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District Agrees Notice is not a Request
When the Kingsley family (name changed to protect family’s privacy) decided to homeschool their children, they gave a courtesy notice to Little Egg Harbor Township School District. The district’s director of instructional services acknowledged the notice but referred to it as a “request,” seemingly implying that the school district had the authority to deny home instruction.
While this was troubling enough, the director of instructional services went on to insert her personal opinion about the superiority of a public school education over homeschooling. She wrote,
“I believe the best place for a child to be educated is in a public school setting, which promotes both academic and social growth. Research and experience has [sic] shown that children who are homeschooled have gaps in their education and miss socialization opportunities.”
Members of Home School Legal Defense Association, the Kingsleys contacted us for assistance. HSLDA works hard to be completely up to date on homeschool research, so we are familiar with the overwhelming evidence that most homeschooled children are well-educated and well-socialized. We were therefore very curious about the letter’s suggestion that “research” shows that homeschooled children “have gaps in their education and miss socialization opportunities.”
HSLDA Staff Attorney Scott Woodruff wrote the director of instructional services, pointing out that a family does not need to request home instruction in New Jersey. He also asked the director to identify the “research” to which she was referring.
In her prompt reply, the director acknowledged that families do not need to submit a request for home instruction. She also said that the district would change their routine letter to families and stop referring to notices as requests. But she said nothing about the supposed homeschool research.
— by Scott A. Woodruff
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