18-4511. SCHOOL DUTIES — RECORDS OF MISSING CHILD — IDENTIFICATION UPON ENROLLMENT — TRANSFER OF STUDENT RECORDS. (1) Upon notification by the Idaho state police of a missing or runaway child report, the school in which the child is currently enrolled shall flag the record of that child in such a manner that whenever a copy of or information regarding the record is requested, the school shall be alerted to the fact that the record is that of a missing or runaway child. The school shall immediately report to the local law enforcement agency any request concerning flagged records or knowledge as to the whereabouts of the missing or runaway child. Upon notification by the Idaho state police of the return of the missing or runaway child, the school shall remove the flag from the child’s record.

(2) Upon enrollment of a student for the first time in a public or private elementary or secondary school, the school shall notify in writing the person enrolling the student that within thirty (30) days he must provide either a certified copy of the student’s birth certificate or other reliable proof of the student’s identity and birthdate, which proof shall be accompanied by an affidavit explaining the inability to produce a copy of the birth certificate. Other reliable proof of the student’s identity and birthdate may include a passport, visa or other governmental documentation of the child’s identity.

(a) Upon the failure of a person enrolling a student to comply with the provisions of this subsection, the school shall immediately notify the local law enforcement agency of such failure, and shall notify the person enrolling the student, in writing, that he has ten (10) additional days to comply.

(b) The school shall immediately report to the local law enforcement agency any documentation or affidavit received pursuant to this subsection which appears inaccurate or suspicious in form or content.

(3) Within fourteen (14) days after enrolling a transfer student, the public or private elementary or secondary school shall request directly from the student’s previous school a certified copy of his record. The requesting school shall exercise due diligence in obtaining the copy of the record requested. A student transferring schools within the same school district need not provide proof of identity and birthdate if the student’s record already contains such verified information. Any public or private elementary or secondary school which is requested to forward a copy of a transferred student’s record to the student’s new school shall comply within ten (10) days of receipt of the request, unless the record has been flagged pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, in which case the copy shall not be forwarded and the school shall notify the local law enforcement agency of the request for a flagged record; provided however, that any private school accredited by the state board of education which has an agreement allowing retention of a student’s record when such student’s tuition or fees have not been paid may comply with the provisions of this subsection by notifying the student’s new school that the transferred student’s records are being held for nonpayment of tuition or fees. However, such private school shall be required to notify the local law enforcement agency if the student’s record has been flagged pursuant to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, even if the student’s tuition and fees have not been paid.

(4) It shall be the duty of the local law enforcement agency to immediately investigate each report received from a school of a failure to comply with the provisions of subsection (2) or (3) of this section.

(5) Failure of a parent, or person in custody of a child, or a person enrolling a student, to comply with the documentation requirements of this section after a lawful request by a law enforcement agency, or to cooperate with a law enforcement investigation lawfully conducted pursuant to this section, shall constitute a misdemeanor.

History:

[18-4511, added 1988, ch. 281, sec. 1, p. 914; am. 1989, ch. 219, sec. 4, p. 535; am. 1992, ch. 108, sec. 1, p. 337; am. 1993, ch. 188, sec. 1, p. 479; am. 1996, ch. 400, sec. 1, p. 1333; am. 2000, ch. 469, sec. 25, p. 1479.]