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ACROSS THE STATES

NORTH CAROLINA

State inspects homeschools by mail

So far during the 2003–2004 school year, Home School Legal Defense Association has received numerous inquiries from families who have received correspondence from the North Carolina Division of Non-Public Education (DNPE) asking them to participate in the Home School Inspection by Mail Program. These families are given the option of completing and returning an enclosed form or meeting with a DNPE staff member to provide the information sought in the form. Additionally, parents are requested to mail copies of their attendance records and test results to DNPE by June 30, 2004.

Homeschools in North Carolina are required by the provisions of § 115C-549 and § 115C-557 of the General Statutes of North Carolina to make available for inspection at the homeschool all test records for a period of one year after the testing. These are the only records which must be made available for inspection, although other statutes require homeschools to make and maintain annual attendance and disease immunization records for each child. There is no requirement that parents participate in any inspection by mail program of the test records, although parents may choose to do so if they wish. Parents who elect not to participate in the inspection by mail program remain subject to the statutory requirement to make the test records available for inspection at their home at all reasonable times, except that the inspection may be conducted only once a year. This inspection requirement does not obligate families to permit state inspectors to enter their home.

The inspection form being used in the Home School Inspection by Mail Program seeks information beyond what is required by state law, such as the school's telephone number, the county in which the school is located, student enrollment by sex and age, confirmation that the school is operating on a regular schedule, and confirmation that attendance and immunization records are being maintained.

HSLDA does not discourage homeschooling families in North Carolina from utilizing DNPE's form. However, parents should know the limits of the authority granted to DNPE by the General Assembly.

— by Dewitt T. Black