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Mason County corrects mistakes

The Mason County School District Attendance Officer recently sent a letter to all homeschooling families demanding information to which the district is not legally entitled. Her letter read:

The WV State Department of Education requires composite information on the homeschoolers . . . in Mason County. Please use the enclosed form and return . . . by Friday, June 24, 2005, at the latest.

Home School Legal Defense Association advises you to disregard this unauthorized demand.^*

The officer's letter implied that all families must use Mason County's "notice of intent to homeschool" form. In fact, families are permitted to use any form or no form when they provide their annual notice. We advise you not to use the county's form since it asks for much information you are not required to provide.

The county's form contains other errors. First, it asks families whether they intend to use a standardized test or portfolio review for a year-end assessment. However, families are not required to choose their assessment until the end of the year. Second, the county's form refers to homeschool "option b, Exemption B." The state legislature repealed this terminology; West Virginia homeschoolers commonly operate under what is now known as option (c)(2).

Third, the attendance officer wrote, "You must submit the plan of instruction to be approved. . . ." However, families do not have to obtain the school system's approval.

After the letter's problems were explained to the attendance officer, she acknowledged the mistakes, exclaiming, "Wow, I guess I got everything wrong that I could have!" She agreed to send out a correction letter within a few days.

- by Scott A. Woodruff

* See "A plethora of forms."

Jefferson County acknowledges error

A secretary in the Jefferson County School District recently sent a letter to all homeschool families, wrongly implying that they must use the county's notice of intent form. West Virginia law allows families to use any form-or no form at all-for their annual notice of intent.

The county form asked whether the family would assess their child with a standardized test or a portfolio evaluation. However, families are not required to choose the form of assessment until they actually submit their assessment.

The letter stated-wrongly-that families must file the notice of intent by August 15. Families may file their notice of intent any time before the start of the school year. (If starting during the school year, the law requires families to file the notice 14 days before the homeschool program begins, but this is unconstitutional since the state has no compelling reason to force a parent to wait 14 days before beginning home education.)

Home School Legal Defense Association called the secretary, who quickly acknowledged her errors. She said she had not intended to send out incorrect information and was only trying to help homeschoolers. At her request, we gave her suggestions on suitable wording for future letters.

HSLDA will continue to observe proceedings in Jefferson County.