LEGAL/LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
ACROSS THE STATES

SOUTH CAROLINA

Standards and requirements of homeschool associations

Since 1996, parents may homeschool their children under the Code of Laws of South Carolina § 59-65-47 if they are members of and comply with the academic standards of an association for homeschools that has no fewer than 50 members.

Enactment of this statute created a third option for parents desiring to homeschool, the first being approval of their local school district and the second being membership in the South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools (SCAIHS). The statutory language of the third option is patterned after the previously existing SCAIHS law but contains additional recordkeeping and evaluation requirements similar to what is required for parents who obtain approval of their local school districts. § 59-65-47 states that the parent-teacher's records must include the following:

>> a plan book, diary, or other record indicating subjects taught and activities in which the student-teacher engage;

>> a portfolio of samples of the student's academic work; and

>> a semi-annual progress report including attendance records and individualized documentation of the student's academic progress in each of the basic instructional areas specified [in the law].

Associations for homeschools under § 59-65-47 are required by the statutory language not only to have the educational records enumerated above as "standards" of the association but also to have such records as "requirements" of the association. Associations not requiring parents to maintain the educational records would not qualify as a legal option for parents to teach their children at home. Additionally, a parent's failure to maintain such records is a violation of the law and may result in truancy charges against the parent. The statute does not require associations to review these records, nor does it require parents to submit them for review. However, associations are free to establish procedures to determine whether the parent-teacher's records are actually being maintained.

§ 59-65-47 presents another method by which the homeschooling community may police itself without restrictive state oversight. But maintaining such freedom depends on responsible adherence to the law's requirements.

— Dewitt T. Black