LEGAL/LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
ACROSS THE STATES

PENNSYLVANIA

South Allegheny adds grad requirement

In a December 4, 2002, letter to homeschooling parents, South Allegheny School District notified them that all students in home education programs would have to complete a "graduation project" in order to fulfill high school graduation requirements. As authority for this requirement, the district cited the following language from the homeschool statute:

Such courses of study may include, at the discretion of the supervisor of the home education program, economics; biology; chemistry; foreign languages; trigonometry; or other age-appropriate courses as contained in Chapter 5 (Curriculum Requirements) of the State Board of Education.

§ 13-1327.1 (c)(2) of Pennsylvania Statutes Annotated

According to the letter's author--the school psychologist--the Pennsylvania Department of Education recently revised the curriculum requirements to include a graduation project for public school students.

After reviewing South Allegheny's letter, Home School Legal Defense Association Attorney Dewitt Black wrote the psychologist and pointed out that local school districts have no authority to add to the graduation requirements already contained in the state statute for home education programs. Black directed the school official to the statutory language indicating that any electives taught in the home education program--such as curriculum requirements for public schools--are optional at the discretion of the parent serving as the supervisor of the program. Parents conducting home instruction may choose to have their children complete a graduation project, but they may not be compelled to do so by public school officials.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, local school districts do not issue diplomas to students completing the graduation requirements of a home education program. In this case, it is unclear whether South Allegheny School District intended to award a diploma to home school students completing the district's graduation requirements. What is clear is that neither the department nor a local school district may add to or change the statutory requirements for graduation from a home education program.

— Dewitt T. Black

Religious freedom protected

On November 18, 2002, the Pennsylvania Legislature passed S.B. 1421, a religious freedom act (RFA), which became effective immediately. This act restores the protection of an individual's right to free exercise of religious belief that was taken away by the U.S. Supreme Court's 1997 City of Boerne decision.

This new law evens the playing field for homeschoolers and other families who are burdened by excessive regulations. For example, if a parent in Pennsylvania is homeschooling for religious reasons and comes in conflict with the state, the parent may invoke the RFA as a defense. In order to override the parent's religious beliefs, Pennsylvania is required to prove with evidence that its particular regulation is the "least restrictive means" possible for children to be educated.

Home School Legal Defense Association has worked on RFAs in many states. With Pennsylvania's law, there are now 12 states that have a religious freedoms act, including: Texas, South Carolina, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Illinois, Idaho, Florida, Connecticut, Arizona, and Alabama.