Across the States
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
The Granite School District appears to have problems understanding and complying with Utah homeschool law.
Recently, Granite told a Home School Legal Defense Association member family that unless they provided the birth dates of their children, the district would not issue them an excuse certificate exempting the children from public school attendance. In a second situation, the district has maintained a truancy proceeding against a nonmember family even though the school board has issued an excuse certificate covering the time period in question.
Utah homeschool law states that school boards “shall issue an [excuse] certificate” as long as the homeschooling family files the required affidavit on an “annual basis.” Both families mentioned above had fulfilled this requirement. Furthermore, the law clearly outlines what is required in the affidavit, and children’s birth dates are not on the list.
HSLDA Staff Attorney Michael Donnelly has written the school district, explaining the law and asking the district to issue the excuse certificate in both cases.*
While most school districts in Utah comply with the homeschool law, there are several rogue districts that create headaches for homeschooling families by insisting on unlawful requirements.
HSLDA wishes to assist our Utah members in maintaining the maximum liberty available from unwarranted intrusion by the government. To this end, HSLDA has created an affidavit that satisfies the affidavit requirement for Utah homeschoolers. Members may access the affidavit in the "forms and other resources" section of the Utah members page at www.hslda.org/UT.
— by Michael P. Donnelly
*In an effort to provide legal precedence or help resolve investigations or cases involving homeschooling, HSLDA does choose to assist nonmember families in some situtations. We reserve the right to accept such cases at our sole discretion.
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