Legal / Legislative Updates

HSLDA develops new Ohio forms

Ohio is one of many states that treat homeschool records as “public data.” Home School Legal Defense Association supports federal legislation that would directly protect the privacy of homeschooling families in all states, but until then, Ohio homeschoolers must take steps to protect their own privacy. HSLDA has amended its Ohio forms in order to address this situation.

HSLDA’s new forms state that all information submitted “for informational purposes only” is the private property of the family that submits the information and may not be released to third parties. This is intended to give school officials an opportunity to return confidential information to families rather than release it in the event of a Freedom of Information Act request. While it is not clear whether school districts will honor homeschool privacy, the new forms begin the process of asserting the privacy rights of homeschool families.

The same concerns apply to assessment results, which are also “public records” under Ohio law. HSLDA worked with the Christian Home Educators of Ohio to create new forms that are acceptable under the law, while providing a minimum of data that can be accessed by third parties.

HSLDA members are welcome to access all of these forms on the members’ section of our website at www.hslda.org.