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Recruiter seeks graduation evidence

After Dan* finished high school through homeschooling, he set his sights on the United States Army. But his obstacle course began before the first day of boot camp.

Army policy for enlistment of homeschool graduates is contained in a memo known as "USA REC MSG 03-128." Home School Legal Defense Association helped the Army Recruiting Command develop this policy and is thus familiar with its intent.

Paragraph 6a says that in states that require parents to file a notice of intent to homeschool, the family must provide the Army with a copy of the notice signed by a local or state school official. Paragraph 6b says that in states where homeschoolers are not required to file a notice, the family need only provide a copy of the student's diploma signed by a parent, substantiating the fact that the student has graduated.

HSLDA sent a letter to Don's recruiter explaining the family's compliance with Virginia law. The staff sergeant responded that our letter was not sufficient to verify Dan's graduation. He said Dan's diploma would not be acceptable unless the state of Virginia or the local school board signed it.

When HSLDA Attorney Scott Woodruff called the staff sergeant, explained that Dan's parents homeschooled him under the religious exemption statute, and described how this operates, the staff sergeant dropped his unreasonable demands.

He then questioned whether the curriculum Dan's parents used was adequate. Paragraph 8 of the armed forces memo states, "The curriculum used must involve parental instruction and supervision and will closely pattern the normal credit hours per subject as used in the traditional high schools." The staff sergeant initially believed this meant that a homeschool student's program must include the same courses as are taught at the local public school. Woodruff explained that this is not the case and pointed out the comprehensiveness of Dan's curriculum.

This satisfied the staff sergeant's objection. Dan will be serving his country in the U.S. Army very soon!

* Name changed to protect family's privacy.

Fairfax apologizes for mistake

An HSLDA member family submitted a letter to Fairfax County indicating that they would instruct their children at home under the qualified tutor provision of Virginia law. In response, they received a letter from the county home instruction specialist demanding that they describe their curriculum. The specialist also demanded year-end evaluations or assessments for the children.

The family called HSLDA for help. HSLDA immediately sent a letter to the specialist informing her that "as the family is educating their children per the qualified tutor provisions of A4 22.1-254(A), it is not necessary that the family supply a year-end evaluation or assessment or a curriculum description."

The home instruction specialist wrote back, acknowledging that her letter had been in error and apologizing for the inconvenience it had caused to our member family.

No testing for kindergartners

Soon after filing a notice of intent to homeschool their 5-year-old daughter, an HSLDA member family received a letter from the Suffolk Public School District demanding that they test their daughter at the end of the school year.

In response to the family's request for help, HSLDA called the official who handles homeschool matters for the city of Suffolk. In a friendly conversation, we explained that Virginia law specifically excludes kindergarteners from mandatory testing. Although compulsory attendance starts at age 5, Virginia recognizes that testing should not be required at such a young age. It is not necessary to submit any test scores or evaluations for children who are under the age of 6 by September 30 of the school year.

The official admitted that the letter had been sent by mistake and promptly apologized for the school district's error.

— by Scott A. Woodruff