Arkansas Administrative Code
Agency 172 - Department of Career Education
Rule 172.00.18-005 - Minimum Age for Adult Education Enrollment

1) The child makes formal application to the school district for a waiver to enroll in an adult education program.

2) The child and the child's parents, guardians, or persons in loco parentis meet with the school counselor to discuss academic options open to the child.

3) The adult education program agrees to provide a quarterly attendance report to the school district.

4) The adult education program has the opportunity to review the_ child's school record and agrees to admit the child into the program.

5) The child, child's parents, guardian, or persons in loco parentis and the administrative head of the adult education program agree in writing that the child will have regular attendance and appropriate conduct.

6) The adult education program reserves the right to request information about the student from the last school attended and also reserves the right to deny enrollment if past behavior is determined to be a threat to the safety and learning environment of the school. In addition, the adult education program reserves the right to deny continued participation of students who disrupt classes or who violate attendance policies or any other policies established by the local adult education program.

NOTE: Any child age sixteen (16) or above enrolled in' an adult education program prior to June 13, 1994, under a waiver granted by the local school district and currently attending the adult education program is not subject to the attendance requirement as it relates to Act 30 of 1994 enacted in the Seventy-Ninth General Assembly, meeting in Second Extraordinary Session, August 1994.

A copy of the local adult education program attendance and conduct policy based on the State Board of Vocational Education's student attendance policy for students who are sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age enrolled in adult education shall be provided to the student and student's parents, guardians, or persons in loco parentis at the beginning of the school year or upon enrollment, whichever event first occurs.

Students who are sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age who attend an adult education program must enroll and attend a minimum of 20 hours per week. Maximum attendance is expected and will be defined by the official student attendance policy of the local school district which grants the student's waiver. In the event the adult education program serves students from more than one district, the district attendance policy which permits the least number of allowable absences per semester will be followed by all students sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age who attend the adult education program.

The student's parents, guardians, or persons in loco parentis shall be notified when the student has accumulated excessive absences equal to one-half (½) the total number of absences permitted under the State Board of Vocational Education's student attendance policy per semester. Notice shall be by telephone contact with the student's parents, guardians, or persons in loco parentis by the end of the school day in which such absence occurred or by regular mail with a return address on the envelope sent no later than the following school day.

Whenever a student exceeds the number of excessive absences provided for in the State Board of Vocational Education's student attendance policy, the adult education program shall notify the prosecuting authority, and the student's parents, guardians, or persons in loco parentis shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500) plus cost of court and any reasonable fees assessed by the court.

Each adult education program shall notify the Department of Finance and Administration whenever a student sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age has left the program without receiving an Arkansas High School Equivalency Diploma.

Special Provisions: An individual education plan must be completed jointly by each student who is sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age and his/her instructor(s). Each student who is sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age must maintain satisfactory progress as determined by the instructor(s) based on the individual education plan.

Information/Rationale: The Adult Education Act as amended by the National Literacy Act of 1991 specifies that individuals who have attained sixteen (16) years of age and who are beyond the age of compulsory school attendance may enroll in adult education programs. The ages established for compulsory school attendance by Arkansas Act 292 of 1991 are ages five (5) through seventeen (17), both inclusive. Arkansas Act 30 of 1994 approved in the Seventy-Ninth General Assembly, meeting in Second Extra ordinary Session in August of 1994 provides authorization for student who are sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age to attend adult education programs.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 31, 1994

For Additional Information: Garland Hankins, Adult Education Section (501) 682-1970