Title 20, EDUCATION

Sec. 3. "Charter school" refers to a public school created and operating under IC 20-24. [Pre-2005 Elementary and Secondary Education Recodification Citation: 20-10.2-2-3.5.] As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.15.

Sec. 6. "Exceptional learner" refers to the following: (1) A student with a disability (as defined in IC 20-35-1-8). (2) A high ability student (as defined in IC 20-36-1-3). [Pre-2005 Elementary and Secondary Education Recodification Citation: 20-10.2-2-5.5.] As added by P.L.1-20…

Sec. 7. "Plan" refers to any of the following: (1) A strategic and continuous school improvement and achievement plan established under this article for a school or school corporation. (2) A plan to establish an innovation network school to improve school performance under IC 20-…

Sec. 8. "School" refers to a public school or a state accredited nonpublic school. [Pre-2005 Elementary and Secondary Education Recodification Citation: 20-10.2-2-11.] As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.15. Amended by P.L.92-2020, SEC.67.

Sec. 1. The definitions in this chapter apply throughout this article. [2005 Elementary and Secondary Education Recodification Citation: New.] As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.16.

Sec. 2. "Academic standards" refers to the statewide academic standards developed under IC 20-31-3 indicating the skills and knowledge base expected of a student at a particular grade level for a particular subject area. [Pre-2005 Elementary and Secondary Education Recodification…

Sec. 2.1. "Retention" means an individual repeating the same grade level in a subsequent school year that the individual participated in during the immediately preceding school year. As added by P.L.5-2024, SEC.11.

Sec. 2.3. "Statewide assessment program test" includes any statewide, national, or international assessment that a student is required to complete. As added by P.L.219-2015, SEC.8. Amended by P.L.242-2017, SEC.32.

Sec. 2.5. "Satisfactory score" means a score of 3, 4, or 5 on an advanced placement examination sponsored by the College Board's Advanced Placement Program. As added by P.L.91-2010, SEC.1.

Sec. 3. Except as provided in IC 20-32-8.5-0.7 and IC 20-32-4-20, "student" means an individual who is enrolled in: (1) a public school; (2) a state accredited nonpublic school; or (3) another nonpublic school that has requested and received from the state board specific approval…

Sec. 10. (a) Each public school shall and each private school may require a student who initially enrolls in the school to provide: (1) the name and address of the school the student last attended; and (2) a certified copy of the student's birth certificate or other reliable proo…

Sec. 11. (a) Notwithstanding IC 9-24 concerning the minimum requirements for qualifying for the issuance of a driver's license or a learner's permit, and subject to subsections (c) through (e), an individual who is: (1) at least fifteen (15) years of age and less than eighteen (1…

Sec. 12. (a) A school that is: (1) nonpublic; (2) nonaccredited; and (3) not otherwise approved by the state board; is not bound by any requirements set forth in IC 20 or IC 21 with regard to curriculum or the content of educational programs offered by the school. (b) This sectio…

Sec. 13. (a) A school corporation shall record or include the following information in the official high school transcript for a student in high school: (1) Attendance records. (2) Upon request of the student, the student's latest statewide assessment program test results. (3) An…

Sec. 14. (a) The governing body of each school corporation shall adopt a policy: (1) outlining the conditions for excused and unexcused absences; and (2) providing for the categorization of excused absences in accordance with the categorization framework established by the depart…

Sec. 15. (a) Each school corporation, charter school, and accredited nonpublic school shall authorize the absence and excuse of each student who is absent for any of the following: (1) The student serves as a page for or as an honoree of the general assembly. (2) The student serv…

Sec. 18. (a) If a parent of a student does not send the student to school because of the student's illness or mental or physical incapacity, it is unlawful for the parent to fail or refuse to produce a certificate of the illness or incapacity for an attendance officer not later t…

Sec. 19. (a) When the parent of a student who is enrolled in a public school provides written notice, the principal shall allow the student to attend a school for religious instruction that is conducted by a church, an association of churches, or an association that is organized …

Sec. 20. (a) An accurate daily record of the attendance of each student who is subject to compulsory school attendance under this chapter shall be kept by every public and nonpublic school. (b) In a public school, the record shall be open at all times for inspection by: (1) atten…

Sec. 21. (a) Each principal or school administrator in a nonpublic school that is attended by a student who is subject to the compulsory school attendance law under this chapter shall furnish, on request of the secretary of education, the number of students by grade level attendi…

Sec. 22. (a) Not later than fifteen (15) school days after the beginning of each semester, the principal of a public high school shall send to the superintendent with jurisdiction over the school a list of names and last known addresses of all students: (1) not graduated; and (2)…

Sec. 23. (a) Each school attendance officer, sheriff, marshal, and police officer in Indiana may take into custody any child who: (1) is required to attend school under this chapter; and (2) is found during school hours, unless accompanied: (A) by a parent; or (B) with the consen…

Sec. 24. (a) When a child is delivered into the custody of a principal or acting chief administrative officer under section 23 of this chapter, the principal or officer shall immediately place the child in class in the grade or course of study in which the child is enrolled or to…

Sec. 25. The superintendent or an attendance officer having jurisdiction shall report a child who is habitually truant from school in violation of this chapter to an intake officer of the juvenile court or the department of child services. The intake officer or the department of …

Sec. 26. (a) It is the duty of each: (1) superintendent; (2) attendance officer; (3) state attendance official; (4) security police officer appointed under IC 36-8-3-7; and (5) school corporation police officer appointed under IC 20-26-16; to enforce this chapter in their respect…

Sec. 27. (a) It is unlawful for a parent to fail to ensure that the parent's child attends school as required under this chapter. (b) Before proceedings are instituted against a parent for a violation of this section, personal notice of the violation shall be served on the parent…

Sec. 28. (a) This section does not apply during a period when a child is excused from school attendance under this chapter. (b) It is unlawful for a parent to: (1) fail; (2) neglect; or (3) refuse; to send the parent's child to a public school for the full term as required under …

Sec. 28.5. (a) This section applies to an individual: (1) who: (A) attends or last attended a public school; (B) is at least sixteen (16) years of age but less than eighteen (18) years of age; and (C) has not completed the requirements for graduation; (2) who: (A) wishes to withd…

Sec. 28.6. (a) This section applies to a high school student who is transferring to a nonaccredited nonpublic school. (b) Before a student withdraws from a public school, the principal of the student's school shall provide to the student and to the student's parent information on…

Sec. 28.7. (a) The department of education shall compile and make available to schools statistics concerning the likely consequences of life without a high school diploma. The statistics must include, but are not limited to, statistics that show the likelihood of an individual's:…

Sec. 29. (a) It is unlawful for a person operating or responsible for an educational, correctional, charitable, or benevolent institution or training school to fail to ensure that a child under the person's authority attends school as required under this chapter. Each day of viol…

Sec. 3. This chapter applies to each situation that involves any of the following: (1) A person less than eighteen (18) years of age who is domiciled in Indiana. (2) A person less than eighteen (18) years of age who: (A) is not domiciled in Indiana; and (B) intends to remain in I…

Sec. 3.2. As used in this chapter, "attend" means to be physically present: (1) in a school; or (2) at another location where the school's educational program in which a person is enrolled is being conducted; during regular school hours on a day in which the educational program i…

Sec. 30. A school corporation having an ADA of at least one thousand five hundred (1,500) students constitutes a separate attendance district. [Pre-2005 Elementary and Secondary Education Recodification Citation: 20-8.1-3-3.] As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.17. Amended by P.L.2-2006,…

Sec. 31. (a) The governing body of each school corporation may appoint or the governing bodies of two (2) or more school corporations jointly may appoint: (1) one (1) attendance officer; and (2) one (1) additional attendance officer for every seven thousand five hundred (7,500) s…

Sec. 35. If the governing body of a school corporation elects not to appoint an attendance officer under section 31 of this chapter, the superintendent shall serve as an ex officio attendance officer. A superintendent acting in this capacity may designate one (1) or more school e…

Sec. 38. Any school corporation or school corporations may appoint more attendance officers than are specifically authorized under section 31 of this chapter. However, these additional attendance officers shall be appointed in the same manner as required by law for other attendan…

Sec. 39. An attendance officer has the following duties: (1) To serve subject to the rules, direction, and control of the superintendent in the attendance officer's attendance district. (2) To maintain an office at a place designated by the superintendent. (3) To be on duty durin…

Sec. 4. Subject to the specific exceptions under this chapter, a student shall attend either: (1) a public school that the student is entitled to attend under IC 20-26-11; or (2) another school taught in the English language. A person who knowingly or intentionally violates this …

Sec. 40. (a) Each attendance officer may serve original and other process in cases arising under this chapter. (b) An attendance officer may enter any place where a child is employed to determine whether violations of this chapter have occurred. When an attendance officer or a sc…

Sec. 41. With the exception of ex officio attendance officers, an individual may not hold the position of attendance officer unless the individual has complied with all standards of the department and has been properly licensed by the department. [Pre-2005 Elementary and Secondar…

Sec. 42. The secretary of education shall: (1) prescribe duties for the state attendance officer not provided by law; (2) design and require use of a system of attendance reports, records, and forms necessary for the enforcement of this chapter; (3) establish guidance regarding t…

Sec. 43. (a) The secretary of education shall appoint a state attendance officer. The state attendance officer serves at the pleasure of the secretary of education and may be removed by the secretary of education at any time. (b) The state attendance officer shall: (1) exercise g…

Sec. 44. (a) This section does not apply to section 18 or 47 of this chapter. (b) Except as otherwise provided, a person who knowingly violates this chapter commits a Class B misdemeanor. [Pre-2005 Elementary and Secondary Education Recodification Citation: 20-8.1-3-37.] As added…

Sec. 45. (a) The state board shall exercise general supervision by resolution over the attendance system of the state. (b) The state board may adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 pertaining to the state attendance system and the enforcement of this chapter. [Pre-2005 Elementary and Secon…

Sec. 46. (a) Except as provided in subsection (c), a superintendent or school leader may exclude or excuse a student found mentally or physically unfit for school attendance. An exclusion or excuse under this section is valid only for the school year during which it is issued and…