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Clarifying Notification

Questions have arisen about an article in the January/February Court Report. Regarding reporting when a new home school family begins a home school program and is removing a child from the public school, the pertinent part of the article stated:

…they 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 superintendent.

Concern was expressed that Home School Legal Defense Association was “adding” to the home school requirements by advising home schoolers to provide this withdrawal in addition to the notification. It is not the intent of HSLDA to add to the home school requirements and we always advise our members that they should not provide information to the superintendent that is not specifically required by the home school regulations.

However, our experience in Ohio—as well as other states—is that when parents keep their children home from school with no explanation to school personnel, it is very likely that they will either be visited by a truant officer or receive phone calls from school district personnel trying to determine why the student has not returned to school. Many times, the superintendent’s office does not inform the school the child attended of the parents’ intent to home school.

Most first-time home school families would find a home visit or phone calls from school personnel intimidating. In an effort to make the transition from public school to home school as smooth as possible, HSLDA advises its members to inform the public school of their decision to remove the child and begin home schooling. This advice only applies to families removing children from the public school.

Reminder about Deadlines

By the time you read this, some Ohio home schoolers may have received a letter from the local superintendent indicating that they must submit results of their yearly academic assessment by a particular date. In the past, this date has ranged anywhere from June 30 to two weeks prior to the beginning of the public school session. This information is incorrect.

The assessment is to be submitted along with your notification—this is especially important for those who have just completed their first year of home schooling. While there is no official deadline in the regulations for submission of the notification, it should be submitted prior to or at the beginning of the school year. Superintendents cannot penalize home school families for failing to meet deadlines that are not found in the regulations.