1. On recommendation of the principal and the superintendent and with the written consent of the parent, any student who the school board determines, in accordance with regulations of the Board of Education, whose needs are not met by the traditional school environment; or
2. On recommendation of the juvenile and domestic relations district court of the city or county in which the student resides, any student who, in the judgment of the court, whose needs are not met by the traditional school environment.
Any request for exemption from attendance shall be presented annually in writing to the superintendent or the superintendent’s designee.
The compulsory education requirements do not apply to:
Children suffering from contagious or infectious diseases;
Children whose immunizations against communicable diseases have not been completed;
Children under 10 years of age who live more than two miles from a public school unless public transportation is provided within one mile of the place where such children live; and
Children between the ages of 10 and 17, inclusive, who live more than 2.5 miles from a public school unless public transportation is provided within 1.5 miles of the place where such children live.
In addition, any child who will not have reached the child’s sixth birthday on or before September 30 of each school year whose parent or guardian notifies the school board that the parent does not wish the child to attend school until the following year because the child, in the opinion of the parent, is not mentally, physically, or emotionally prepared to attend school, may delay the child's attendance for one year.