Revision: Oct. 31, 2023, 12:42 p.m.
2024 SESSION
24-2676.0
10/02
HOUSE BILL [bill number]
AN ACT establishing a procedure for a high school proficiency exam waiver of mandatory school attendance.
SPONSORS: [sponsors]
COMMITTEE: [committee]
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ANALYSIS
This bill allows for a student to take and pass a high school proficiency exam so that the student shall no longer be bound by the mandatory school attendance requirements.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
24-2676.0
10/02
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
AN ACT establishing a procedure for a high school proficiency exam waiver of mandatory school attendance.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 School Compulsory Attendance; Exception Added. Amend RSA 193:1, I(f) to read as follows:
(f) The pupil has successfully completed all requirements for graduation and the school district is prepared to issue a diploma or the pupil has successfully achieved the equivalent of a high school diploma by [either]:
(1) Obtaining a high school equivalency certificate; [or]
(2) Documenting the completion of a home school program at the high school level by submitting a certificate or letter to the department of education; or
(3) Passing the test under RSA 194:23-b, III in which case the pupil shall be issued a high school diploma or equivalency certificate.
2 High School; Testing Exception Added. Amend RSA 194:23-b to read as follows:
194:23-b Approval of High Schools; Testing Exception.
I. In order to satisfy compulsory school attendance laws, unless excepted under paragraph III, a high school student less than 16 years old must attend a high school which has been approved by the state board of education as complying with the provisions of RSA 194:23, or its equivalent; and the state board of education shall annually publish a list of all high schools which it has approved as meeting the requirements of RSA 194:23.
II. The commissioner of the department of education may, through an agreement with another state when such state and New Hampshire are parties to an interstate agreement, allow New Hampshire pupils to attend schools that meet the standards established by one of the 2 states.
III.(a) The commissioner of the department of education shall choose or develop a high school proficiency exam and adopt rules for the procedures and implementation of such exam. If a student passes this exam the student shall no longer be bound by the mandatory school attendance requirements of this chapter. If the student chooses, they can take this exam at the location of the department of education. The scoring shall be done by an independent agency. The student shall have the right to dispute the results of the exam. Upon passage of the exam, the student may continue to attend school but they are not required to. Alternatively, at their request, they shall receive a high school diploma either from the school district they have been attending or from the state. If from the state, the diploma shall indicate it was issued by the state.
(b) The procedures for the high school proficiency exam shall be printed in all public school student handbooks, including chartered public schools.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2025.