(a) A superintendent may and the truant officer shall stop a child between the ages of six and 16 years or a child 16 years of age or over and enrolled in public school, wherever found during school hours, and shall, unless such child is excused or exempted from school attendance, take the child to the school which she or he should attend.

(b) A child of legal school age who is not exempt from school attendance and who has not finished the elementary school course, and is living in a district other than the place of legal residence shall, with the school board's approval, be admitted immediately to a school in the district where he or she is found. If the child is not admitted to school, then immediate action shall be taken by the truant officer to cause the return of the child to the district of his or her residence. (Amended 1965, No. 46, § 4, eff. May 5, 1965; 1999, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.), § 5.)