SDCL 13-53E-1 Interstate Compact On Educational Opportunity For Military Children Adopted

• Library: South Dakota Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through the 2023 Legislative Session
• Year: 2023
• Citation: SDCL 13-53E-1

The interstate compact on educational opportunity for military children is hereby enacted into law and entered into with all jurisdictions legally joining in the compact, in the form substantially as follows:

Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children

ARTICLE I. PURPOSE

It is the purpose of this compact to remove barriers to educational success imposed on children of military families because of frequent moves and deployment of their parents by:

A. Facilitating the timely enrollment of children of military families and ensuring that they are not placed at a disadvantage due to difficulty in the transfer of educational records from the previous school district or variations in entrance or age requirements.

B. Facilitating the student placement process through which children of military families are not disadvantaged by variations in attendance requirements, scheduling, sequencing, grading, course content or assessment.

C. Facilitating the qualification and eligibility for enrollment, educational programs, and participation in extracurricular academic, athletic and social activities.

D. Facilitating the on-time graduation of children of military families.

E. Providing for the promulgation and enforcement of administrative rules implementing the provisions of this compact.

F. Providing for the uniform collection and sharing of information between and among member states, schools and military families under this compact.

G. Promoting coordination between this compact and other compacts affecting military children.

H. Promoting flexibility and cooperation between the educational system, parents and the student in order to achieve educational success for the student.

ARTICLE II. DEFINITIONS

As used in this compact, unless the context clearly requires a different construction:

A. "Active duty" means full-time duty status in the active uniformed service of the United States, including members of the national guard and reserve on active duty orders pursuant to 10 U.S.C. section 1209 and 1211.

B. "Children of military families" means school-aged children, enrolled in kindergarten or any of the grades one through twelve, in the household of an active duty member.

C. "Compact commissioner" means the voting representative of each compacting state appointed pursuant to article VIII of this compact.

D. "Deployment" means the period one month prior to the service members' departure from their home station on military orders through six months after return to their home station.

E. "Educational records" means those official records, files and data directly related to a student and maintained by the school or local education agency, including but not limited to records encompassing all the material kept in the student's cumulative folder such as general identifying data, records of attendance and of academic work completed, records of achievement and results of evaluative tests, health data, disciplinary status, test protocols and individualized education programs.

F. "Extracurricular activities" means voluntary activities sponsored by the school or local education agency or an organization sanctioned by the local education agency. Extracurricular activities include, but are not limited to, preparation for and involvement in public performances, contests, athletic competitions, demonstrations, displays and club activities.

G. "Interstate commission on educational opportunity for military children" means the commission that is created under article IX of this compact, which is generally referred to as interstate commission.

H. "Local education agency" means a public authority legally constituted by the state as an administrative agency to provide control of and direction for kindergarten and grades one through twelve in public schools.

I. "Member state" means a state that has enacted this compact.

J. "Military installation" means a base, camp, post, station, yard, center, homeport facility for any ship or other activity under the jurisdiction of the department of defense, including any leased facility, which is located within any of the several states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Marianas Islands and any other U.S. Territory. Such term does not include any facility used primarily for civil works, rivers and harbors projects or flood control projects.

K. "Non-member state" means a state that has not enacted this compact.

L. "Receiving state" means the state to which a child of a military family is sent, brought or caused to be sent or brought.

M. "Rule" means a written statement by the interstate commission promulgated pursuant to article XII of this compact that is of general applicability, implements, interprets or prescribes a policy or provision of the compact, or an organizational, procedural, or practice requirement of the interstate commission, and has the force and effect of statutory law in a member state, and includes the amendment, repeal, or suspension of an existing rule.

N. "Sending state" means the state from which a child of a military family is sent, brought or caused to be sent or brought.

O. "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Marianas Islands and any other U. S. Territory.

P. "Student" means the child of a military family for whom the local education agency receives public funding and who is formally enrolled in kindergarten or any of the grades one through twelve.

Q. "Transition" means:

(1) The formal and physical process of transferring from school to school; or

(2) The period of time in which a student moves from one school in the sending state to another school in the receiving state.

R. "Uniformed services" means the army, navy, air force, marine corps, coast guard as well as the commissioned corps of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration and public health services.

S. "Veteran" means a person who served in the uniformed services and who was discharged or released there from under conditions other than dishonorable.

ARTICLE III. APPLICABILITY

A. Except as otherwise provided in subsection B, this compact shall apply to the children of:

(1) Active duty members of the uniformed services as defined in this compact, including members of the national guard and reserve on active duty orders pursuant to 10 U.S.C. section 1209 and 1211;

(2) Members or veterans of the uniformed services who are severely injured and medically discharged or retired for a period of one year after medical discharge or retirement; and

(3) Members of the uniformed services who die on active duty or as a result of injuries sustained on active duty for a period of one year after death.

B. The provisions of this interstate compact shall only apply to local education agencies as defined in this compact.

C. The provisions of this compact shall not apply to the children of:

(1) Inactive members of the National Guard and military reserves;

(2) Members of the uniformed services now retired, except as provided in paragraph 1;

(3) Veterans of the uniformed services, except as provided in paragraph 1; and

(4) Other United States department of defense personnel and other federal agency civilian and contract employees not defined as active duty members of the uniformed services.

ARTICLE IV. EDUCATIONAL RECORDS & ENROLLMENT

A. Unofficial or "hand-carried" education records--In the event that official education records cannot be released to the parents for the purpose of transfer, the custodian of the records in the sending state shall prepare and furnish to the parent a complete set of unofficial educational records containing uniform information as determined by the interstate commission. Upon receipt of the unofficial education records by a school in the receiving state, the school shall enroll and appropriately place the student based on the information provided in the unofficial records pending validation by the official records, as quickly as possible.

B. Official education records or transcripts--Simultaneous with the enrollment and conditional placement of the student, the school in the receiving state shall request the student's official education record from the school in the sending state. Upon receipt of this request, the school in the sending state will process and furnish the official education records to the school in the receiving state within 10 days or within such time as is reasonably determined under the rules promulgated by the interstate commission.

C. Immunizations--Compacting states shall allow thirty days from the date of enrollment or within such time as is reasonably determined under the rules promulgated by the Interstate Commission, for students to obtain any immunizations required by the receiving state. For a series of immunizations, initial vaccinations must be obtained within thirty days or within such time as is reasonably determined under the rules promulgated by the interstate commission.