Across the States
For Information Purposes Only?
What does it mean when school districts request families to submit paperwork “for information purposes only”? This type of request seems to be arising in an increasing number of Ohio school districts after families provide their district with the brief outline and list of textbooks required under Ohio Administrative Code § 3301-34-03(A)(7) and (8).
Superintendents in these districts ask families to provide more extensive descriptions of their intended curriculum or book lists, and we suspect they may be trying to exert more control over homeschoolers than is allowed by law. Under the Ohio Code, superintendents do not have the authority to approve or disapprove notification of home education. Fortunately, although some superintendents have been hard to persuade of this fact, most Ohio superintendents give homeschoolers little difficulty with their notices.
To help Home School Legal Defense Association member families submit only what is required, we have posted a sample “brief outline” of an intended curriculum on our website-we believe that this outline is sufficient to satisfy the Ohio Code requirement. We encourage our members to review this sample form, which is posted in the “forms and other resources” section of the Ohio member page at www.hslda.org/OH
— by Michael P. Donnelly
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