For about a year, the Home Education Advisory Council, with input from Home School Legal Defense Association, has been drafting changes to the homeschool rules. Here is a brief summary of the major proposed changes:
| >> | School districts or participating agencies would be prohibited from requiring families to provide more information in their annual notification than specifically mandated under the rules. |
| >> | A child's grade level would no longer be identified in the annual notification. |
| >> | A new rule would require that, when a parent moves from working with one participating agency to another, the former participating agency must forward all records to the new one. |
| >> | Under the current rules, a local superintendent or private school principal is required to send a list of all home education programs to the commissioner of education on October 1 of each year. Under a new rule, the superintendent or principal would no longer send the list, but rather a statement of the number of children in home education programs under his administration. |
| >> | Homeschools would not be required to operate during the same hours or on the same calendar as a public school. (Although there is no requirement to this effect under the current rules, the revised rule would ensure that there are no misunderstandings on the subject.) |
| >> | On March 17, 2004, the state board of education looked at the proposed rule revisions but took no action. We anticipate that the board will adopt the changes later this year. |
Printer Friendly Version
