22.1-3.1 - Birth certificates required upon admission; required notice to the local law-enforcement agency.
§ 22.1-3.1. Birth certificates required upon admission; required notice tothe local law-enforcement agency.
A. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, no pupil shall beadmitted for the first time to any public school in any school division inthis Commonwealth unless the person enrolling the pupil shall present, uponadmission, a certified copy of the pupil's birth record. The principal or hisdesignee shall record the official state birth number from the pupil's birthrecord into the pupil's permanent school record and may retain a copy in thepupil's permanent school record. If a certified copy of the pupil's birthrecord cannot be obtained, the person so enrolling the pupil shall submit anaffidavit setting forth the pupil's age and explaining the inability topresent a certified copy of the birth record. If the school division cannotascertain a child's age because of the lack of a birth certificate, the childshall nonetheless be admitted into the public schools if the divisionsuperintendent determines that the person submitting the affidavit presentsinformation sufficient to estimate with reasonable certainty the age of suchchild.
However, if the student seeking enrollment is a homeless child or youth asdefined in § 22.1-3, the school shall immediately enroll such student, evenif such student is unable to produce the records required for enrollment, andshall immediately contact the school last attended by the student to obtainrelevant academic and other records, and shall comply with the provisions ofthe federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act of2001, as amended (42 U.S.C. § 11431 et seq.), including immediately referringthe parent of the student or the youth to the local school division liaison,as described in the federal Act, who shall assist in obtaining the necessaryrecords for enrollment.
B. Upon the failure of any person enrolling a pupil to present a certifiedcopy of the pupil's birth record, the principal of the school in which thepupil is being enrolled or his designee shall immediately notify the locallaw-enforcement agency. The notice to the local law-enforcement agency shallinclude copies of the submitted proof of the pupil's identity and age and theaffidavit explaining the inability to produce a certified copy of the birthrecord.
C. Within 14 days after enrolling a transferred pupil, the principal of theschool in which the pupil has been enrolled or his designee shall requestthat the principal or his designee of the school in which the pupil waspreviously enrolled submit documentation that a certified copy of the pupil'sbirth record was presented upon the pupil's initial enrollment.
D. Principals and their designees shall be immune from any civil or criminalliability in connection with any notice to a local law-enforcement agency ofa pupil lacking a birth certificate or failure to give such notice asrequired by this section.
(1990, c. 295; 1991, c. 523; 2004, c. 500; 2007, c. 49.)