SOUTH DAKOTA
State Pushes Monitoring of Standardized Tests
South Dakota has the unfortunate distinction of being the state which most invades family privacy under the home school law. Until recently, South Dakota permitted home visits, which we challenged as a violation of the 4th Amendment. After Home School Legal Defense Association filed a civil-rights lawsuit, and home schoolers contacted their legislators, the legislature removed from the law the language authorizing home visits. But South Dakota still permits school districts to insist on procedures which violate family privacy.
South Dakota law permits school districts to monitor the administration of standardized testing, "using a designee of the school district." Since most home school families strongly prefer to have their children tested in the child's normal learning environment (that is, the home), this monitoring language poses a real dilemma. Those families who want their children tested in the home may be pressured to permit government agents in the home. Families who insist on their constitutional right to privacy in the home may be forced to have their children tested under less-than-ideal circumstances.
At least one school district has indicated its willingness to prosecute families who insist on their right to privacy. In a compromise solution, a family in this district preserved their right to privacy in the home by agreeing to have their child tested in their church. This preserves the 4th Amendment right to privacy (although it may raise serious church/state problems).
We encourage families to petition their school boards to change any policy which requires monitoring in the home. The fact that the legislature permits this violation of the Constitution does not mean that school boards should enact such unconstitutional policies. HSLDA believes that school boards should not insist on monitoring unless they have probable cause to believe that a family is unable or unwilling to administer the test in an appropriate manner. Then, and only then, is government intrusion into a home justified.
New Legislation in South Dakota
Governor William Janklow recently signed into law House Bill 1126, which amends the South Dakota Code to protect the privacy of home-schooling families. Every school district keeps a "certificate of excuse" for each child who is being educated at home pursuant to the home school statute. Under the new statute, any such certificate must be kept confidential by the school board, except when the information is requested either by the Department of Education and Cultural Affairs, or by the child's parents.
