TERRITORIES: PUERTO RICO
No Home School Law
Puerto Rico is experiencing a tremendous growth in home schooling. The legal situation for home schooling in Puerto Rico is very interesting, because this territory does not have a specific home school law or regulatory scheme.
Home School Legal Defense Association holds that home schools in Puerto Rico are "Article II" schools, referring to Article II, Section 5, of the Puerto Rico Constitution. This section provides that compulsory attendance at the elementary public school shall not be construed to be applicable to those who receive instruction in schools established under non-governmental auspices. In addition, Puerto Rico Statutes 18 LPR 852 provide as follows: "Attendance at public schools shall not be compulsory for those who are receiving education in a school established under the auspices of non-governmental entities" (emphasis added). The term "non-governmental auspices" has not been defined in the Puerto Rico statutes.
After the enactment of the constitution providing for non-governmental schools, Puerto Rico passed an extensive regulatory scheme for private schools, including teacher certification requirements. Obviously, most home schools could not meet the regulations regarding private schools in Puerto Rico. However, legal counsel for the Puerto Rico Department of Education has opined that the regulations did not contemplate home schools, but only campus schools. Additionally, only primary or secondary academic schools offering a certificate or a diploma are required to be regulated by the government.
Therefore, HSLDA's position is that home schools are schools under the auspices of a non-governmental entity as provided for in Article II, section 5 of the Puerto Rico Constitution. Such schools are not subject to regulation by the government because they were not contemplated to be regulated by the government.
Several member families have been contacted by school officials and or social workers and challenged for home schooling. HSLDA attorney Michael Smith has contacted officials on behalf of our members. We have presented the legal position for home schooling outlined above, and to date, no HSLDA family has been taken to court.
It is important to remember, however, that the department of education has not conceded our position. Nor is there any case precedent on the issue of home schooling in Puerto Rico. Should a school official or the department of education take the position that there is no statutory exemption for home education, then the school district would have to assert that home schooling is not allowed in Puerto Rico. This position is untenable in light of the established U.S. constitutional right of parents to choose private education, including home education, as a legal option.
Puerto Rico indeed provides an interesting chapter in the continuing resurgence of the home school movement.
