South Dakota won’t lower age to skip out of school

PIERRE, S.D. (SDBA) — Legislators killed a invoice this morning (Tuesday) that may have lowered South Dakota’s necessary faculty attendance age from 18 to 16.

SB 65 was earlier than the Senate Training Committee.

Republican Sen. Lee Schoenbeck of Watertown, the invoice’s sponsor, stated that the general public colleges have turn into the brand new place to deal with juvenile offenders.

These college students, he stated, are disrupting the academic expertise of each college students and academics.

“We’re forgetting in regards to the different college students (who wish to study),” Sen. Schoenbeck informed the committee. “Anyone is getting victimized on the opposite aspect,” reminiscent of fellow college students and academics who should take care of troublesome college students between the ages of 16.

A number of academic teams opposed the invoice.

Nonetheless, the committee additionally heard from a Watertown Arrow Success Academy scholar who stated having to remain in class till 18 modified her life.

“I used to be going to surrender,” Amanda Schaaf (shaw-if) testified. “Don’t surrender on children like me.”

A lot of the committee dialogue earlier than the vote centered on doable juvenile justice system reforms and different pathways to a highschool diploma or different certification.

Dianna Miller, a lobbyist for the Massive Faculty Group and a former trainer, famous, “We are able to’t preserve decreasing the college age to eliminate children.”

The committee voted 5 to 1 to ship the measure to the forty first legislative day, successfully killing it.

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