INFORMATIONAL

In the 1999 Session, the General Assembly passed and the 
Governor signed the Compulsory School Attendance (GED) 
testing bill, which amended the compulsory attendance code  
22.1-254.D (attached).  This provision authorizes local 
school boards to waive compulsory attendance requirements 
for students who are age 16 and older if they meet certain 
conditions.  The bill instructed the Board of Education to 
develop guidelines for local boards.

An intra-agency workgroup has prepared guideline 
recommendations for the Board's consideration this fall.  
Upon approval by the Board, the guidelines will be 
forwarded to you.  We anticipate an implementation date of 
January 1, 2000.

In addition to allocations for local school divisions, the 
bill provides funds to expand GED testing services making 
them more accessible to all school divisions.  Two new 
staff positions in the Adult Education Services unit of the 
Vocational and Adult Education Services Office will provide 
(1) curriculum and training support for your instructional 
staff and (2) technical assistance, training, and 
monitoring for the GED testing sites.

We will keep you informed as we proceed with this new 
initiative.  Please direct questions to Dr. Neils W. 
Brooks, 804/225-2847, E-Mail - nbrooks@pen.k12.va.us or Dr. 
Lennox McLendon, 804/225-2293, E-mail -
lmclendo@pen.k12.va.us.


PDS/LLM/lgh

Attachment:     A hard copy of this memo and its attachment     
                will be sent to the superintendent's office.