Massachusetts
Another Fall, Another Nightmare
Although home schooling in Massachusetts is gradually becoming safer year by year, each September brings a tidal wave of contacts. Our files indicate 23 separate serious contacts in different school districts, including several in Boston, where school officials are experimenting with a new, unacceptably intrusive form. The good news across the commonwealth is that more and more school districts are adopting the simple and streamlined “Groton policy,” which was developed two years ago in the Groton-Dunstable Regional School District. School districts that have adopted this approach have found remarkably few problems in doing so, whereas others continue to insist on procedures that are unacceptable to home schoolers and unenforceable in the courts.
The city of Lynn continues to be the single worst school district in the state. However, oral arguments in Brunelle v. Lynn Public Schools were held before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court at 9:00 a.m. on November 5. HSLDA President Michael Farris explained why mandatory home visits violate the Fourth Amendment guarantee of the privacy of the home. Brunelle v. Lynn Public Schools has been in litigation for almost eight years, and we covet your prayers for justice in this case. It may be months before the court finally issues its ruling. If the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules against our federally protected Fourth Amendment rights, this case will return to the federal courts. If, on the other hand, the Massachusetts court protects the privacy of the home, this litigation should finally be over.
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Massachusetts
Admitted to statehood:
February 6, 1788
Origin of name:
From Indian tribe named after “large hill place” identified by Captain John Smith as being near Milton, Massachusetts.
Motto:
Ense Petit Placidam Sub Libertate Quietem—By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty.
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