Attendance Law

The law in Mississippi governing compulsory school attendance requires a parent, legal guardian or custodian who has legal control or charge of a child age six to seventeen to send the child to school during the entire school year, except under the limited circumstances specified in subsection three (3) of Section 37-13-91.  The exceptions include, but are not limited to, sending the child to a state approved, nonpublic, or educating the child at home in an organized educational program.  Although in the past, the compulsory school attendance law did not apply to children under the age of six, effective July 1, 2003 a child who enrolls in public kindergarten will follow the same guidelines of the compulsory attendance law.