Ohio
Proper Procedure for Withdrawal
Although Ohio law permits parents to change their child’s educational setting at any time during the school year, some school districts have thrown obstacles in the path of parents who submitted home schooling notifications between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Quite a few Home School Legal Defense Association members have contacted our office on behalf of new home schoolers who were having difficulties withdrawing their child from public school. The school was telling parents that they could not withdraw the student until their home school notification had been “approved” by the superintendent. Otherwise, the student would be considered truant. Just what is wrong with that assertion?
- A parent can withdraw their child from public school anytime when making a change in the educational setting.
- The Ohio home school regulations do not require approval “prior” to withdrawing the student and beginning the home school program.
- The Ohio regulations do not give authority to the superintendent to “approve” a home school program. Parents submit a notification of their “intent” to home school.
- If the parents have submitted their notification, the student is not “truant.”
New home school families should send a letter to the local school, officially withdrawing their child and indicating their intent to home school. This formal withdrawal ensures that the child will not be marked absent and should be done in addition to submitting the notification to the school superintendent. Also, both written notifications should be submitted simultaneously with or before withdrawing the child.
Head Start on Testing
For those intending to use the testing option for academic assessment, it is not too early to start planning. Unfortunately, a few parents often run into problems with this option because they did not make their arrangements early enough.
Remember, this year’s test scores must be submitted with your notification when public school begins in your district next year, which means you must have the results in hand. The company that provides the test to you handles thousands of test results and needs a reasonable amount of time to score the test results and get them back to you. Allow plenty of time for this turnaround and potential problems that may arise when handling such a large amount of data. Be forewarned—testing after June increases the likelihood that you may not receive your results back in time. – J. Michael Smith
