PENNSYLVANIA
School Districts Go Out of Bounds
Several Pennsylvania members of Home School Legal Defense Association have called us upon receiving home school registration forms from their school districts. These forms contain several questions regarding unauthorized information, such as the child's date of birth, social security number, ethnic background, and the public school which the child would otherwise attend.
The Pennsylvania home education statute specifies exactly what information homeschoolers must supply. Parents do not have to provide any information beyond those requirements. The request for the child's social security number, for example, is addressed in the Federal Privacy Act of 1974 which protects individuals from being forced to provide their social security numbers to any federal, state, or local government agency. (The Privacy Act contains two exceptions; neither apply to the Pennsylvania home school law.)
Home-educating families in Pennsylvania are required to provide their local superintendent with the following information:
- the parent's name;
- the name and age of each home-schooled child;
- the family's address and telephone number;
- a statement that the subjects required by law shall be taught in the English language;
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- an outline of "proposed education objectives" by subject area,
- proof of immunization and medical services required pursuant to the child's age or grade level;
- an assurance that the family's home education program will comply with the home school law; and
- a signed certification that all adults living in the home have not been convicted of certain criminal offenses in the last five years.
School districts are not authorized to seek or obtain any additional information.
