Connecticut
Middletown Considers State Policy Mandatory
The Middletown Public Schools superintendent recently told a member family that they must submit a Notice of Intent form to indicate they were conducting a home instruction program for their son. He also threatened to bring truancy charges if the family missed his deadline for submitting the form.
However, this superintendent’s threats had no legal basis. Connecticut State Board of Education’s current policy and procedures for home instruction were adopted on November 7, 1990. Compliance with the policy and procedures is strictly voluntary. The commissioner of education deems compliance with the procedures as satisfying the compulsory attendance requirements of Connecticut. Initially, this involves filing a completed Notice of Intent form with the local superintendent. At the end of the school year, a portfolio review is conducted for the sole purpose of determining that required subjects have been taught.
Parents who elect not to comply with the state board’s policy and procedures must be able to show that their children are “elsewhere receiving equivalent instruction in the studies taught in the public schools,” as required by Connecticut General Statutes Annotated § 10-184. This is why Home School Legal Defense Association recommends that home schooling families voluntarily comply with the state board’s procedures.
HSLDA informed the Middletown Public Schools superintendent that the home schooling family was planning to voluntarily comply with the procedures by filing the completed Notice of Intent form. This response apparently resolved the superintendent’s misunderstanding about the intent of the procedures, as the family received no further threats. – Dewitt T. Black
