School Year and Attendance

Compulsory education; Attendance; Failure to send a child to school; School year.

    (1)   Compulsory education.  Education shall be provided and shall be compulsory for all children, including children with disabilities, from first grade through graduation from the eighth grade, or until the age of 14 years.

    (2)   Attendance.  Attendance at school shall be required of all children between the ages of six and 14 or until completion of the eighth grade, unless excluded from school or exempted from attendance for sickness or behavioral problems as determined by the appropriate State authorities.
    (a)   For the purpose of beginning school, a child shall be admitted in the first grade at the beginning of the school year if he has attained or will have attained the age of six, either on or before December 31 of the calendar year in which the school year commences, or as of the date of the commencement of the school year, whichever date is selected by the State Director of Education.
    (b)   A State legislature may determine a later age for starting mandatory education, provided that children whose parents wish to enroll them at the National standard age of six years are not restricted from doing so.

    (3)   Failure to send a child to school.  Any person who knowingly permits a child who is under his control to be absent from school, or who knowingly prevents any child from attending school during the instructional period, for all or any significant part of a day, unexcused and in violation of applicable laws or regulations, is in violation of this section.
    (a)   The States may impose such penalties as each deems appropriate for violations of this section.
    (b)   Good cause for absences shall be determined by State authorities and may include physical and medical infirmities, family or social responsibilities, and disruptive or violent behavior.

    (4)   School year.  The school year in the Federated States of Micronesia shall consist of not less than 180 days of instructional days or an equivalent of no fewer than 650 hours of classroom instruction for first and second graders and no fewer than 765 hours of classroom instruction for third through twelfth graders.
Source:  PL 8-132 § 5, modified.
Cross-reference:  FSM Const., art. XIII, § 1.