21-4-102. When attendance required; exemptions; withdrawal.
(a) Every parent, guardian or other person having control or charge of any child who is a resident of this state and whose seventh birthday falls on or before September 15 of any year and who has not yet attained his sixteenth birthday or completed the tenth grade shall be required to send such child to, and such child shall be required to attend, a public or private school each year, during the entire time that the public schools shall be in session in the district in which the pupil resides; provided, that the board of trustees of each school district may exempt any child from the operation of this article when:
Note: Effective 8/1/2021 this subsection will read as:
(a) Every parent, guardian or other person having control or charge of any child who is a resident of this state and whose seventh birthday falls on or before August 1, or September 15 if the child started kindergarten pursuant to an approved request under W.S. 21-3-110(a)(xxxviii), of any year and who has not yet attained his sixteenth birthday or completed the tenth grade shall be required to send such child to, and such child shall be required to attend, a public or private school each year, during the entire time that the public schools shall be in session in the district in which the pupil resides; provided, that the board of trustees of each school district may exempt any child from the operation of this article when:
(i) The board believes that compulsory attendance in school would be detrimental to the mental or physical health of such child or the other children in the school; provided, the board may designate at the expense of the district a medical doctor of its choice to guide it and support it in its decision;
(ii) The board feels that compulsory school attendance might work undue hardship. The board may conduct a hearing on issues pursuant to this paragraph by executive session; or
(iii) The child has been legally excluded from the regular schools pursuant to the provisions of W.S. 21-4-306.
(b) A home-based educational program shall meet the requirements of a basic academic educational program pursuant to W.S. 21-4-101(a)(vi). It shall be the responsibility of every person administering a home-based educational program to submit a curriculum to the local board of trustees each year showing that the program complies with the requirements of this subsection. Failure to submit a curriculum showing compliance is prima facie evidence that the home-based educational program does not meet the requirements of this article.
(c) In addition to subsection (a) of this section, the parent, guardian or other person having control or charge of any child under the age of eighteen (18), who has not otherwise notified the district of enrolling that child in a different school district or in a private school or home-based educational program, shall meet in person with a school district counselor or administrator to provide the school district with written consent to the withdrawal of that child from school attendance. The written consent to withdrawal shall include a separate provision authorizing the release of the student's identity and address to the Wyoming national guard youth challenge program, as established by W.S. 19-9-701, for the sole purpose of recruitment into the Wyoming national guard youth challenge program.