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HAWAII

Form 4140 not required

With the beginning of the school year, several Hawaii schools have been contacting Home School Legal Defense Association member families and insisting that they submit Form 4140 (Exceptions to Compulsory Education).* In fact, one family on Honolulu was actually visited by a local public school official who personally delivered the form for the family to fill out.

The Hawaii Department of Education developed Form 4140 for parents to complete when requesting a variety of exceptions to compulsory school attendance. Exceptions include a child who is being homeschooled, a child who is physically or mentally unable to attend school, or a child whose removal from school has been approved by a family court judge.

However, parents are not required to submit Form 4140 in order to teach their children at home. Hawaii Administrative Rules § 8-12-13 states that the "notice of intent may be submitted on a department-developed form (Form 4140) or in a letter containing the following items: (1) Name, address, and telephone number of the child; (2) Birthdate and grade level of the child; and (3) Signature of parent."

In lieu of Form 4140, homeschooling families can submit either a letter containing the required information or HSLDA's Hawaii Notice of Intent to Home School form to the local public school that their child would have otherwise attended. If any HSLDA member family encounters difficulty in this process, please contact us.

— by Thomas J. Schmidt