Across the States
Morongo oversteps bounds
The age of the internet has made parents’ annual task of filing a private school affidavit with the Superintendent of Public Instruction much easier and faster than in the past. However, it puts information regarding homeschoolers into the hands of schools districts much faster as well. Sometimes school districts get too creative with their list of local homeschoolers.
Morongo Unified School District received the affidavit information for the private schools in that district less than a week after this year’s filing deadline. In a letter to parents and school administrators dated October 21, 2005, Morongo USD spelled out its responsibility to investigate truancy if a complaint against any parent or guardian for violating compulsory attendance laws is received.
The letter also explained that under the No Child Left Behind Act, there is greater emphasis on “standards-based instruction and school accountability.” Morongo’s letter urged parents to consider education programs available through the public school, such as charter schools, independent study, and online instruction. What the letter did not explain is that the No Child Left Behind Act only applies to public schools or private schools that receive federal funding.
At the same time, another homeschool family received a different letter from Morongo USD, indicating that the district had received a complaint regarding their children’s school attendance, and asking the family to complete a Request for Investigation form verifying their children’s school of attendance and the educational qualifications of the instructor.
This is not the first time HSLDA has seen the Request for Investigation. It was created in 1992 by a Los Angeles County child welfare and attendance officer, Milton Dooley, and has been used in connection with obtaining entertainment work permits since that time.
HSLDA has addressed a letter to Morongo USD on behalf of the family, verifying enrollment of their children in a private school that is in compliance with the filing requirements, under penalty of perjury, of California Education Code §§ 48222 and 33190. Section 48222 provides the method whereby the private school exemption is validated should a complaint or inquiry be made by a school district regarding attendance. According to this section of the code, exemptions shall be valid after verification by the school district that the private school has complied with § 33190, which is the annual private school affidavit filing requirement.
How do we know that the verification referred to in § 48222 means only verifying the filing of the affidavit? The last sentence of this section provides that the verification shall not be construed to mean an evaluation, recognition, approval, or endorsement of any private school or course. In other words, the legislature has limited public school officials’ role regarding private schools to simply verifying that the affidavit has been filed, not verifying the information within the affidavit—which would require an evaluation of the private school, that is, what constitutes a person capable of teaching.
This is the reason that the affidavit is filed under penalty of perjury and the chief administrator of the private school certifies, under penalty of perjury, that the private school is in compliance with all the requirements of Education Code § 48222.
As this issue of the Court Report goes to press, we have not received a response from Morongo USD. Any member family receiving any correspondence from their school should call the HSLDA Legal Department and review the letter with our staff.
— by J. Michael Smith
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