Across the States
District Misstates Regulations
During the first half of the 2008–09 school year, the Jewett family (name changed to protect privacy) received a letter from the Beacon City School District informing them that their quarterly report was not in compliance with state law and would need to be amended. The school district incorrectly stated that New York law required the family to teach health every quarter, and because the Jewetts’ report did not indicate that they had covered health in their first quarter, it was being rejected.
Not only was the school district wrong in its claim that teaching health is a quarterly (rather than yearly) requirement, but the misstatement appeared to be intentional, since the letter incorrectly quoted state law by combining two separate sentences from different subdivisions of the homeschool regulations.
As members of Home School Legal Defense Association, Mr. and Mrs. Jewett immediately contacted us for help. They informed Staff Attorney Thomas Schmidt that they knew health was a required subject and had planned on covering it in the second half of their school year.
Schmidt contacted the Beacon City School District and pointed out that Mr. and Mrs. Jewett had indicated on their Individualized Home Instruction Plan (IHIP) that they would be teaching health this school year, as New York law requires. The reason they had not indicated health on their first quarterly report was because they had not yet covered it, but they would cover it in the third and fourth quarters.
Since HSLDA contacted the school district on their behalf, the Jewetts have had no further difficulties.
— by Thomas J. Schmidt
