Across the States
School officials attempt to add to the law
Several Home School Legal Defense Association member families contacted our office after they received letters from local school districts asking them to meet requirements not found in the law. The letters stated that all parents without a degree or a high school diploma must submit quarterly report cards to the district, and some letters even specified due dates for the report cards.
Upon reviewing the letters, HSLDA Attorney Mike Donnelly wrote to each district, reminding school officials that Minnesota law requires home instructors to satisfy at least one of the following six requirements:
- hold a Minnesota teaching license in the field and grade taught,
- or be directly supervised by a licensed teacher,
- or successfully complete a teacher competency exam,
- or provide instruction in a school that is accredited or recognized by the state board,
- or hold a baccalaureate degree,
- or be the parent of a child who is assessed according to procedures in subdivision 11 and the standardized test section below" (Minnesota Statutes Annotated § 120A.22, subdivision 10).
Donnelly pointed out that only families who homeschool under the sixth requirement (that of being “the parent of a child who is assessed according to [particular] procedures”) must submit quarterly report cards. Families who qualify to educate their children under any other requirement do not need to submit quarterly reports at all.
In another matter, officials in some districts asked families to file their Non-public Education Compulsory Instruction Reports by September 15. Again, Donnelly explained the law to the officials: Minnesota law sets October 1 as the annual reporting deadline. (There is a September 15 deadline that applies only to families who wish to use textbooks or other materials from the school district-they must request those materials by September 15.)
HSLDA advises our Minnesota members that they are not required to comply with any school district requests that go beyond state statutes.
— by Michael P. Donnelly
