§ 822 - School district to maintain public high schools or pay tuition
§ 822. School district to maintain public high schools or pay tuition
(a) Each school district shall provide, furnish, and maintain one or more approved high schools in which high school education is provided for its pupils unless:
(1) The electorate authorizes the school board to close an existing high school and to provide for the high school education of its pupils by paying tuition in accordance with law. Tuition for its pupils shall be paid to a public high school, an approved independent high school, or an independent school meeting school quality standards, to be selected by the parents or guardians of the pupil, within or without the state; or
(2) The school district is organized to provide only elementary education for its pupils.
(b) For purposes of this section, a school district which provides, furnishes and maintains a program of education for the first eight years of compulsory school attendance shall be obligated to pay tuition for its pupils for at least four additional years.
(c) The school board may both maintain a high school and furnish high school education by paying tuition to a public school as in the judgment of the board may best serve the interests of the pupils, or to an approved independent school or an independent school meeting school quality standards if the board judges that a pupil has unique educational needs that cannot be served within the district or at a nearby public school. Its judgment shall be final in regard to the institution the pupils may attend at public cost. (Added 1969, No. 298 (Adj. Sess.), § 53; amended 1977, No. 33, § 2; 1989, No. 271 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 1991, No. 24, § 2; 1997, No. 71 (Adj. Sess.), § 85, eff. March 11, 1998; 2009, No. 44, § 13, eff. May 21, 2009.)