Oregon
Notice Requirements Vary
Oregon’s revised home school law enacted on July 14, 1999, requires parents to notify their education service district, “when a child is taught or is withdrawn from a public school to be taught by a parent, legal guardian . . .” Predictably, education service districts are now attempting to obtain information through the notification process beyond what the parents are required to supply.
The Union Baker Education Service District requested that a member family provide the birth dates of their children and the school they last attended. Home School Legal Defense Association responded, pointing out to the public school officials that the new law does not specify the information to be included in the notice.
A reasonable interpretation of the notice requirement is that it should include the name and address of the parents and students and a statement that the students are of compulsory attendance age. Absent any language in the law prescribing what information must be included in the notice, parents need only provide essential information about their family in the notice to the education service district.
