HSLDA News	October 24, 2001

West Virginia Retracts Excessive Information Requests

Several Home School Legal Defense Association member families received a letter from Preston County Schools regarding their home schooling programs. With the letter was a form requesting information the county said were a necessary part of the notice of intent that families are required to submit. For example, the form included such items as "examples of learning activities" and "details of school instructional activities." The letter also stated that the families' home school programs were "not approved" and that if they did not provide the requested information, "your child will be in violation of truancy."

The families affected by these threats immediately contacted HSLDA for assistance. We sent a letter to the school explaining that West Virginia's notice of intent requirement does not allow local school districts to ask for information regarding "learning activities" and "instructional activities." We asked Preston County to inform these families that their notices of intent were sufficient without the added requirements. Preston's attendance officer promptly sent another letter to the families, apologizing for any inconvenience the previous communication may have caused. The second letter stated that the families were not required to submit the information previously requested, and that the families were "approved" to home school.

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