ARTICLE 8. COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.  
§18-8-1. Commencement and termination of compulsory  
                school attendance; exemptions.  

1               Compulsory school attendance shall begin with the  
2       school year in which the sixth birthday is reached prior  
3       to the first day of September of such year or upon  
4       enrolling in a publicly supported kindergarten program  
5       and continue to the sixteenth birthday.  
6               Exemption from the foregoing requirements of  
7       compulsory public school attendance shall be made on  
8       behalf of any child for the following causes or conditions,  
9       each such cause or condition being subject to confirma-  
10      tion by the attendance authority of the county:  
...  
11      Exemption A. Instruction in a private, parochial or  
        other approved school.  
...  
22      Exemption B. Instruction in home or other approved  
23      place. - (a) Such instruction shall be in the home of  
24      such child or children or at some other place approved  
25      by the county board of education and for a time equal  
26      to the school term of the county. If such request for home  
27      instruction is denied by the county board of education,  
28      good and reasonable justification for such denial must  
29      be furnished in writing to the applicant by the county  
30      board of education. The instruction in such cases shall  
31      be conducted by a person or persons who, in the  
32      judgment of the county superintendent and county  
33      board of education, are qualified to give instruction in  
34      subjects required to be taught in the free elementary  
35      schools of the state. It shall be the duty of the person  
36      or persons providing the instruction, upon request of the  
37      county superintendent, to furnish to the county board of  
38      education such information and records as may be  
39      required from time to time with respect to attendance,  
40      instruction and progress of pupils enrolled between the  
41      entrance age and sixteen years receiving such instruc-  
42      tion. The state department of education shall develop  
43      guidelines for the homeschooling of special education  
44      students including alternative assessment measures to  
45      assure that satisfactory academic progress is achieved.  

46      (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of  
47      this Exemption B, the person or persons providing home  
48      instruction meet the requirements for Exemption B  
49      when the conditions of this subsection are met: Provided,  
50      That the county superintendent shall have the right to  
51      seek from the circuit court of the county an order  
52      denying the home instruction, which order may be  
53      granted upon a showing of clear and convincing  
54      evidence that the child will suffer educational neglect  
55      or that there are other compelling reasons to deny home  
56      instruction.  

57              (1) The person or person providing home instruction  
58      present to the county superintendent or county board of  
59      education a notice of intent to provide home instruction  
60      and the name and address of any child of compulsory  
61      school age to be instructed; Provided, That if a child is  
62      enrolled in a public school, notice of intent to provide  
63      home instruction shall be given at least two weeks prior  
64      to withdrawing such child from public school;  

65              (2) The person or persons providing home instruction  
66      submit satisfactory evidence of (i) a high school diploma  
67      or equivalent and (ii) formal education at least four  
68      years higher than the most academically advanced child  
69      for whom the instruction will be provided.  

70              (3) The person or persons providing home instruction  
71      outline a plan of instruction for the ensuing school year;  
72      and  

73              (4) The person or persons providing home instruction  
74      shall annually obtain an academic assessment of the  
75      child for the previous school year. This shall be satisfied  
76      in one of the following ways:  

77              (i) Any child receiving home instruction annually  
78      takes a standardized test, to be administered at a public  
79      school in the county where the child resides, or admin-  
80      istered by a licensed psychologist or other person  
81      authorized by the publisher of the test, or administered  
82      by a person authorized by the county superintendent or  
83      county board of education. The child shall be adminis-  
84      tered a test which has been normed by the test publisher  
85      on that child's age or grade group. In no event may the  
86      child's parent or legal guardian administer the test.  
87      Where a test is administered outside of a public school,  
88      the child's parent or legal guardian shall pay the cost  
89      of administering the test. The public school or other  
90      qualified person shall administer to children of compul-  
91      sory  school age the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills,  
92      the California achievement test, the Stanford achieve-  
93      ment test, or the Iowa tests of basic skills, achievement  
94      and proficiency, or an individual standardized achieve-  
95      ment test that is nationally normed and provides  
96      statistical results which test will be selected by the  
  97    public school, or other person administering the test, in  
  98    the subjects of language, reading, social studies, science  
  99    and mathematics; and shall be administered under  
100     standardized conditions as set forth by the published  
101     instructions of the selected test. No test shall be  
102     administered if the publication date is more than ten  
103     years from the date of the administration of the test.  
104     Each child's test results shall be reported as a national  
105     percentile for each of the six [sic] subjects tested. Each  
106     child's test results shall be made available on or before  
107     the thirtieth day of June of the school year in which the  
108     test is to be administered to the person or persons  
109     providing home instruction, the child's parent or legal  
110     guardian and the county superintendent. Upon request  
111     of a duly authorized representative of the West Virginia  
112     department of education, each child's test results shall  
113     be furnished by the person or persons providing home  
114     instruction, or by the child's parent or legal guardian,  
115     to the state superintendent of schools. Upon notification  
116     of the mean of the child's test results for any single year  
117     has fallen below the fortieth percentile, the county board  
118     of education shall notify the parents or legal guardian  
119     of said child, in writing, of the services available to  
120     assist in the assessment of the child's eligibility for  
121     special education services: Provided, That the identifi-  
122     cation of a disability shall not preclude the continuation  
123     of home schooling.  

124             If the mean of the child's test results for any single  
125     year  for language, reading, social studies, science and  
126     mathematics fall below the fortieth percentile on the  
127     selected tests, then the person or persons providing  
128     home instruction shall initiate remedial program to  
129     foster achievement above that level and the student shall  
130     show improvement. If, after two calendar years, the  
131     mean of the child's test results fall below the fortieth  
132     percentile level, home instruction shall no longer satisfy  
133     the compulsory school attendance requirement exemp-  
134     tion; or  

135             (ii) The county superintendent is provided with a  
136     written narrative indicating that a portfolio of samples  
137     of the child's work has been reviewed and that the  
138     child's academic progress for the year is in accordance  
139     with the child's abilities. This narrative shall be  
140     prepared by a certified teacher or other person mutually  
141     agreed upon by the parent or legal guardian and the  
142     county superintendent. It shall be submitted on or  
143     before the thirtieth day of June of the school year  
144     covered by the portfolio. The parent or legal guardian  
145     shall be responsible for payment of fees charged for the  
146     narrative; or  

147             (iii) Evidence of an alternative academic assessment  
148     of the child's proficiency mutually agreed upon by the  
149     parent or legal guardian and the county superintendent  
150     is submitted to the county superintendent by the  
151     thirtieth day of June of the school year being assessed.  
152     The parent or legal guardian shall be responsible for  
153     payment of fees charged for the assessment.  

154             The superintendent or a designee shall offer such  
155     assistance, including textbooks, other teaching materials  
156     and available resources, as may assist the person or  
157     persons providing home instruction subject to their  
158     availability. Any child receiving home instruction may,  
159     upon approval of the county board of education, exercise  
160     the option to attend any class offered by the county  
161     board of education as the person or persons providing  
162     home instruction may deem appropriate subject to  
163     normal registration and attendance requirements.etc.  

Exemption C. Physical or mental incapacity  
Exemption D. Residence more than two miles from school or school bus route  
Exemption E. Hazardous conditions  
Exemption F. High school graduation  
Exemption G. Granting work permits  
Exemption H. Serious illness or death in the immediate family of the pupil.  
Exemption I. Destitution in the home.  
Exemption J. Church ordinances; observance of regular church ordinances.  
Exemption K. Alternative private, parochial, church or religious school instruction.