Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Though home schooling is legal in all fifty states, individual school districts continue to cause problems for home schooling families. Chairman Michael Farris discusses one recent case on today's Home School Heartbeat.

Mike Farris:


Last school year, four HSLDA member families in Rhode Island received notice from the East Providence School Committee that their applications to home school were denied, with no explanation.


Though all four families were in compliance with Rhode Island's home education statute, the School Committee said that they had developed their own policies for dealing with home schoolers. They informed the families that they faced possible fines and even imprisonment if they failed to enroll their children immediately in a public or private school.


HSLDA assisted the member families in the appeal process. We sought and won permission from the Supreme Court of Rhode Island to handle the appeal in the state department of education. We then sent a letter to the attorney for the School Committee in order to set up a hearing date.


Instead of responding to our letter, the School Committee sent a truant officer to three of the families, who informed them that they needed to enroll their children in school immediately since the committee had never approved their home schools.


In this threatening atmosphere HSLDA arranged for an emergency hearing date, to occur before the week ended. When the School Committee agreed to stop intimidating our members, we agreed to set a later hearing date. A few days later, the School Committee issued approval to all the member families involved.


We rejoice that God protected these families who sought to honor Him by teaching their children at home. I'm Mike Farris.