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Lee County exceeds authority

A Home School Legal Defense Association member family received a letter dated May 24, 2005, from the Lee County Public Schools, in which the school district's "home school educator" informed the family that she was revising all homeschool registrations to "include a requirement for an original birth certificate for any student who has never enrolled in a Lee County Public School." The letter stated that the family's "registration process" would not be complete until the birth certificates were received.

Because this demand completely exceeded the school district's authority as delegated by the legislature, HSLDA Senior Counsel Christopher Klicka immediately responded with a letter of his own. He explained to the district that Florida law does not require families to include an original birth certificate with their registration. He also stated that the family declined to fulfill the request based on their "convictions and for reasons of privacy."

If you receive a request or a demand from your school district to submit your student's original birth certificate, do not comply. Instead, contact HSLDA immediately. The school district has no legal authority to make such a demand.