West Virginia
County Demands Approval
Three HSLDA member families within Hancock County, West Virginia, have been informed by the superintendent that they need to supply the school board with samples of curriculum before their home education programs can be approved. One of the families submitted to the request, but was denied the right to home school because the school board determined that the curriculum was deficient. HSLDA attorney J. Michael Smith addressed a letter to the superintendent informing him that it was not within the board’s authority to request submission of the family’s curriculum, since the family was already complying with the new home school law by submitting a notice of intent.
HSLDA was then informed that the school board had requested an advisory opinion from the West Virginia Attorney General. Pending receipt of the opinion, the denial of the request by the home schooling family has been withdrawn and placed on hold.
Hancock County is the only county taking the position that it has the authority to approve or disapprove a home school program based on its review of the curriculum. It is interesting to note that even though the law was in effect all last year, Hancock County has only now decided to take the position that it can approve or disapprove a home school program when a family under the new home school law.
Prior to the passage of the new home school law, House Bill 2781, most home school families operated under the provisions of the private school statute, since the home school law on the books at that time allowed the superintendent or school board to approve the home instructor. The private school law did not provide for approval. It required the parents to maintain a minimum instructional period of 180 days and provide attendance records to the county superintendent. Standardized test scores were provided to the state department of education upon request and each home school was to establish curriculum objectives and instructional programs that would allow a student to achieve literacy. If a child did not achieve a score above the fortieth percentile on the standardized test for two years in a row, attendance at the home school no longer satisfied the exemption.
This worked fine for three years, until the State Department of Education requested the Attorney General’s opinion on whether or not this private school exemption applied to home schools. He opined that it did not apply, and the process began to enact legislation to govern home schools.
The new legislation became effective on July 1, 1987, and was patterned after the private school law. It left intact the old approval exemption and also provided for a new home school notice of intent process. The stated intent of the new law was to provide an additional home instruction exemption. The new provision requires the family to give a notice of intent to the county superintendent or county board of education including the names and addresses of all of the children of compulsory school age. The parents must present proof of a high school diploma or GED and formal education at least four years higher than the most academically advanced child. They must have an outline of the plan of instruction and standardized test results must be provided to the county superintendent upon request. When a family complies with the new law, the program can be denied only if the superintendent requests an order from the circuit court denying the home school program. Presumably, the old provision was left in place for families who would not be able to meet the qualification requirements of the new law.
Hancock County is the only county that has tried to enforce prior approval under the new law. The remainder of the counties in West Virginia seem to have had no difficulty in applying the new legislation in accordance with its intent. HSLDA is waiting for an Attorney General opinion and has provided a memorandum to the Attorney General supporting the position that school boards do not have jurisdiction to review the curricula of home schoolers for the purpose of determining whether or not to approve the right of parents to home educate. Please be in prayer for the families and this opinion.
