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False allegation threatens homeschool

A Home School Legal Defense Association member family in Harrison County received a letter from the local director of pupil personnel (DPP) stating that he had received a complaint that the family was not homeschooling. The next day, after receiving no response from the family, the DPP wrote another letter threatening to file truancy charges.

Our member family immediately called us, bewildered by the false complaint and unsure of how to proceed. When HSLDA Attorney Thomas Schmidt contacted the Harrison County Board of Education, he learned that a report had been made to the DPP that the family was not actually teaching their child at home.

Under the Best Practice Document, a homeschool family who has notified the school district of their private homeschool program within the first two weeks of the school year is presumed to be conducting a bona fide school. However, a DPP may request the family's scholarship and attendance records if a report is received that homeschooling is not occurring. If the report is made by a private citizen, the DPP must have probable cause for the investigation to continue beyond the initial report.

Schmidt contacted the Harrison County DPP and refuted the allegations made against our member family, explaining that they had reason to believe the report was made by a relative who disapproved of their decision to homeschool. As a sign of good faith, the family showed their scholarship and attendance records to the school district, and the DPP closed the investigation without any further action.