As used in chapters 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 167, 168, 170, 171, 177 and 178, the following terms mean:

(1) “District” or “school district”, when used alone, may include seven-director, urban, and metropolitan school districts;

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(2) “Elementary school”, a public school giving instruction in a grade or grades not higher than the eighth grade;

(3) “Family literacy programs”, services of sufficient intensity in terms of hours, and of sufficient duration, to make sustainable changes in families that include:

(a) Interactive literacy activities between parents and their children;

(b) Training of parents regarding how to be the primary teacher of their children and full partners in the education of their children;

(c) Parent literacy training that leads to high school completion and economic self sufficiency; and

(d) An age-appropriate education to prepare children of all ages for success in school;

(4) “Graduation rate”, the quotient of the number of graduates in the current year as of June thirtieth divided by the sum of the number of graduates in the current year as of June thirtieth plus the number of twelfth graders who dropped out in the current year plus the number of eleventh graders who dropped out in the preceding year plus the number of tenth graders who dropped out in the second preceding year plus the number of ninth graders who dropped out in the third preceding year;

(5) “High school”, a public school giving instruction in a grade or grades not lower than the ninth nor higher than the twelfth grade;

(6) “Metropolitan school district”, any school district the boundaries of which are coterminous with the limits of any city which is not within a county;

(7) “Public school” includes all elementary and high schools operated at public expense;

(8) “School board”, the board of education having general control of the property and affairs of any school district;

(9) “School term”, a minimum of one hundred seventy-four school days, as that term is defined in section 160.041, for schools with a five-day school week or a minimum of one hundred forty-two school days, as that term is defined in section 160.041, for schools with a four-day school week, and one thousand forty-four hours of actual pupil attendance as scheduled by the board pursuant to section 171.031 during a twelve-month period in which the academic instruction of pupils is actually and regularly carried on for a group of students in the public schools of any school district. In school year 2019-20 and subsequent years, one thousand forty-four hours of actual pupil attendance shall be required with no minimum number of school days required. A school term may be within a school year or may consist of parts of two consecutive school years, but does not include summer school. A district may choose to operate two or more terms for different groups of children. A school term for students participating in a school flex program as established in section 160.539 may consist of a combination of actual pupil attendance and attendance at college or technical career education or approved employment aligned with the student’s career academic plan for a total of the required number of hours as provided in this subdivision;

(10) “Secretary”, the secretary of the board of a school district;

(11) “Seven-director district”, any school district which has seven directors and includes urban districts regardless of the number of directors an urban district may have unless otherwise provided by law;

(12) “Taxpayer”, any individual who has paid taxes to the state or any subdivision thereof within the immediately preceding twelve-month period or the spouse of such individual;

(13) “Town”, any town or village, whether or not incorporated, the plat of which has been filed in the office of the recorder of deeds of the county in which it is situated;

(14) “Urban school district”, any district which includes more than half of the population or land area of any city which has not less than seventy thousand inhabitants, other than a city which is not within a county.