Title 16, Education

§ 838. Capital improvement plan (a) Each school district shall develop and maintain a five-year capital operations and improvement plan for the school district and supervisory union, which shall be updated annually. (b) The capital operations and improvement plan described in sub…

§ 1045. Driver training course (a) A driver education and training course, approved by the Agency of Education and the Department of Motor Vehicles, shall be made available to students whose parent or guardian is a resident of Vermont and who have reached their 15th birthday and …

§ 1046. Arrangement Subject to the approval of the Secretary, each superintendent shall arrange for the establishment of a driver education and training course for all public and approved independent schools located within his or her jurisdiction that so request. (Added 1969, No.…

§ 1047. State to pay costs The State shall pay to each school providing an approved driver education and training course an amount per pupil instructed in driver education to be determined annually by the General Assembly. (Added 1969, No. 298 (Adj. Sess.), § 71; amended 1975, No…

§ 1047a. Driver’s education grants (a) The purpose of the driver’s education grant program is to provide increased availability and quality of driver’s education programs for Vermont students to prepare them for the responsibilities and requirements of safely operating a motor ve…

§ 1048. Administration The administration of this subchapter, including the training and qualification of instructors and selection of instructional material and visual aids, shall be in the Agency. (Added 1969, No. 298 (Adj. Sess.), § 72; amended 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 108…

§ 906. Course of study (a) In public schools, approved and recognized independent schools, and in home study programs, learning experiences shall be provided for students in the minimum course of study. (b) For purposes of this title, the minimum course of study means learning ex…

§ 907. Lincoln’s birthday Exercises in commemoration of the birth, life, and services of Abraham Lincoln shall be conducted in all public and independent schools on the last school day before February 12, annually. (Added 1969, No. 298 (Adj. Sess.), § 67; amended 1991, No. 24, § …

§ 908. Pre-Memorial Day exercises The last half-day’s session of the public schools before Memorial Day shall be devoted to exercises commemorative of the history of the nation during its wars and to patriotic instruction in the principles of liberty and the equal rights of man. …

§ 909. Tobacco use, alcohol and drug abuse prevention education curriculum (a) The Secretary, in conjunction with the Division of Health Promotion, where appropriate, shall develop a sequential alcohol and drug abuse prevention education curriculum for elementary and secondary sc…

§ 910. Coordination of services to children and adolescents with a severe emotional disturbance Each town, city, interstate, incorporated, unified, or union school district shall cooperate with the Agency of Education and the Departments of Mental Health, for Children and Familie…

§ 911. American Sign Language; foreign language credit (a) American Sign Language is a visual-gestural system of communication used by many in the Deaf community living in the United States and Canada. It is a complete and complex language that has its own syntax, rhetoric, and g…

§ 912. Student’s right of refusal; animal dissection (a) A student in a public elementary or secondary school or an approved independent school shall have the right to be excused from participating in any lesson, exercise, or assessment requiring the student to dissect, vivisect,…

§ 941. Flexible Pathways Initiative (a) There is created within the Agency a Flexible Pathways Initiative: (1) to encourage and support the creativity of school districts as they develop and expand high-quality educational experiences that are an integral part of secondary educat…

§ 942. Definitions As used in this title: (1) “Accredited postsecondary institution” means a postsecondary institution that has been accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges or another regional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Educa…

§ 944. Dual Enrollment Program (a) Program creation. There is created a statewide Dual Enrollment Program to be a potential component of a student’s flexible pathway. The Program shall include college courses offered on the campus of an accredited postsecondary institution and co…

§ 945. Adult education and secondary credential program (a) The Secretary shall maintain an Adult Diploma Program (ADP) administered by the Agency through which any Vermont resident who is at least 16 years of age; who has not received a high school diploma; and who is not enroll…

§ 946. Early college (a) For each grade 12 Vermont student enrolled, the Secretary shall pay an amount equal to 87 percent of the base education amount to: (1) the Vermont Academy of Science and Technology (VAST); and (2) an early college program other than the VAST program that …

§ 947. Early college program; report; appropriation (a) Notwithstanding 2 V.S.A. § 20(d), any postsecondary institution receiving funds pursuant to section 946 of this title shall report annually in January to the Senate and House Committees on Education regarding the level of pa…

§ 948. Virtual learning (a) The Agency of Education shall maintain access to and oversight of a virtual learning provider for the purpose of offering virtual learning opportunities to Vermont students. (b) A student may enroll in virtual learning if: (1) the student is enrolled i…

§ 1051. Statement of public policy It is the policy of the State of Vermont to cooperate with religious groups by adjusting the schedule of public schools to provide periodic released time for religious instruction, provided that such adjustments do not interfere with the conduct…

§ 1052. Definitions and construction (a) As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise clearly requires: (1) “Periodic released time” means time, occurring at least once weekly, during which public school students are released from school to attend religious education cou…

§ 1053. Duty to cooperate in periodic released time program If requested by a religious group, the board of directors or trustees of a school district shall make available periodic released time, provided that the granting of released time will not interfere with the conduct of s…

§ 1054. Prohibitions (a) No person shall conduct a periodic released time religious education course on public school property. (b) No periodic released time program shall interfere with the completion by any student of requirements for graduation as established from time to time…

§ 1055. Conditions (a) No student may take a periodic released time religious education course without first having obtained: (1) written permission from the student’s parent or guardian containing a release of the school from all legal responsibility for the student while engage…

§ 1071. School year and school day (a) Minimum number of days. Except as provided in this section, each public school shall be maintained and operated for: (1) At least 175 student attendance days in each school year. For purposes of this section, a majority of students enrolled …

§ 1072. Legal holidays All conditions of employment relating to legal holidays, including decisions such as the closing or opening of schools and compensation for work performed on a holiday, shall be proper matters for collective bargaining pursuant to chapter 57 of this title. …

§ 1073. “Legal pupil” defined; access to school (a) Definition. “Legal pupil” means an individual who has attained the age of five years on or before January 1 next following the beginning of the school year. However, a school district may require that students admitted to kinder…

§ 1074. Age of student; “between” defined The word “between,” as used in this title in respect to a specified age of a student, shall mean the period of time commencing on the birthday of the child when he or she becomes the age first specified and ending on the day next precedin…

§ 1075. Legal residence defined; responsibility and payment of education of student (a) For the purpose of this title, except as otherwise set forth, the legal residence or residence of a student shall be as follows: (1) In the case of a minor, legal residence is where his or her…

§ 1093. Nonresident students A school board may receive into the schools under its charge nonresident students under such terms and restrictions as it deems best, and money received for the instruction of the students shall be paid into the school fund of the district. (Amended 2…

§ 1120. Definitions As used in this chapter: (1) “Absence” means a student who is, for at least half the school day when school is open, not physically on school grounds or who is not receiving or attending educational, cocurricular, or athletic services or programming elsewhere …

§ 1121. Attendance by children of school age required The parent or guardian of a child between six and 16 years of age shall cause the child to attend a public school, an approved or recognized independent school, an approved education program, or a home study program for the fu…

§ 1122. Students under six and over 16 years of age The parent or guardian of a child who is under six years of age or over 16 years of age who enrolls the child in kindergarten through grade 12 in a public school or approved independent school shall ensure that the child attends…

§ 1123. School absence may be excused (a) In accordance with the chronic absenteeism and truancy policy required pursuant to section 1124 of this chapter, the superintendent of a public school or designee or the head of school of an approved independent school or designee may exc…

§ 1124. Response to chronic absenteeism (a) The Agency of Education, in consultation with the Vermont School Boards Association; the Vermont Superintendents Association; the Vermont Principals’ Association; the Vermont Independent Schools Association; the Vermont School Counselor…

§ 1125. Truant officers (a) A school board shall annually appoint one or more truant officers and record their appointments with the clerk of the school district on or before July 3. State police, sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, constables, and police officers shall be truant officers…

§ 1126. Failure to attend; notice When a student between six and 16 years of age, who is not exempted from school attendance by one of the authorized individuals in accordance with section 1121 of this chapter, fails to enter school at the beginning of the academic year or, being…

§ 1127. Notice and complaint by truant officer; penalty (a) The truant officer, upon receiving the notice and truancy reporting protocol provided in section 1126 of this title, shall inquire into the cause of the nonattendance of the child. If the truant officer finds that the ch…

§ 1129. Jurisdiction of nonresidents The superintendent of a school in which a nonresident pupil is enrolled and a truant officer having jurisdiction of the pupils in such school shall have the same authority and jurisdiction over such nonresident pupil and the parent or guardian…

§ 1161a. Discipline (a) Each public and each approved independent school shall adopt and implement a comprehensive plan for responding to student misbehavior. To the extent appropriate, the plan shall promote the positive development of youths. The plan shall include: (1) The sch…

§ 1162. Suspension or expulsion of students (a) A superintendent or principal may, pursuant to policies adopted by the school board that are consistent with State Board rules, suspend a student for up to 10 school days or, with the approval of the board of the school district, ex…

§ 1163. Transfer of suspension or expulsion to other schools (a) If a student transfers from one Vermont public or independent school to another, then upon application by the student and after a review of whether the school can provide the student with appropriate services, the n…

§ 1165. Alcohol and drug abuse (a) The State Board, in consultation with local school boards, the alcohol and drug division, the law enforcement authorities, and the juvenile court system shall formulate a general policy for the education, discipline, and referral for rehabilitat…

§ 1166. Possession of a firearm at school (a) In this section, the terms “to school” and “firearm” shall have the same meaning that the terms have in 18 U.S.C. § 921. The school board may expand the definitions, however, provided they remain consistent with federal law. (b) Each …

§ 1167. School resource officer; memorandum of understanding (a) Neither the State Board nor the Agency shall regulate the use of restraint and seclusion on school property by a school resource officer certified pursuant to 20 V.S.A. § 2358. (b) School boards and law enforcement …