Nebraska
Are home visits permitted?
A member family in the Lincoln area recently contacted Home School Legal Defense Association to inquire about some fine points of Nebraska home school law. Their concern was whether the school district has authority to conduct home visits of home school families without their consent. In order to be released from the compulsory attendance requirements, home schoolers must file forms under Rule 12 or Rule 13, the philosophical and religious objection forms provided under Title 92 of Nebraska Administrative Code. Both of these forms have provisions allowing visits of exempt schools in order to verify information submitted, and require that a time for the visit be "mutually established." Both rules further state that denial of access to the home is cause for the department to revoke the school's exempt status, and initiate truancy proceedings.
Due to the substantial concerns raised by these provisions, the Nebraska attorney general addressed the procedure by which home visits were to be carried out in an official opinion dated July 30, 1987. In that opinion, the attorney general ruled that visitation must be uniform for all private schools (including home schools), and that home visits cannot be arranged without the consent of the parents. As a result, the state board, in its discretion, has chosen not to require visitation.
Thankfully, the attorney general's opinion has prevented the Nebraska school districts from conducting home visits without parental consent. Although the letter of the law would seem to permit such visits, the requirement that any visits be uniform for all private and home schools has prevented such visits from actually taking place. Nebraska home schoolers have been able to preserve the privacy of their homes by knowing the fine points of the law and standing firm for freedom.
— Scott W. Somerville
HOME SCHOOL LEGAL DEFENSE ASSOCIATION
