Contact Countdown
Since late August 1986, HSLDA has helped 113 families resolve their contacts with school officials or state attorneys. All of these contacts, except five, were resolved without going to court. The five that went to court were all dismissed in favor of the homeschool families by the efforts of HSLDA attorneys.
In most of these contacts, a school official would contact the families by letter, phone, or personal visit. The families would then contact HSLDA attorneys who would help the parents develop a strategy as to how to communicate with the school authorities. In many cases, the school officials would be satisfied after receiving a letter from the parents and eventually meeting with them if necessary. In situations where the superintendent tried to impose severe restrictions or refused to recognize the right to homeschool, the HSLDA staff would intervene by a letter and/or phone call. In several situations, HSLDA would hire a local attorney to negotiate further with the school authorities or state attorneys.
Below is a state-by-state breakdown of the 276 contacts that have occurred in the last five months. This school year, four states have surpassed the others with an exceptionally high amount of contacts: Michigan had 54, Ohio had 47, Pennsylvania had 34, and New York had 20. The 163 remaining contacts are still being negotiated by the HSLDA legal staff, parents, and school authorities, or have become inactive for the past month. Out of the 163 unresolved contacts, 22 have ended up in court and are presently at various stages of litigation. Five of the cases in court were initiated by HSLDA in federal court in order to protect groups of HSLDA families being threatened by unconstitutional actions of the state authorities.
Total statistics for August–December 31, 1986
Total number of contacts.....................................................................................276
Total number of contacts resolved.......................................................................113
Total number of resolved contacts won in court......................................................5
Total number of contacts unresolved...................................................................163
Total number of unresolved contacts presently in court........................................22
State-by-state breakdown of contacts for August–December 30, 1986 of school year
| State | # of contacts | Resolved | Unresolved | In court |
| Alabama | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| California | 15 | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| Colorado | 5 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| Connecticut | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Florida | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Georgia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Idaho | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Illinois | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Indiana | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Iowa | 11 | 4 | 7 | 3 |
| Kansas | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Maryland | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Maine | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Massachusetts | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Michigan | 54 | 1 | 53 | 1 |
| Nebraska | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nevada | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| New Hampshire | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| New Mexico | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| New York | 20 | 8 | 12 | 2 |
| North Dakota | 8 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Oklahoma | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ohio | 47 | 25 | 22 | 4 |
| Pennsylvania | 34 | 19 | 15 | 4 |
| Rhode Island | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| South Carolina | 12 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| Tennessee | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Texas | 14 | 9 | 5 | 1 |
| Vermont | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Virginia | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| West Virginia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
