Across the States
Judge Thanks HSLDA for Assistance
In October 2008, a Home School Legal Defense Association member family, the Fillmans (name changed to protect privacy), withdrew their grandson from the local public school because of his recurring medical problems. Although the family had submitted doctor’s excuses for each day the boy had missed school and had also turned in a comprehensive withdrawal letter, the Burleson Independent School District referred the family to court for truancy.
Two weeks after beginning their homeschooling program, the Fillmans received notification of two criminal charges against them—quite a surprise, because this was the first indication they had received that their grandson’s absences were problematic.
Mrs. Fillman contacted HSLDA for help. Senior Counsel Christopher Klicka drafted a letter to Justice of the Peace Jeff Monk explaining that the Fillmans were in full compliance with Texas law—both in withdrawing and homeschooling their grandson. Klicka provided Judge Monk with a memorandum outlining Texas homeschool law, documentation from the family, and a letter from the family pediatrician regarding the boy’s absences.
When the Fillmans appeared before Judge Monk, he expressed his appreciation for HSLDA’s information, stating that the school district had failed to provide him with the doctor’s note and withdrawal letter. Commenting that the case should have never come to him, Judge Monk stated that he is very much in favor of homeschooling and would even consider homeschooling his own children.
Judge Monk dismissed the case, and the Fillman family is now freely homeschooling.
— by Christopher J. Klicka
