Alabama Education Laws: Attendance, Discipline, and Student Rights

Alabama’s education laws require every child between the ages of 6 and 17 to be enrolled in school for the full school term, give families four legal ways to meet that requirement, and build in specific rules on immunizations, discipline, special education, and access to student records. Parents who ignore the attendance mandate can be charged with a misdemeanor carrying a fine of up to $100 and up to 90 days of hard labor for the county.¹

Who Must Attend School

The compulsory attendance window runs from age 6 through 17. If your child is 6, you can push enrollment back a year by sending written notice to your local board of education. Once the child turns 7, that opt-out is gone until the child ages out at 17.²

Parents and guardians are directly responsible for making sure the child both attends regularly and follows the local board’s written conduct policies. Failing to enroll your child, failing to make sure they actually show up, or failing to require proper conduct is a misdemeanor. A conviction can mean a fine up to $100 and up to 90 days of hard labor for the county.¹

Four Ways to Meet the Attendance Requirement

Alabama recognizes four paths to satisfy compulsory attendance. Each carries different registration and oversight rules.

Public and Charter Schools

Public schools, including magnet programs, are the default. Local boards set admission and attendance policies within state guidelines.

Alabama also authorizes tuition-free, non-sectarian public charter schools that are open to all students. Charters operate independently of the local board but answer to an authorizer, which is either the local school board or the Alabama Public Charter School Commission. Authorizers must give priority to applications aimed at serving at-risk students, and every charter is governed by a contract spelling out its mission, academic program, and performance goals.³

Private Schools and Church Schools

Alabama draws a legal line between a private school and a church school, and that line changes what paperwork you owe the state. A private school is any non-governmental school offering instruction in grades K–12. Private schools other than church schools must register with the Alabama Department of Education each year and report student enrollment, number of instructors, attendance data, course offerings, and length of term.

A church school is defined separately as a school operated as a nonprofit ministry of a local church, group of churches, denomination, or association of churches. Church schools can offer instruction on-site or through home-based programs. They receive no state or federal funding and do not have to register with the Department of Education, but they must keep an attendance register tracking every absence of a half day or more.⁴

Home Schooling

Alabama families have three legal routes to educate at home.

The first is enrolling the child in a church school’s home program. Because the state’s church-school definition includes home-based instruction operated as a church ministry, parents can homeschool under that umbrella. The church school keeps the attendance register, and parents should report enrollment to the local district.

The second is hiring a certified private tutor. The tutor must hold a certificate issued by the State Superintendent of Education. Instruction has to cover the same subjects taught in public schools, run at least three hours per day for 140 days each calendar year, and happen between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. The tutor files a statement with the local superintendent naming the children taught, the subjects covered, and the schedule.⁵

The third is establishing a home-based private school. The parent notifies the county superintendent with the school’s information and a list of enrolled students, and the operation follows private-school registration rules rather than the church-school exemptions.

Shots Required Before Enrollment

Before your child can start school, you need an Alabama Certificate of Immunization on file. For kindergarten through twelfth grade, the state requires age-appropriate doses of:

DTaP: five doses of diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine (four if the fourth dose was given on or after the child’s fourth birthday), plus a Tdap booster at age 11 or 12
Polio: four doses of inactivated polio vaccine (three if the third dose was given on or after the fourth birthday)
MMR: two doses of measles vaccine, plus immunization against mumps and rubella
Varicella: one dose for children under 13, two doses for children 13 and older, unless the child has documented history of chickenpox or a positive blood test

Medical exemptions are allowed. Religious exemptions are available under the Code of Alabama. Philosophical or personal-belief exemptions are not recognized.⁶

Discipline Rules and Your Right to a Hearing

Alabama gives schools broad authority to maintain order and layers procedural protections on top as discipline grows more serious.

Corporal Punishment

Corporal punishment is still permitted in Alabama schools. State law gives teachers authority and responsibility to use appropriate disciplinary measures up to and including corporal punishment.⁷ Individual districts set their own policies on whether and how it is administered, so practices vary. Check with your local district about its policy and whether a written parental objection is accepted.

Drugs, Alcohol, and Weapons

Every local board must uniformly enforce policies keeping schools free of illegal drugs, alcohol, and weapons. When a student violates these policies, the principal must notify law enforcement and may sign a criminal warrant if charges are appropriate. The student is immediately suspended, and a hearing has to be scheduled within five school days. School officials must also consider whether the student has an exceptional status under federal disability law before deciding on suspension or criminal charges.⁸

Long-Term Suspension, Alternative Placement, and Expulsion

Three levels of serious discipline each trigger formal due process:

Long-term suspension: exclusion from school for more than 10 but fewer than 90 school days per incident
Long-term alternative school placement: placement in an alternative school for more than 15 school days per incident
Expulsion: exclusion for more than 90 but fewer than 180 school days per incident

Before any of these can take effect, the student is entitled to a disciplinary hearing before the local board of education or its designee. You and your child must receive reasonable written notice of the hearing, delivered in person or by mail, stating the time, place, and nature of the hearing along with a description of the alleged conduct. Both sides can attend, present evidence, and be heard.⁹

One detail catches families off guard. If a parent or guardian receives the written notice and does not respond, the hearing is waived entirely. Ignoring a discipline notice is the worst possible move. The principal also has discretion to weigh the student’s age, disciplinary history, the seriousness of the offense, and whether a lesser intervention would be adequate before recommending escalated discipline.⁹

Children With Disabilities

Alabama follows the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which guarantees every eligible child a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). That means special education and related services provided at public expense and tailored to the child through a written plan.

The process begins with “Child Find.” School districts must actively work to identify, locate, and evaluate all children ages 3 through 21 who may have a disability and need special education services. Once a school suspects a child may be eligible and the parent consents, it has 60 days to complete the initial evaluation (or a shorter period if the state sets one). The timeline pauses if the parent repeatedly fails to make the child available or if the child transfers districts mid-evaluation, though the new district must still move promptly.¹⁰

If the child qualifies, a team that includes the parent, teachers, and school personnel must meet within 30 days to develop an Individualized Education Program. The IEP is the binding document laying out the child’s current performance, annual goals, and the specific services the school will provide. Services must begin as soon as possible after the IEP is finalized.¹¹

Before a school proposes or refuses any action related to your child’s identification, evaluation, or placement, it must give you written notice explaining what it plans to do or not do and why. If you disagree, federal law gives you options: voluntary mediation, a due process complaint heard by an impartial hearing officer, or a written state complaint filed with the Alabama State Department of Education.

Students Without Stable Housing

Under the federal McKinney-Vento Act, a student experiencing homelessness has the right to enroll in school immediately, even without the documents normally required. That includes prior academic records, immunization records, proof of residency, proof of age, and guardianship paperwork. The school cannot delay enrollment while waiting for those records.¹²

Immediate enrollment means the child begins attending classes and participating fully, including meals, special education services, and extracurriculars. If the child needs immunizations or health screenings, the school refers the parent to the district’s homeless liaison for help rather than blocking enrollment.¹²

Access to Your Child’s School Records

The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) gives you substantial control over your child’s educational records. You have the right to inspect and review all records the school keeps about your child, and the school must respond within 45 days.¹³

If you believe a record is inaccurate or misleading, you can ask the school to amend it. If the school refuses, you have the right to a formal hearing. Schools must also get your written permission before releasing personally identifiable information from your child’s record to a third party, with limited exceptions for legitimate educational purposes.

One exception worth knowing is “directory information,” which covers items like your child’s name, address, phone number, date of birth, honors received, and participation in activities. Schools can release directory information publicly without your consent, but only after giving you notice and a reasonable window to opt out in writing. If you don’t want your child’s information appearing on honor rolls, sports rosters, or graduation programs, you have to opt out affirmatively during that window.¹⁴

Once a student turns 18 or enrolls in a postsecondary institution, FERPA rights transfer from parent to student. Alabama adds one right FERPA doesn’t: parents of a minor child can inspect their child’s registration and circulation records at any school or public library.¹⁵

1
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 16-28-12 – Person in Loco Parentis Responsible for Child’s School Attendance and Behavior
2
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 16-28-3 – Ages of Children Required to Attend School; Exemption for Church School Students; Transfer Students
3
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 16-6F-6 – Authorization of Public Charter Schools
4
Justia. Alabama Code 16-28-1 – Definitions
5
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 16-28-5 – Private Tutor
6
Alabama Administrative Code. Alabama Administrative Code 420-6-1-.03 – Immunization Schedule
7
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 16-28A-1 – Legislative Findings
8
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 16-1-24.1 – Safe Schools and Drug-Free Schools Policy
9
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 16-1-14 – Uniform System of Procedural Due Process Protections for Students Facing Long-Term Suspension or Expulsion
10
U.S. Department of Education. Changes in Initial Evaluation and Reevaluation
11
eCFR. 34 CFR 300.323 – When IEPs Must Be in Effect
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 11432 – Grants for State and Local Activities for the Education of Homeless Children and Youths
13
Protecting Student Privacy. How Long Does an Educational Agency or Institution Have to Comply with a Request to View Records
14
eCFR. 34 CFR 99.37 – Conditions for Disclosure of Directory Information
15
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 41-8-10 – Registration, Etc., Records of Library Users