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Question: Can a 16 year old dropout?

Answer:

No. Arizona law (A.R.S. § 15-803) states that 'It is unlawful for any child between six and sixteen years of age to fail to attend school during the hours school is in session.' So, a kid must be over 16 years of age to legally drop out of school.

 

However, there are some exceptions to this rule (A.R.S. § 15-802). If a kids is 16 or under, he can legally not attend school only if he and his parents prove to the school's principal that:

1. The child is in such physical or mental condition that instruction is inexpedient or impracticable.

2. The child has completed high school studies necessary for completion of grade ten.

3. The child is over fourteen years of age and is, with the consent of the person who has custody of him, employed at some lawful wage earning occupation.

4. The child is enrolled in a work training, career education, vocational or manual training program which meets the approved standards.

5. The child is either: (a) Suspended and not directed to participate in an alternative education program. (b) Expelled from a public school.

7. The child is enrolled in an education program provided by a state institution.

Special Thanks to the Arizona Department of Education for assistance answering this question.
Comments
16 thru 20 of 35 comments
On 03/03/04
kimberly p from CA said:
yes you can unless your school is ok with you having a child in class which it isnt here
On 03/02/04
Nina from NJ said:
I'm a 16 year old drop out and im going to take the GED test then go to beauty school and live my dreams, i had waisted years school it wasnt worth it, but not for all u can still get a decent job droppin gout of school but whereever you work say u had a twin one had a GED the other had a high school diploma, who do you think their gonna pick? of course, the high school graduate but you can still get thru life if you are a drop out.
On 03/02/04
vish from PA said:
I think if a student wants to drop out of school, they should because if they keep failing something they arn't gonna be better the next and when a student doesn't come to schoolit obiosly mean that they don't wwant to learn. Alos , when students arn't allowed to drop out of school, the pricipals are just wasting their life because when a sdtudent drops out, they might think that money is more important than an education so they have to start work then go to school and learn boring things
On 02/23/04
Sarah from AZ said:
I think that it is quite ill bred of you to be bellowing out your criticisms before you know the facts. If someone drops out of school, it doesn’t not make them a malfunction to society nor does it deplete them of the ability to feed their children. I think that you really need to know your facts before you turn into one of those social robots that bellow out their comments before they know what is truly going on. You defiantly need to stay in school however, and this is evident by your lack of moral fiber, sentence configuration, word edifice i.e. “u” is supposed to be “you”, and tact.
On 01/09/04
Jeremy from WA said:
You have to drop out to get you GED!
16 thru 20 of 35 comments


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