House File 588: Independent Private Instruction (Previously House Study Bill 147)

This bill (along with Senate File 160) would create a new legal option for Iowa homeschoolers called “Independent Private Instruction,” or IPI. Like Competent Private Instruction (CPI), placing a child under IPI would satisfy compulsory attendance requirements. However, this option would differ from CPI in several ways. Here is a list of requirements that would apply to an IPI program. Keep in mind that these do not apply to a CPI program.

IPI programs:

• Could enroll no more than four unrelated students.
• Could not charge tuition, fees, or other remuneration for instruction.
• Would be for the primary purpose of providing private or religious-based instruction.
• Would need to provide enrolled students with instruction in math, reading and language arts, science, and social studies.
• Would need to provide a report identifying the primary instructor, location, name of the authority responsible for providing independent private instruction, and the names of enrolled students to the local superintendent if he requested such a report.

Parents of children enrolled in an IPI program would not need to comply with CPI requirements for those children, such as annually submitting a CPI form and evaluation results.