§48410. There are exempted from compulsory attendance in continuation education classes as otherwise required by Sections 48400 and 48402, persons who:

(a) Have been graduated from a high school maintaining a four-year course above the eighth grade of the elementary schools, or who have had an equal amount of education in a private school or by private tuition.

(b) Are in attendance upon a public or private full-time day school, or satisfactory part-time classes maintained by other agencies.

(c) Are disqualified for attendance upon these classes because of their physical or mental condition, or because of personal services that must be rendered to their dependents.

(d) Are satisfactorily attending a regional occupational program or center as provided in Section 48432.

(e) Have successfully demonstrated proficiency equal to or greater than standards as established by the Department of Education pursuant to Section 48412, and have verified approval submitted by their parent or guardian.

(f) Are subject to Section 48400 but not Section 48402 and are in attendance upon classes for adults for not less than four clock hours per calendar week.

(g) Are exempt from compulsory school attendance under Section 48231.

§48231. Notwithstanding Section 48201, pupils between 12 and 18 years of age who enter an attendance area from another state within 10 schooldays before the end of the school term during which such entrance occurs are exempt for the remainder of the school term.

§48415. In the case of attendance upon private school, exemption from the requirements of attendance upon compulsory continuation education shall be valid only after verification by the attendance supervisor of the district, or other person designated by the board of education, that the private school has complied with the provisions of Section 33190 requiring the annual filing by the owner or other head of a private school of an affidavit or statement of prescribed information with the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The verification required by this section shall not be construed as an evaluation, recognition, approval, or endorsement of any private school or course. (emphasis added)

§48416. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a child who, at the time a leave of absence is to begin, will be between the ages of 16 and 18, inclusive, may take a leave of absence from compulsory continuation education classes or, if exempted pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 48410, from the school that the child attends, for a period of up to two semesters, if all the following conditions are satisfied:

(a) The school district governing board adopts a written policy to allow student leaves of absence consistent with this section.

(b) The purpose of the leave is supervised travel, study, training, or work not available to the student under another education option.

(c) A written agreement is entered into that is signed by the child, the child's parent or guardian, the principal or administrative officer of the school that the child would otherwise attend, a classroom teacher familiar with the child's academic progress selected by the child, and the district supervisor of child welfare and attendance, and that provides for all of the following:

(1) The purpose of the leave.

(2) The length of time the child will be on leave.

(3) A meeting between or contact with the child and a school official designated in the agreement at least once a month while the child is on leave.

(4) A statement incorporating the provisions contained in subdivision (b).

(d) The child shall be entitled to return to school at any time. No child who takes a leave of absence shall be penalized from completing his or her academic requirements within a time period equal to that of classmates who did not take a leave of absence, plus a period of time equal to the leave of absence. However, when a child reenrolls at any time other than the beginning of a semester, the school shall not be required to give makeup sessions during that semester for the classes that the child has missed.

(e) A leave of absence may be extended for an additional semester upon approval by all parties to the written agreement and the local school attendance review board.

(f) No leave of absence may be taken that would continue past the end of the school year in which the leave is taken.

(g) If the student does not contact the designated school official as stipulated in the written agreement, the leave of absence shall be nullified.

Any party to the written agreement may nullify the written agreement for cause at any time.

(h) No more than 1 percent of the students enrolled and in attendance at each school shall be permitted to take a leave of absence during each academic year.

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Any minor admitted to a regional occupational center or program under the provisions of Section 52314.5 shall be considered to have enrolled in the regional occupational center or program in lieu of continuation education classes.

§52314.5. A regional occupational center or program established and maintained by a county superintendent of schools, school districts, or joint power agencies pursuant to Section 52301 shall admit youths between the ages of 16 to 18 years who are eligible to attend a high school in a school district, but who have not been enrolled on a full-time or part-time basis for a period of more than three months during the regular school year, on the same basis as, and applying the same criteria for admission as would be applied to, any pupil enrolled in a high school in a school district who is eligible to attend the regional occupational center or program.

It is the intent of the Legislature that pupils admitted to a regional occupational center or program under this section shall be encouraged to return to high school in order to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to prepare them for adult life.

§48433. Special continuation education classes or classes conducted by a regional occupational center or any combination thereof shall provide at least four 60 minute hours of instruction per week for each minor within the high school district who is subject to compulsory continuation education.

§48412. (a) Any person 16 years of age or older, or who has been enrolled in the 10th grade for one academic year or longer, or who will complete one academic year of enrollment in the 10th grade at the end of the semester during which the next regular examination will be conducted, shall be permitted to have his or her proficiency in basic skills taught in public high schools verified according to criteria established by the State Department of Education.

The State Board of Education shall award a "certificate of proficiency" to persons who demonstrate that proficiency. The certificate of proficiency shall be equivalent to a high school diploma, and the State Department of Education shall keep a permanent record of the issuance of all the certificates.

(b) The State Department of Education shall develop standards of competency in basic skills taught in public high schools and shall provide for the administration of examinations prepared by or with the approval of the department to verify such competency. Regular examinations shall be held once in the fall semester and once in the spring of every academic year on a date, as determined by the State Department of Education, which will enable notification of examinees and the schools they attend, if any, of the results thereof not later than two weeks prior to the date on which that semester ends in a majority of school districts which maintain high schools.

In addition to regular examinations, the State Department of Education may, at the discretion of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, conduct examinations for all eligible persons once during each summer recess and may conduct examinations at such other times as the superintendent deems necessary to accommodate eligible persons whose religious convictions or physical handicaps prevent their attending one of the regular examinations.

(c) The State Department of Education may charge a fee for each examination application in an amount sufficient to recover the costs of administering the requirements of this section; provided, however, that the fee shall not exceed twenty dollars ($20) per examination application. All fees levied and collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the State Treasury for remittance to the current support appropriation of the State Department of Education as reimbursement for costs of administering this section. Any reimbursements collected in excess of actual costs of administration of this section shall be transferred to the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund by order of the Director of Finance.

(d) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules and regulations as are necessary for implementation of the provisions of this section.

§48414. Any person 16 or 17 years of age exempt from compulsory continuation attendance laws by subdivision (e) of Section 48410 who has terminated his enrollment on the basis of such exemption shall be permitted by the governing board of the school district in which he resides to reenroll in the district, without prejudice, as if he had never taken advantage of subdivision (e) of Section 48410. If such person subsequently again terminates enrollment on the basis of such exemption, the district may deny him reenrollment until the beginning of the next semester in the district's academic year.