§238.  Education of children having no permanent address, certain abandoned children, and children in foster care

A.  Notwithstanding any provision of law or regulation to the contrary, the governing authority of each public elementary and secondary school shall establish a policy to provide for the placement in school and for the education of any child temporarily residing within the jurisdiction of the board who has no permanent address, who has been abandoned by his parents, or who is in foster care pursuant to placement through the Department of Children and Family Services.

B.  No governing authority of a public elementary or secondary school shall deny enrollment in school to any child solely because the child has no permanent address, because the child has been abandoned by his parents, or because the child is in foster care pursuant to placement through the Department of Children and Family Services; however, nothing in this Section shall require the enrollment of any child not permitted by another school system to attend school, either permanently or temporarily, as a result of disciplinary actions.

C.  The governing authority of each public elementary and secondary school shall establish a policy to ensure that a child who is in foster care pursuant to placement through the Department of Children and Family Services shall be allowed to remain enrolled in the public school in which the child was enrolled at the time he entered foster care for the duration of the child's stay in the custody of the state or until he completes the highest grade offered at the school if the Department of Children and Family Services determines that remaining in that school is in the best interest of the child.  If the foster care placement is outside the jurisdictional boundaries of the public school in which the child is enrolled, the governing authority of such school shall be responsible for providing free transportation for the child to and from a designated location which is within that school district and is located nearest to the child's residence and is determined to be appropriate by such governing authority and the Department of Children and Family Services.  The Department of Children and Family Services shall be responsible for providing the child's transportation between that location and the child's residence.

Acts 1989, No. 251, §1; Acts 1995, No. 139, §1; Acts 2000, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 39, §1; Acts 2009, No. 297, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2010; Acts 2012, No. 249, §1, eff. May 25, 2012.